Types of Paint Sprayers Explained In Detail

1. Compressed Air Sprayers

This is the first type, also known as traditional paint sprayers. Many of you will find this one in your father’s workshop if he has one. The conventional sprayers use compressed air to release the paint in the form of mist consisting of fine paint particles. These sprayers are pretty noisy that you will wake everybody in the house and neighborhood when working on weekend mornings. Compressed air sprayers are also widely known as high-pressure sprayers and reasons are pretty obvious. There is a hose attached to the paint that sends compressed air and traps it in the container. As soon as you press the trigger, a thick and broad spray of paint occurs. A compressed air paint sprayer is easy to use and pretty suitable to enjoy garden sprayer hacks. Where this type is making the painting more comfortable and faster, there are also some drawbacks you should know.

The biggest problem with compressed air sprayers is that they make paint control pretty tricky. Due to high pressure, it gets hard to control the application and paint begins to fly everywhere. This type also comes with a disadvantage of material wastage. More than half of the material released through the nozzle gets wasted in the air and doesn’t reach the surface. While compressed air sprayers are more powerful and efficient but noise and material loss might make you think twice before getting one.

2. High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) Sprayers

The next paint sprayer type is called HVLP, High Volume Low-Pressure sprayers. Unlike compressed air sprayers, this type of tools is becoming quite popular because spray coming out of an HVLP device is always narrower, and pressure is more comfortable to control. This is the reason, HVLP sprayers are considered to be ideal for delicate and detailed projects involving complex surfaces and smaller objects. With an HVLP paint gun, you can complete any complicated job with higher accuracy and better control. Due to its low-pressure feature, most of the spray lands on the surface you are trying to cover resulting in rich volume. With effective HVLP painting techniques, the DIY people are completing all sorts of house painting projects pretty comfortably. Using an HVLP sprayer allows them to achieve pro finish in shorter duration. This type has made painting more fun and easy.

The best thing about HVLP sprayers is that you don’t have to be a professional because this type of tools is pretty easy to handle and use for amateurs. Whether you want to paint the doors or protect the cabins, HVLP paint sprayers can be used for any home project. These tools work efficiently on all sorts of surfaces including wood, plastic, and glass and can be used to apply a variety of materials such as oil and latex paints, liquors and varnish.

3. Airless Paint Sprayer

When it comes to choosing an efficient tool for a DIY home painting project, you come across many options. One of them is called airless paint sprayers. It’s another type of paint sprayers that are widely used for industrial as well as domestic projects. Airless paint sprayers are incredible in their functioning and finish. It’s the best power spray painter that will blow your mind once you come to know about it. As the name explains it, this type of tool doesn’t mix any compressed or pressurized air into the paint or any other material you are using. Like conventional sprayers, airless paint sprayers are also ideal for big projects involving the coverage of larger surfaces. This type of sprayers helps you cover the whole surface in no time pretty quickly. Moreover, they offer all the painting conveniences we discussed above while explaining HVLP sprayers.

An airless sprayer is the best spray painter for home use that allows you to adjust the nozzle to customize the release of the spray according to your needs. Almost every single drop of paint sent through the hose lands on the targeted surface without flying here and there. In short, you can cover any surface using any material in no time without creating any mess!

1. Principle of Operation

While choosing a paint sprayer, you will be finding a few features to get your hands on the right product. The first thing comes on the list is the principle of operation. Pay close attention to how a sprayer operates. If a sprayer comes with HP, powerful technology, understand that it’s going to function pretty fast allowing you to complete projects quickly. But, with HP sprayers, the applied paint only covers 45% of the surface which means, for a smooth finish, you will spray further. While on the other hand, HVLP sprayers are becoming quite popular due to high volume and low-pressure technology. This principle of operation allows the material to come out through the nozzle in a controlled manner with high volume. This increases the surface coverage up to 65% and makes it an efficient painting tool.

2. Pressure

Paint sprayers are different to paint brushes and rollers only due to pressure. These devices allow the material to cover surfaces by coming out of the nozzle in a pressurized manner. Most models come with the 8 bars of pressure and stay limited to it. But now, you can also find advanced paint sprayers with the 10 bar pressure, allowing painters to enjoy higher efficiency. With proper pressure, there is less material loss and a beautiful finish. But if the pressure exceeds the limit, compressors shut down automatically.

