Compressors

[JoeRuscito]

I currently have a 4.8 cfm compressor that seems to be doing the trick. I’m up to silver coats on the wings and soon will be laying a white coat of polytone. It works well for the poly fiber coats but I do then to do a lot of waiting in the booth for the pressure to catch up. I tend to do two wing bays at a time. This hasn’t been a problem because the poly fiber stuff blends so well I don’t end up seeing a line between bays.

Now I’ve heard the top coats. Ranthane is what I’m using. Should be sprayed in one pass without delay. Otherwise you will see transitions in the color. What has everyone’s experience been? Is there a compressor that won’t break the bank that would keep up with the gun? I haven’t been able to find anything affordable? I’m considering “Y”ing together a few less expensive compressors...

[Mesteve]

I don't have a compressor suggestion (other than the aviation department at the local "tool freight" store), but rather than teeing 2 compressors together, have you though about teeing several accumulators/tanks together? It'd be a much cheaper route than multiple compressors...

[Meyer]

Depending on weather and your timeline, you might be able to rent one.

[JoeRuscito]

Renting is a good idea! Ill look around. I currently have a 20 gallon tank. In order to do a whole wing I think I would need 80 plus gallons.

[jiott]

Don't have personal experience, but I've heard that HVLP is the preferred way to spray these coatings.

[efwd]

I used a Craftsman 20gal to apply polytone and I used the HVLP gun without an ounce of trouble that I recall. Eh, I didn't spray great big wings either though. Oratex, so the only thing I sprayed was all the fiberglass, plastic and invasion stripes.

[jmodguy]

I use an Iwata Supernova HVLP and a 5 hp dual stage 80 gal compressor and it was working pretty hard to keep up. Rent it if you can’t buy it.
make sure you have proper filters, water traps etc.

[rv9ralph]

Joe,
You have to match the CFM requirement of the spay gun to the CFM output the compressor. Even is you rent one, you have to make sure the compressor output is in excess of the gun requirement.

Also, piston compressors are more efficient than oilless.

Ralph

[JoeRuscito]

Holy .... 80 gallons and 5 HP! That’s what I was concerned about the 20 gallon 2 HP is doing fine with the poly stuff.... almost considering sticking with poly tone..

[Ronin]

2HP is not doing fine, it's struggling to keep up and likely isn't keeping up. It's just that the lacquer-like spray qualities of poly-spray/poly-tone are masking your compressors limitations. An 80 gallon 5hp compressor is considered the minimum for spraying urethanes. And you still have to clean up the air.

You will not get good results spraying polyurethane with (2hp compressor) it.

Do yourself a favor and get one of these http://www.axispro.com/. Your spray problems will be over. Always clean, dry consistent pressure. Practice with it and learn it's ways and you'll get good results.

[airlina]

I have to agree with James , and while you might choke on the price of the HVLP sprayer as I did when I bought mine many years ago, here are some points to consider to justify it. The fact that you are willing to paint your project yourself alone is already saving you money. Farming out the painting to a shop is gonna cost a whole lot more than the purchase price of your spray rig and paint. Convenience-I didn't want to have to be running parts to a paint shop willy nilly as I finished them during the build. I was able to paint stuff on my schedule during the build which was a real asset during the whole process. Satisfaction- while my paint job may be a 5 or 10 footer if you know what I mean, I was not building a Lindy award winner , but a plane I could be proud of that was a nice flier and that is what I ended up with. At the end of your project I suspect you could sell the spray rig for a good buck on barnstormers to keep your choking to a minimum. This paint job is 16 years old. Bruce N199CL

[JoeRuscito]

2HP is not doing fine, it's struggling to keep up and likely isn't keeping up...

Haha I know it’s not perfect but what I meant was with some waiting to let the compressor keep up I can spray polystuff with no visible detriment to the finish. I usually spray three bays and then wait for the compressor to shut off. I see no visible transitions. Now I wasn’t planning on spraying the top coats with this setup and hence the thread.... I’m thinking it’s most cost efficient to buy three compressors and t them together... that way the compressors alone can keep up with the volume 12 cfm and 60 gallon tank.... is there an issue with this line of thought? I can easily resell the compressors when I’m done.

[Ronin]

Maybe? I think if you are linking four 2hp 20 gallon compressors in series all you wind up with is an 80 gallon 2hp compressor? And you still have dirty and now much wetter air to deal with.

[jiott]

If you are going to use multiple compressors, I would think you would hook them up in parallel. Then the reservoir volume and HP would be additive. Correct size piping where they join would be very important also.

[jmodguy]

And how much house current do you need to run 4 compressors??? 🧐

[JoeRuscito]

Ok I borrowed a turbine! Man this thing is sweet! So much better and so much less mist!

[Ronin]

I was about to offer you mine with the promise to return it when you were done! I'm glad to hear it's working for you.

[JoeRuscito]

James that would have been very kind of you! This one is working out great! Such a pleasure to shoot with... should have done this from the start.... If I was to do it again I would have skipped purchasing the compressor and just paid the extra for one of these bad boys! So much less over spray/mist and a much nicer coat. Highly suggested!!

[efwd]

Interesting. I have not ever had too much luck with mine. I use it to spray various stuff but hadn't considered using mine on the plane. I should have tried it with the Poly Tone. I was not able to avoid orange peel in the past but then again it was always a different paint. God knows I had plenty of overspray in the air when I did my fiberglass.

[JoeRuscito]

I haven't seen orange peel yet but I haven't sprayed topcoat (ran thane) yet. Also haven't shot on anything but fabric....

[Ronin]

Remember, the heated air effectively makes the perceived ambient temp go up (to the paint) so use a slower hardener/reducer or even a retarder. Most orange peel is caused by paint drying/tacking up too fast or too dry of a coat. Practice on something first, an old car hood or decklid works well. When you can get paint to lay out nice on a vertical test panel your ready.

[n85ae]

If you have the ability to paint, then this works pretty much as well as anything discussed in this thread.
It's mostly in the trigger puller, and properly mixing, and thinning your materials.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Wagner-PaintReady-Station-Stationary-HVLP-Paint-Sprayer/999972628

Your mileage may vary, but I've painted a bunch of stuff around the house with mine, and having previously
owned and used an Axis Citation I'm inclined to suggest this is pretty much the same thing but for a lot
less money. Yes there's a lot of plastic, but ....

Jeff

[bumsteer]

I always wondered how the plastic units would hold up to some of the solvents in the Poly-Fiber products.

Rick

[n85ae]

I doubt the plastic parts would be affected by that to be honest. Even If it was, I'd take it back and say
I put paint in it and it melted "I'm 99% certain Lowe's would give me my money back". Not so sure that
some of the airplane parts sellers would do the same.

Jeff

[JoeRuscito]

Shot some top coat without any issues! The paint is beautiful and GLOSSY! Although I may have chosen the wrong yellow. I was shooting at around 77 degrees and 50-60% humidity. Absolutely no orange peel. For all the talk about how difficult the urethanes are to shoot this stuff went on without any problem or a single drip (shot vertical). Of course that was on a test piece.