I have a set up from American Turbine. I have painted a couple of cars with it using basecoat / clearcoat and single stage paint. The results have been fantasitc. I bought a high quality gravity feed gun and a selection of tips which allow me to shoot almost anything. The great thing about these systems is that they shoot warm, dry air. You never get a fisheye out of them and you can paint wherever you have 110 volts. Also much less overspray.
Has anyone noticed that all of the professional painters on the HAMB haven't jumped in with an endorsement for this? I have quite a bit of experience with turbine systems but only using water base varnishes for furniture/cabinetry and adhesives. I have never seen anyone shoot an automotive finish with one, and I personally wouldn't try it without first having a thorough demonstration. I would say that I can't imagine being able to spray metallics with these, but again, I have never tried it nor seen it done. I thought that the turbine systems were the greatest thing since ice cream for wood finishes. We could shoot water base polyurethane straight from the can and it worked VERY well. These things work on a very low pressure and very high volume of air. So, you can shoot much thicker material quite efficiently. The thicker the material you can spray, the more you can lay on without running, it's much faster with less over spray/waste. BUT, these systems are set up to spray a much different viscosity than the auto finishes are formulated for. I may be behind the times, but I'm not aware of any auto paint manufacturer covering turbine systems in their tech sheets, reducer/catalyst formulas, etc. Anyway, I would start research on this by first contacting a tech rep. for the manufacturer of the paint you plan to use.
I have sprayed Dupont automotive paint with mine with zero problems and great results, you just need to use a little slower acting hardener to offset the warm air that these systems put out. I know it's tough to teach old dogs new tricks but these systems work very well. Not that body shops will convert to this but for the "home painter" they are great. No issues with water or oil in the air, no filters to change.
as i said earlier i flaked my car with mine.yes the flake was .004 but the crushed glass i put in on the last coat was .050.bass boat flake is .025.i have painted many cars,motorcycles,campers,exc.with mine without a problem.the thing thats also nice about them the cup is pressureised.so you can spray thicker materials.i thinn my auto paint with the rec.amount of thinner/reducer and adjust the fan,air and paint volume acordingly.
I bought mine while I was in Florida in an effort to beat the humidity. I love it. It shoots Flake and Polychrome just fine. I've also shot with a newer "Conventional" HVLP and the difference in over spray is huge. As for Old School painters not wanting to use them, I shot my first car in 1978, and as for teaching an old dog new tricks...how many professional painters do you know who use a forced air breathing system? I see those "Professionals on TV" shooting 2K epoxy with a plain old respirator. Guys, that stuff will kill you.
I've used a Fuji system for years, painted several cars with it with good results. Low mess with very little overspray.
32V... that porsche looks pretty nice. What type of turbine system did you use and what type of paint? Thanks.
thks .. the turbine was a lemmer t-5 paint was ppg single stage concept here is a will'y same turbine and paint
Right before I closed the shop in Douglasville. I'll fire it up again this spring to shoot the GT6/8, then again for the Cuda and the E-100.
I used to work for a small shop that had one before I opened my shop. I liked it preaty well for what it was. He had an older TP set up, it worked great when it worked. He had been using it for years and previous employees hadn't cleaned it very well at times. So occasionally it would shoot a huge glob of crap on a freshly painted panel. I would say if you are looking into a set up get a rebuild kit too. No too many parts houses carry turbine parts.
I bought my Croix turbine system from a body shop I was working at. It was their gun of choice until they closed down. (Dealership converted the shop to service bays) I LOVE it. Warm dry air, not very laud, and I can shoot where ever an extension cord will get me.
Just ran across this thread I have had a Wagner Cap Spray for a long time the thing I have always liked is you can plug in anywhere and you've got clean dry air. I have regular Devilbiss and Binks and occasionally use them but getting all the oil and water out of compressed air is a PITA One of my friends has over $1000 dollars in filtration system. Says he can spray more paint with air and I'm sure he can and that is important to him as he runs a body shop. But for my purposes thats not important!
Just ran across this thread I have had a Wagner Cap Spray for a long time the thing I have always liked is you can plug in anywhere and you've got clean dry air. I have regular Devilbiss and Binks and occasionally use them but getting all the oil and water out of compressed air is a PITA One of my friends has over $1000 dollars in filtration system. Says he can spray more paint with air and I'm sure he can and that is important to him as he runs a body shop. But for my purposes thats not important!
i have a brand new set up in the box that was part of a clean out i did. never thought it would be any good. after reading this thread i think i'll try it...maybe on something not that important.
