miyu1975

miyu1975

Well Known Member
Can anyone speak to experience on the difference. I have been doing a lot of reading on the 2 guns. Considering I can buy an HVLP conventional for around 100.00 or so and I of course already have an air compressor, the turbine price starts about 500.00 or so. Thoughts?
 
I used the turbine and never ran out of air or had any water in air issues. The large hose is awkward but managable. It's also usable where air is not available.
 
But that turbin sure sounds like a vacuum cleaner! It does provide a lot drier air and you don't have to worry about running out.
 
Paint is the one thing that most people (aviation and non aviation) folk will judge your airplane. Have you ever seen a car pull up along side of you and you catch yourself admireing the paint job. Paint is the one thing I would not skimp on when finishing a project. You could have built the airplane so perfect, but if the paint job is bad, most people will say that the paint job must reflect the builders work ethic. I would go turbine all the way. In order to get a compressor to deliver the correct FPM to make a paint job work is going to cost you a good amount of money. I would go with the turbine. It may seem like a good amount of money right off the bat, but if you paint using an air compressor and the first time you have to reprep and paint something because a little bit of water got in the line, you will wish you had the turbine. Look here for turbines http://www.aircrafttechsupport.com/ and then click on spraying equipment on the left hand side. It should provide you with some good info.
Hope this helps.
 
Turbine vs HVLP/conventional

For what's it worth, been painting airplanes, helicopters, trucks, cars, boats and a myriad of other things for the past 40 years.

Both systems work well except one caveat with the turbine..."ORANGE PEEL".
The air is hot coming out the hose. Try grabbing hold of the hose fitting at the turbine end...no way you will leave your hand on it to unscrew it.

Three solutions to cool the air:
1.) use two lengths of hose
2.) use a slow reducer
3.) saw a guy using a "cool can"..... a few coils of hose in a bucket of water.

Other than that, the Turbine with the correct spray nozzle will produce a beautiful finish. Used 3 different turbine models and did not see any appreciable difference in overspray vs the conventional HVLP system if the gun is adjusted properly.

Just remember.....the paint job is only as good as the preparation.
 
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Sounds like everyone is leaning on the turbine side. Doesn't surprise me as I figured this is the way to go. Anyone actually use a conventional HVLP with success? I have read that if using the conventional then it is recommended to use a moisture trap.??
 
miyu1975 said:
Sounds like everyone is leaning on the turbine side. Doesn't surprise me as I figured this is the way to go. Anyone actually use a conventional HVLP with success? I have read that if using the conventional then it is recommended to use a moisture trap.??
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I used conventional HVLP with great success. I live in the desert, used a Motorguard filter, and a small filter at the gun. No problems with contamination with that setup. Painting was the most difficult part of my entire build. It was also the most rewarding.

Guy
 
even I can use a turbine.

I am without a doubt one of the world's most "coating challenged" mechanics out there. Too many small jobs, material or color switches, and interruptions (I'll clean that gun in a few minutes). I got a turbine (glorified shop vac) and it's consistent. That's a new concept for me, consistent paint air & one gun. If I follow the mix, it actually works. Freaking amazing. Only time I had air this consistent was when I wrenched for a paint shop, but then I didn't paint, just watched.
 
HelioJoe said:
For what's it worth, been painting airplanes, helicopters, trucks, cars, boats and a myriad of other things for the past 40 years.

Both systems work well except one caveat with the turbine..."ORANGE PEEL".
The air is hot coming out the hose. Try grabbing hold of the hose fitting at the turbine end...no way you will leave your hand on it to unscrew it.

Three solutions to cool the air:
1.) use two lengths of hose
2.) use a slow reducer
3.) saw a guy using a "cool can"..... a few coils of hose in a bucket of water.

Other than that, the Turbine with the correct spray nozzle will produce a beautiful finish. Used 3 different turbine models and did not see any appreciable difference in overspray vs the conventional HVLP system if the gun is adjusted properly.

Just remember.....the paint job is only as good as the preparation.
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HelioJoe is right on.
I have painted airplanes with standard guns, HVLP guns, and turbin HVLP guns.
The primary issue is that they are all different and being highly skilled with one, doesn't mean you will do well with one of the others (particularly the turbin gun).

