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My experience with EkoPoxy and a small compressor.

Roy25101

Active Member
This is to document my experience priming with a small compressor, a LVLP spray gun, and Stewart Systems' EkoPoxy. My intention is not to start another primer war. I live in humid salty Florida and at some point in the distant future I intend on selling this airplane, finished or unfinished. I assume it will make for a more appealing product . I did a lot of searching and never found this combination of small compressor and EkoPoxy so I thought I would share.

Noise was of concern so I opted for a California Air Tools 10020. Its two HP and ten gallon tank have proved more than adequate for this build, and it is extremely quiet. I cannot say enough good about this compressor. Its 7 CFM at 40 PSI, and 5.3 CFM at 90 PSI have been plenty.

I opted for the Grizzly 87666 LVLP spry gun with a 1.3 mm tip, about $55 on Amazon. I have been very impressed by the quality of this gun. There is minimal overspray so I was able to do all the spraying in my garage with the door open. I also ordered filters, a stand, and a pressure regulator. I adjusted the pressure to 28 psi while the trigger was pulled to full flow.

I emailed the folks at Stewart Systems to ask for a recommendation on an easy to find paint that would flow like EkoPoxy so I could practice with something that does not cost $200 a gallon. They recommended simple latex paint diluted to 25 seconds using a DuPont M50 viscosity cup. I was able to find this cup through Aircraft Spruce for about $13 and it more than paid for itself. The latex paint is diluted with water until it all flows out of the small hole in the cup in 25 seconds. I was surprised at how thin it was.

I spent an hour or so spraying latex paint on a dozen different things just trying to learn the ins and outs of the spray gun. I can't emphasize the importance of this enough. If I would have just mixed up the epoxy and started spraying, I would have waisted a good bit of it and undoubtedly had to strip and re-prime most of the parts.

The aluminum parts were cleaned with EkoClean and etched with EkoEtch. This process was straight forward and only took about an hour. After a bit of research, I opted not to Alodine. This kept the toxicity of all the chemicals used to a minimum and allowed for water clean up in the sink.

I used a DYMO 3 lb digital postal scale from Office Max to get the EkoPoxy three part ratios just right. The precision of this scale eliminates the process of testing the viscosity. This will allow you to make smaller batches and eliminate waste.

As directed, I started out with a very fine tack coat and then built up from there. Since this was my first experience with this whole process I am not quite sure of the quality of the finish but I am optimistic. I was instructed to keep the finish thin enough to be able to read a newspaper through it but I am afraid I went a little thicker than that with multiple coats.

I am not sure about the long term durability of EkoPoxy but I am impressed with the ease of use of it. Neither the cleaner, etcher or epoxy had a significant odor and it cleaned up easily. I would highly recommend these products.

I hope this helps anyone trying to make the arduous decision of whether or not to prime and what products to use. Take care...
 
I'm investigating this same process myself now and this was really helpful. A couple of questions. You said you used the Grizzly 87666. Did you mean Grizzly H7666 or was 87666 correct? Also, what top coat are you intending to use? Stewart's EkoPoly? Have you tried that with the LVLP gun yet?

There's very little discussion of LVLP guns here but it looks like they're worth looking into. Seems like all the advantages of HVLP with the disadvantage of slower speed and possibly a smaller spray pattern. Even less overspray seems to me to be a major advantage, tho.
 
EkoPoxy LVLP

I apologize for taking so long to get back. I have been in the shop bending, clubbing, and drilling rivets out of my VS for the last week.

This is the listing of the gun I used. Grizzly H7666 Professional LVLP Spray Gun 1.3mm.

Here is the link. I hope it works.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000E305CG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1


I do not plan on using a top coat over the EkoPoxy.

Although I have nothing else to compare it to, I have been impressed with the durability of it so far. It can take a beating.

Take care...
 
Thanks, Roy. I'm on the forums pretty regularly but, for some reason, didn't see your reply until now. I thought that might have been the gun you used. I'm going to look into LVLP more, they seem to have some promise.
 
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