I'm gonna look into these too. Sure would be nice to spray something and not have overspray all over the shop.
Apollo now has a really nice 5 stage system with adjustable pressure. I have been painting for 34 years and have been using Accuspray Model 10 gun for 16 years. I am going to do more research, but from the extensive research that I already have done, the turbine systems are the best choice. Commercial Bodyshops don't consider these turbine systems since they have to invest so much into their air systems for all of their other tools. VR&C.
Fish eyes and moisture dont really have much to do with the gun... But for that price i would go with a SATA. I personally use a Iwata LPH-400 and when spraying flake and high metallic only have to use around 3/4 the material i was using for the same coverage
Hey Guys, I know this is about a month old, however I thought I could share my experiences with turbine HVLP. First off I have used on a professional basis everything from conventional ( Binks 7, 66, 2001 etc ), to HVLP conversion ( Binks Mach1, Devilbiss, Iwata, Sata etc etc. ) to almost every turbine HVLP setup made, all spraying the materials 99% of you will use on a car, boat or aircrat. Secondly as has been mentioned, you see mostly compressor driven guns in body shops due primarily to the shops infrastructure with large compressors already, plus the fact many were set up 40 years ago when the Binks fogmaster was THE tool of choice, and to be hvlp compliant meant only buying new guns. Basic economics says to do as little as possible to keep the shop doors open when the government mandates it. So that being said, every technology has its learning curve and all can produce excellent results with practice. So here is what I have learned over the years. First, dont be affraid to mix and match components. Guns, hoses and turbines are all interchangeable for the most part. Some companies make the best turbine housing, some the best gun and others the best hose. The turbines themselves come from one of 2 places ( cheap china stuff not considered here ), Ametek Lamb, or Electromotor. The turbine HVLP companies just make the box the turbine sits in. My choice of turbine enclosures is the one made by Fuji, it is of very excellent design from both a noise reduction and motor cooling perspective. Guns come in a few flavors, some are ok, some good, and some excellent from an finish standpoint. The Apollo 7500T and Sicmo I put in the excellent category when fitted with the correct fluid set and aircap. The Fuji, Graco Edge, Turbinaire, CA Tech, and TP gun I put in the good category and the Sprayfine, Wagner (capspray), and offbrand ones are in the OK category. Hoses come in fewer flavors, the Graco hose at the top of my list, and the Fuji at the bottom. As an FYI for those that dont know, all the quick disconnects used in the turbine world are garden hose types sold at hardware stores. Many shop will mount the turbine somewhere in the shop away from the paint area, and plumb it to the painting area with 1.5" or 2" pvc. This helps cool the air, and keeps the turbine clean as well as providing a convienient place to hook up your hose and gun. Adding this length of PVC basicly removes any need to alter reducer types due to temperature. You can also then run a switched outlet to the location of the turbine, and be able to turn it on and off from the painting area. This is how my shop is setup, and it also allows me to quickly disconnect the turbine from its wall mount home, and use it as a portable. Anyway hope some of this information is somewhat useful to someone wishing to get into a turbine HVLP setup.
I realise this is quite an old thread,but since it has been brought back I will comment.I don't have any experience with the TIP turbine system,but 2 of my friends use them.One of the guys painted 2 cars with his,no painting experience to speak of.The 53 ford he painted green metallic and it looks great,no tiger striping at all and very smooth finish with very little orange peel..The 50 Ford he painted light blue,looks like a professional job,actually better than some of the shops turn out. My other friend uses his to paint industrial circuit boxes.there is very little material wasted with these systems,which at todays costs this is a big plus.
If it goes thru a conventional spray gun it'll work in the TIP HVLP guns with satisfactory results, like a paint jobs, prep is the key factor.
Layed down fine fine with my accuspray with cheap gravity gun and I haven't painted a car for years. I sprayed epoxy primer as well and worked fine for that too. Like every one else said, very little overspray and tons of mileage from the paint.
Has anyone accomplished a price comparison of the different turbine systems? I priced one out...it was $1800. Price was not in my budget for a hobby spray outfit at this time.