Thread: Spray painting compressor

You need a compressor that will deliver about 10cfm at the gun for effective spray painting, and a separate water trap filter and regulator mounted well away from the compressor, giving the air time to cool and the water to condense before it reaches the filter. If the air is hot, as in compressed air, it absorbs the water, and passes straight through the filter.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the reply.
So would I need a belt driven compressor to get those kind of cfm's?

Probably. And belt driven compressors are much quieter than the direct drive units

Originally Posted by Dengue

Probably. And belt driven compressors are much quieter than the direct drive units

Thanks Dengue.

Which of these 2 do you think would be better please?

Blackridge 2.5HP Belt Drive Air Compressor - Supercheap Auto Australia
or
C324 | RABD255/50/2.5 Air Compressor | machineryhouse.com.au

Thanks
Geoff

Each of these compressors delivers less than 6cfm.

I would wait for some other contributors to find out if that would be suitable for spray gun work that you will be doing. I doubt it.

Also, only one has a water filter, and not sure if it will work as it is right on the compressor where the air is hot and holds water which will come out of the air in your spray gun and on to your finish. Hence the need for a remotely connected water trap if you are going to do spraying.

Some people connect a second tank ( with regulator output, but no compressor) to the outlet of the first when spraying, with the moisture collecting in the 2nd tank.

Have you looked at any of the HVLP outfits? Earlex 1900 HVLP or Wagner W450SE unit

How about this one?

NEW UNIMAC Industrial Air Compressor 120L Receiver Petrol Driven Tri-V Piston | eBay

I'm confused this one has less ltrs per min but has a higher cfm rating

SYDNEY TOOLS - Chicago Air 30L 1.1HP Aluminium Compressor

How does that work??

WOO. Wait a minute. Lets just stand back here and have a look at a few things.
You want to "Spray My whole kitchen". Walls as well as the cupboards?
*To spray the walls is going to be a head ache due to the clouds of over spray. You will have to isolate the room and have forced ventilation so you can at least see what you are doing.
You want to spray the cupbords
*This is doable with plenty of masking up so you only paint what you are aiming at

Will you keep the compressor for use in your shed after this paint job?

The absolute minimum size compressor is 10 CFM!
This will also drive shed tools. Electric compressor is a lot more convenient than petrol.

Have you done spray painting before? Why do you think a sprayed job will be better than using non powered means.

If you are on a budget, how about hiring the gear? They may even supply the spray gun too.

Thanks for the reply.

yeah sorry, should be more specific. I only want to paint the cupboards and the end panels etc of the carcasses.

I will keep it for my work shop for sure.

Yes I have sprayed before, I wouldn't say I'm an expert but with a bit of guidance and a few more practice runs on some scrap I'm sure I can do an acceptable job.

Could I get away with this one (below link) by an chance?
Colt 10AMP Direct Drive Air Compressor COLT282 - Masters Home Improvement

Thanks
Geoff

G'day Geoff,
Rather than going to hardware stores & the likes, how about an industrial supplier.
We used to use Clisby Air Compressors years back & I have had one at home for 20yrs.

AIR COMPRESSORS

IMHO - worth another look......Cheers crowie

I think Chambezio is on the money. Hire an big compressor to do a job this big. Buy your own gun. Later, after you've done this job, you'll have a much better idea of what you need so you can buy with certainty.

I have a 2.5 hp belt drive with top specs, but I'd still be hiring something a bit bigger to do a job like this with lots of flats.

Appreciate the replies...

At the moment I have an old GMC 32L 2HP compressor GMC 32L 2HP Dual Tank Air Compressor - Bunnings Warehouse that I have sprayed with in the past and haven't had too terrible a result, don't get me wrong there was no massive jobs done but it was still a piece I wanted to get a good finish on though, and that machine is nowhere near 9CFM's.

