Thinking About A 440i.. Again. Few Questions On Spraying

Will

Ok, I have been going back and forth for over a year on picking up a decent sprayer. I came to the decision, if I get one it's going to the titan 440i. So I saw this month SW has it on sale for $699 with complete kit(gun, hose, tip kit) & 3 free performer reversible tips.

I do not paint fulltime, but everytime I say I don’t need a sprayer I seem to come across a job where I could really use it. Mostly in spraying trim & doors. This has again come up where it would really come in handy since I have a bunch of interior doors, some shutter style(ugh), and entire 2nd floor trim.

My only spraying experience so far is a cheap HVLP conv + cheap compressor(killed one already). Main question is how much makes it worth to setup and use an airless? How much in the min to pump through? Sometimes I just have a couple rooms worth of trim + the doors in those rooms which is about 4-5(enttry + closets) Will I waste too much paint on bothering to spray those?

If I try to spray that in a basement or garage am I going to have too much overspray to stand it? My normal way of handling the extra work is to have the trim del to me, prime+1 coat at my house and bring it to install.. Then final coat when its up. Doors I finish completely at my house. I do mostly remodels, so spraying once installed is normally out of the question.

Thanks again

98mustangguy

I spray everything. Cleanup takes maybe 10-15 minutes, so if you have say a roller and brush that you clean its pretty much on par time wise for cleanup. that said if im doing just say a 5x5 bath i wont bother but 2-3 rooms or more then spray away. by the way if you do spray pick up a fine finish tip like a 210 or 311 for your doors and trim. overspray is not too bad if you actually set your pressure properly and use the correct tip for the material your spraying. most of the time i see people complain about way too much overspray they either just turn on sprayer and crank the pressure which does nothing but eat away at the tip, put unneccessary strain on sprayer and produce overspray. same thing with the tip the sammler the tip the finer the droplet size to get a finer finish. now combine that smaller droplet size with too much pressure and you have one heck of a mess. If you are going to spray take the time to learn proper use, proper tip selection, proper set-up or else you will be one of those people complaining about the mess and overspray. also to avoid overspray you must have proper distance from the target if your gun is too far away you will get more overspray to close you get a bad finish. buy yourself a sheet of drywall with that sprayer and practice in your yard till you get it right. turn your pressure to the point where you just lose the tails on your pattern and leave it there anymore pressure accomplishes nothing this will help keep down on the mess. by the way i always wear a respirator when i spray and i suggest you do also.

airlesspro

Something to consider before buying a 699.99 pump... if you have never used an airless and aren't doing it professional... have you thought about renting one from a local store or rental yard... i deal directly with a major rental company for many of the other tools i do not own. it is great. i have seen the 440i in some of these stores, or something comparable. they rent for 50.00 a day to 75.00 a day.. my titan has gone down from time to time and i have had to rent.. you'd be surpised at the deals you can get on used items from rental yards... since i have rented other models, i'll be honest, airlessco is the best i have seen. i brought a used airlessCo 540 2yrs ago and have not had to repair it once.. i still like my two titans but when it comes to down to it, i don't like to send my units into repair... please check into renting before you buy... i have seen too many people i have trained go out and buy on price point only to find out their spent the money wrong or didn't get the right tool for the job. feel free to contact me for more tips... this is what i do, training on airless painting and repair, i help set up paint contractors with their own companies. This is not a sales call......

Will

Thanks for the replies guys..

I did look into renting, but after finding $80+ a day I was a bit turned off. I normally take doors home and paint them after a days worth of drywall work(main work) and I can't get 2 coats on in a day because of that.

Was just offered another job with a bunch of doors if I can get the spraying thing down or if I rough it out with another round of my crapo HVLP..

I am pretty sure I am going to pull the trigger on the 440i this week.. Maybe? Heh, gone back and forth a couple times already.

