Thread: paint lifting

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First, you should have a small regulator attached to the handle of your spray gun - right where the air hose attaches. If you regulate pressure at the compresor, you don't know what pressure you have at the gun because of the line loss in the air hose.

At the cap literally means inside the spray cap at the front of the gun where the paint and air mix. They make special gauges for that, but usually if you get the right pressure at the gun, the pressure at the cap will be close.

For instance, my Binks HVLP gives 10 PSIG at the cap with 18 PSIG at the gun.

What gun do you have, and is it HVLP?

On the bottom of the grip is an adjustment screw for internal gun pressure for feed to the cap- you can over-adjust and push the same amount as you do thru your gun regulator.......this is not good, and although you may get away with it with two stage paint, with single stage your atomization will suffer- thus orange peal.
I have 7 different guns that I use when I work........for color I use my Iwata, clears I like my Sata......jambs Devilbiss (all HVLP) and for high pressure work my Binks (large flake) even though they are now outlawed here in Wa.
They all adjust differently- but your cap pressure for HVLP is 10, almost always. I have seen people push too much pressure thru HVLP guns & blow the seals out.
If your using HVLP then you need to get a set of cap gauges....your higher quality guns come with them. Some you have to buy them seperate, but you do need them. How can you tell where you are if you don't know where you started??
I guess what I'm trying to say is it's two different settings- done at two different places on your gun.

oohhhhhhh,
ok, well I haven't been using the regulator that screws on the gun, only because my comp. has one and I figured the line pressure couldn't be dropping too much in that short length. I don't know what I have at the cap though. I've just been adjusting it so it looks like it is spraying right, it obviously isn't though. It is HVLP by the way.
I'll have to get a cap pressure guage before the spring when I start painting again.
Either that or I can just name my car the "orange peel Mobile" and pretend like I made it that way on purpose.
Thanks guys.

Where can I get a good cap guage?

Your local auto paint supplier can get one for you, and don't forget to get a Viscosity cup