I really would like to buy one rather than hire as I will use it from time to time on my other projects at home, so is there any chance at all I could get away with the above? I take everything on board that I'm being advised because I have no idea - but if there is a good chance I can get the job done with the unit from Masters that would be great.
Thanks heaps
Geoff

G'day Geoff, From memory, you get 4cfm per 1hp...... Hope that helps in compressor selection, cheers, crowie

Geoff, I understand what you're trying to do and how difficult it is to size compressors when you dont have the opportunity to try them. I spent ages searching for a compressor, making charts of makes and models and cfms and hps etc etc. Eventually I bought a 2.5hp belt drive which claims 13cfm because it was the most powerful, smoothest nicest machine I could find that would work within my limit of 10amps. I think I paid about $550 for it new so it's lightyears in front of the ones you've posted for roughly the same money. Now I find its OK for doing small stuff, and I did 7 dining chairs last week (see post below) which is my biggest job with it so far, but if I was doing big furniture or kitchens I think I would struggle with it. It has a 50 litre tank and once the tank is full and the motor cuts out I get only a few seconds spraying (I'd estimate about 12 secs, enough to do about 1 foot square) before it gets down to 6 bar and the motor cuts in and starts pumping again. Dont get me wrong, it never stops pumping out air, and pumping it out hard, but the problem is when its around that 6 bar the characteristics of the spray are significantly different to when its fully charged at around 9 bar. When I think of the amount of effort I go to to make sure that everything (like viscosity, fluid adjustment, spray pattern etc) is right for spraying then its logically impossible that it can perform identically at both 6 and 9 bar. Does this matter ? Well it depends on how fussy you are (or more likely, your wife is). I've lately become aware that it doesnt matter as much to me as I thought it would because I'm aiming for the perfect finish so usually do pullover, respray, then buff with at least 2 grades of cutting/buffing compound, so I tend to turn rough into smooth no matter what. Still, my first aim is always the best possible job straight off the gun as a matter of economy.

Now its likely that tomorrow I will be using it to spray some lacquer (sealer and top coat, 1.7 and 1.4 setups, hvlp and lvlp respectively) so if it eventuates I'll take some metrics for you. I'll look at how long I can spray before the motor cuts in and how much I can do at top quality before the iffy stuff starts.

Its hard for people to advise when everyone has a different standard of whats a good job. When I was new at it and using my direct drive 2 hp machine I was perfectly happy with the results (for about a month). I did a whole bedroom suite with that setup - hideous, but I was happy with it at the time and my wife still is. I also did an outdoor setting with it - but I'm still happy with that because its outdoors so I"m not really aiming for a piano finish outdoors anyway - which I mention because it introduces another factor, different contexts support different standards of finish.

Finally, the reason why I suggested hiring is because I"m assuming that jobs like doing a kitchen wont come along often for you. Kitchen cupboards have a lot of flat surfaces - which are demanding because you dont want a cutout or the spraying characteristics to change while you are doing a big flat surface. So I figured you could buy a medium power compressor like mine for ongoing use doing furniture and so forth, but hire a big one when a job like the kitchen comes along. That way you dont need to fork out for some overpowered beastie which you may never again use to its fullest. Also, anything over 2.5 hp is going to require 15 amp circuit, so unless thats available to you I figured a petrol driven hire job is more versatile.

cheers
Arron

Arron, Thanks for the reply mate and the amount of time you took to write it, I really appreciate it.

I called VGA paints at Girraween today and had a chat with one of the guys there as I was interested in buying the below, but explained to him my concerns with the litres per min it was capable of as people on this forum have suggested I need the larger unit that can pump out a minimum of 10 cfm's. The guy told me this compressor would be fine for painting with a gravity spray gun as the painters there work on psi and that this machine was capable of punching out (can't remember how high he said) which would be good enough seeing that I would only have the regulator at the gun set at about 30 psi for painting the enamel paint.

Is he just putting the sales push on me - or is he sort of correct? I rang Masters Hardware to enquirer about a 2.5HP 50L tank model that have which states 162L/min of pressurised air delivery and he told me that the unit would be more than sufficeint for spraying also.... it's really doing my head in!