The turbin does make the air hot. Hot enough in fact that the guns typically have an insulator on the handle to keep it from getting too hot for you to hold.
Hot air makes mixing a challenge and this is one thing that will mess up an experienced painter who has never used a turbin system.
It requires using a slower reducer than you would likely ever use for the conditions, and requires that you use more of it. Another mistake people make is turning down the airflow to try and reduce the over spray. This doesn't work. The turbin guns need all the airflow they can get (High Volume, Low Pressure), to properly atomize the paint, and even then they in my opinion don't do quite as good a job as even the modest price standard HVLP guns.

I have painted three or four airplanes with a turbin system, that turned out pretty good. I have done a half dozen other with a conventional HVLP gun and I prefer that over the turbin. The turbin can be a good choice for some people that decide to do there own painting. Just keep in mind that tips and advice you get form books or experienced painters will not directly translate to the experiences that you will have. Also, if you have a rough time and decide to hire a painter to come work in your shop, if he doesn't have prior experience with a turbin, his learning curve will likely be nearly as steep as yours.
 
Go with a Turbine

I never painted anything before starting on my control surfaces. Once you figure out that you should flow the least amount of paint and the most amount of air, you can paint with nio drips, just a light coat, wait 35 minutes between coats and you will be shocked at the results. 3 coats generally does it. I bought a Graco 3800 on ebay and it was worth every penny. Hot air was never an issue and I did use two 30' hoses so the air was plenty cool by the time it came out of the gun. Very easy to use and clean. You need a fresh air respirator for two part polyurethane paints. The other thing you need to do is fight your internal impulse to keep applying paint...several light coats and you won't get drips. I used Polyfiber epoxy undercoat and Randolph "Ranthane". It applied very easily and dried to a very hard finish and is super glossy. I would go with a Turbine, practise a bit and you will paint like a pro as long as you follow the guidelines and the proper mix ratios.
 
Question - is the psi at the gun different for a turbine than a conventional HVLP? Doug from Stewart Systems told me that with the conventional gun you want 23 psi at the gun. The Graco turbines I see seem to max out around 6 psi. Big difference there, why?
 
prkaye said:
Question - is the psi at the gun different for a turbine than a conventional HVLP? Doug from Stewart Systems told me that with the conventional gun you want 23 psi at the gun. The Graco turbines I see seem to max out around 6 psi. Big difference there, why?
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Volume. The turbine guns are Higher volume, lower pressure than the conversion guns.
 
turbine painting experience

OK. a bit short on spraying finishs on airplanes but long on spray finishing kitchen cabs. I own the $300 earlex and it does ok for thiner paints as it does not have a lot of air pressure to atomize the thicker paints. Keep in mind this gun does not have an adjustable air output. I got a lot of orange peal even with a larger tip, still thined out and the paint lost its sheen because of the thinnnig using this setup. I recently bought a top of the line 6 stage turbine and it made a huge difference in the quality. Keep in mind I am painting these kitchens with a water born acyrlic enamel and its pretty thick by nature. I just sprayed on a factory looking finish and barely had to thin the paint maybe but 1-2% if that. Again the more you thin it out the less the sheen. At least with acrylic enamel.

My recomondation with a turbine is the more stages the better as it deliveres more air pressure which atomizes the paint better. The thicker the paint the more air pressure you need. Most importantly you need to put on enough paint for it to level out when it dries. If you spray to thin it endes up wispy and rough. The thicker the paint the less it will run. I paid $1,200.00 for the turbine, it was the top of the line so i was told. I do not know the viscosity of these aviation paints as i have never sprayed with them. I do know you will get bad results if the turbine is lower pressure and the paint is viscous and or you have to thin out to much in order for it to atomize. So in the end you get what you pay for. You can always spray your kitchen cabinets if you buy a good one. or your neighbors for that matter.

I cant imagine having to resand and re-prep a plane from a bad paint job because of it being to thin and wispy,orange peal like because of poor atomization or runs because the paint was thined to much. The paint job on cabinets looks like a million bucks when enough atomized paint is applied and levels off. Its worth the extra money and practice first. The bottom line: Thin the paint to a minimum to get a higher sheen and for the paint to level off without drips and runs. Buy a higher stage turbine for greater air pressure to effectively spay higher viscosity paints.
 
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