Lets pretend I do go ahead and get it. Says it comes with gun/hose/tip kit + 3 performer tips. Not sure if I get to pick any size for these, but if I did are these decent tips or should I get finish tips in another brand? From everything I'm seeing I should pickup a 311 for doors/trim

Anything else I would need right off the bat other than a lot of practice? Exciting and scared to give it a shot

Thanks again

frankcanpaint

I just primed (oil) a bunch of doors. I have a small graco 390 I use for doors/trim. I think it is important to use a fine mesh filter in your gun and to strain your paint plus I also put a mesh sock on the pump suction. I thin a little with paint thinner. For my doors I used a double orifice 410 ff tip made by titan or is it made by synergy- it's purple? Anyway like 98mustangguy above mentioned it is most important to keep that pressure low just where the fingers disappear.I spray about 10-12 inches away. 30 doors without splatters or runs but then again, I prefer lighter coats.
Some put on a finish coat, let it tack up and hit it again. I wonder how that works out and how long they let it tack up, I have never done this.?
I visited the pivot pro website, watched their demonstration video a kazillion times and took measurements in relation to the guy demonstrating the system. I bought some tube steel and welded up my interpretation of both the door racking system and their pivot frame for spraying both sides of the door. It's impressive. The only drawback is needing another person to use the carrying handle on the other end of the painted door to move to the drying rack. I had all my doors hanging on the rack and watching it sag made the rest of my hair go grey. I still have some bugs to fine tune my model. No more rows of standing doors for me.
Frank

98mustangguy

I like the graco fine finish double orrifice tipshttp://store.spraymallstore.com/grracxsefifi.html theres a link to find the right ones. you can buy them anywhere but these are the ones i like. a 210,310,410,211,311,411 will work the first number is 1/2 the spray width of the fan the second number 10 or 11 is the orrifice size as long as you realize the smaller the orrifice the finer the finish. with a constant orrifice size ie 210-310-410 the wider the spray width the thinner the coat the tip lets the same paint through as it is based on the orrifice size and sprays to a certaint width so a 210 would spray x paint over a 4" path where a 410 would spray the same x paint but place it over 8" path. i prefer the widest path with the finest finish. this allows very light coats to reduce any chance of runs or irregularities. and like frank said get a fine finish filter and some panty hose to put over your pickup tube. this will reduce the chance of clogging your tip which result in spitting blobs of paint.

98mustangguy

Also not sure if you ever use it, but if you spray latex about 4oz of XIM Latex Extender per gallon of paint works great to thin your paint and help level out to a glass like finish.

davy crockett

IMHO I have had both the Graco 390 (12yrs to kill) and now the 440 (5yrs and still strong)although the Titan looks less industrial I would buy either again in aflash and the Titan is a better deal for the usage you're talkin'. And after you have a rig you'll then start to pick up jobs you wouldn't have even considered before( garages,decks,basements,fences,etc.)Once you get good you can knock out cabinets and make em' look new too. The key to longevity is oil and clean,oil and clean.

Will

Thanks for the extra info guys

I guess I should mention, at least right now just about all my jobs spec BM Waterborne Satin Impervo for trim and doors since that is what the GC likes me to use.

Checking out the graco rac x tips, looks like they don’t come in x11 which is what I see most people say to use. Was thinking about the 210 and 310 to start, but wanted to make sure those were ok for the latex impervo/later primer?

Thanks again

98mustangguy

perfect tip, just make sure you also use the extra fine gun filters as the smaller the tip the better the finish but also the easier to clog. BM spray very easily and lays nice and smooth. I still may put a little xim in it though. if you get the rac x fine finish i suggested get the guard also as they dont fit in the guard that will come on that 440 they only fit rac x guards.

painterman

If your airless does not come with a pressure gauge add one ,really helps when your learning to spray. Also change out the whip for a 1/8 hose. I use a 30 footer real nice to work with,so light it will not feel like its attached to the machine.

98mustangguy

just so you know 1/8 i guess would be great for your trim and such but if you ever go to spray a house with say a 617 0r 515 ect (larger tip) you will need to use the real hose that comes with the sprayer. pressure guages in my opinion are a worthless trinket unless your doing offices/apartment spraying stuff like multispec and are worried about ever having to do touchups. so i agree go with a 1/8 for your trim if you would like.

jccully

the titan is a fine pump. if you use 25' of hose this makes cleanup much easier. the main trick is to really learn how to clean that pump out after use. i also run corocheck thru mine.

czimcharopaints

the 440i is a gre4at machine. spraying doors can be tricky if you never sprayed them. buy some door hangers so you can spray like 30 doors at once horzintally and stack them on top of each other. 1/4" hose is perfect. you can clean that machine out in 10 minutes tops. that is why the discharge hose is able to come loose. use 1 bucket for clean water and one for dirty.

if you set the psi at the right pressure then spraying a garage or a basement won't be bad to stand in. there shouldn't be paint flying in the air so much that you can't stand it.