What do I use to clean the spray gun with? thinner ok no matter what I painted with?

 

Thinner does the trick. That's what we use at work.

 

yes thinner just make sure you back flush it.

 

thank you, makes it easy. Thiner works real good. Backflush? with what? reducer?

 

hold your finger over the nozzle and spray til the cap pops off from pressure

 

when you have it almost clean put some thinner it the can, take a rag and hold it over the tip, and spray a quick little shot, then spray without the rag there. I usually repeat this a few times but always end with spraying with the rag over the tip. Then poor thinner out of can, unscrew the tip make sure it's clean put some clean thinner in the can shoot the clean thinner through real quick and drop the tip in. I usually leave it in there till next time I use the gun. My boss used to get pissed at me for doing this (he makes me save the thinner I poor back out for the next cleaning) but this way I know it's 100% clean. I also cannot afford to have a different gun for every type of paint so I do this to make sure I don't have any pigment or flake in there when I want to shoot clear from the same gun.
EDIT: oh yeah I usually do this without the lid on tight just be careful the first few times you do it so you don't get thinner in your eyes or anything.

 

Right on guys, just have the one gun and its for everything. Going to be spraying black and the clear coat/carrier with pearl and then clear so I need it cleaned good.

 

do a complete tear down between every product

fill with laquer pull trigger let it drain into a pan
then put some laquer in a paint cup
take of paint cup clean the threads and inside
take the tip of place in laquer
then pull the needle out u do this by unscrewing the fluid control
and then unscrew the ahhh **** i forgot what its called and place in the laquer cup with other parts then clean the inside of the gun
assemble and then fill with clean laquer and do a gravity drain into a paint cup for next cleaning

 

if u get caught doing this in a shop by the epa i hope u got deep pockets

 

You talking about saving the thinner? Never sat very long at the end of the day everything went in the collection can when I tore everything apart. And hey that was per my bosses instructions, besides you should see some of the **** he pulled (tearing labels off certain cans and well you get the idea).

 

no spaying the laquer out of the gun to clean it idk why but its against some rukes they have lol

 

Really, I have never worked anywhere that the guys weren't doing that, lol

 

as long as you don't see guys with black suits carrying clipboards walking up to you, you're safe to do it.

 

anybody use Xylene? thats what we use at work. i dont spray automotive paint though.

 

yea there trying to cut down on airborne pollutants thats the whole reason they require the HVLP guns or reduced pressure

yea everyone does it but its not legal

 

nope never heard of it it might be cause the paint is has a different character than automotive

 

thinner!!!!!

 

My new gun is HVLP. Any tricks I should know about? Does the reduced pressure mean my smaller compressor will keep up?

 

As long as your compressor is rated at least 7.0 SCFM at 40 PSI, you should be fine. Most HVLP guns are not going to require any more than that. It should say right on the compressor what the rating is and your gun should have the SCFM requirement right on the box it came in. Just be sure to take good care of it and keep it very clean and it should last you a while. I would also recommend some type of filter/dryer between you compressor and gun to keep water and other contaminants from screwing up your finish.

 

I can find the info on the gun but the compressor is old and all the stuff is gone from it. It holds at 90 psi and I think kicks on at 60, has a 30 gallon tank? Old Sears unit with 2 wheels. long cylinder tank mounted horizontal with the motor on one end. Powers my air wratchet decently. I can actualy take measurements of the tank to figure volume I guess. Dust off a geometry book..lol