3. Compatible Surfaces

It’s always better to choose a sprayer that offers diverse surface application. Sprayers’ different types of nozzles increase the compatibility level of units with various surfaces. For instance, if you are planning to use metallic paint on steel, a nozzle with the tip size of 1.2 or 1.3 mm will work just fine. While on the other hand, for varnish and acrylic paint application on a different surface will require nozzles with tips of 1.4 and 1.5 mm. The most significant sizes of nozzles you can find a range from 1.7 to 2.0 mm, and they are best for the putty.

4. Tank Position

The position of the tank containing the paint is also pretty important to consider when buying a paint sprayer. There are some types of sprayers with the tank located at the top, and some come with tanks at the bottom. If the tank is positioned at the top of the gun, it will enable proper weight distribution and impressive spraying speed making massive projects more accessible to complete. While on the other hand, if a tank is located at the bottom of the gun, it will allow more control and detailed spraying for small projects.

5. Horsepower

Every sprayer has a different efficiency level when it comes to going through gallons of paint per minute. Power of a sprayer tells how many gallons of material it can apply in one minute so you may calculate how fast you will be able to complete the job. While you might find sprayers with more significant horsepower more powerful and beneficial, you should prefer the one you can handle comfortably. More massive strength moves so quickly and makes it difficult for do-it-yourselfers to work smoothly. It eventually becomes more time consuming and messy.

6. Volume

Whether you’re planning to paint the walls of the entire house or just thinking to retouch the worn out fence, size matters a lot! A paint sprayer with a low volume feature is pretty lightweight and easy to handle. It’s more suitable for small projects because it gets empty sooner and requires frequent refills. On the other hand, units with more capacity are perfect for big projects but difficult to handle due to heavyweight. If you are just into small house projects, low volume sprayers are suitable for you.

7. Ease of Adjustment

Look for paint sprayers that come with easy adjustment options. Some sprayer models in the market have a knob or dial near to the nozzle that you may twist to adjust the spray pattern. It’s always an excellent choice to go with a unit that has got multiple settings so you may adapt these all and get your desired paint finish. Sprayers that usually come with fixed parameters or require complicated steps for adjustment are not a good option at all as they bound your creativity!

8. Power: Gas vs. Electric

Another thing you should consider while choosing a paint sprayer is that either you want a gas powered or an electrically powered unit. An electric model of sprayer comes with a plug that you fit into the electricity supply holes to turn it on. The drawback of electric sprayers is that you cannot use them in places without any socket nearby. Whereas Gas powered sprayers do not require electricity but an extra fuel to work properly. They weight pretty heavy and are not environment-friendly at all!

9. Portability

Easily portable sprayers help you complete bigger and smaller tasks pretty quickly. Whether it’s an indoor project or an outdoor work, portable sprayers make it easy to go anywhere and paint the place. Prefer units that come either with a backpack or wheels so you may move them easily wherever you want. Portable sprayers allow freedom of movement while doing a painting job and don’t bind you to any limited area. These sprayers are also easy to lend to your friends and neighbors so they may attempt some home projects.

10. Cleanup

The most draining step of any paint process is cleaning the unit. The problem is that you cannot leave the sprayer unclean as it will clog the hose and nozzle, resulting in poor paint application. You need to clean it right after the project is complete. Cleaning takes a lot of time and gets too messy. Thus, prefer units with inbuilt cleanup systems that allow faster cleaning with no human efforts. You have to follow the cleanup instructions provided by manufacturers to get done with this task!

11. Value

You may find many versatile paint sprayers on the market for different types of complex and simple projects. Many brands are offering advanced models of paint sprayers to provide you with greater options. It takes a lot of consideration to choose the right one suitable for your project and painting style. Before you consider any other feature, you need to understand that the one you are about to buy is either worth it or not. It’s important to know that the unit you are buying is going to serve the purpose well.

Make sure you buy a sprayer that is compatible enough to serve you in many years to come. You need to choose wisely so you may make the most of it for every project. Aim for better versions and reputable brands regardless of how expensively it might cost. A functional unit with high-quality application ability is always worth buying. But still, you must draw some lines and never opt for units that are entirely pro level and cost pretty expensively.

1. Compressed Air Sprayers

Pros: When working with compressed air sprayers, you enjoy more control over the fluid pressure and atomization pressure. This control allows you to determine the amount of paint you want to apply to the surface and also enables you to adjust the atomization degree as per project requirement. You may change the tip sizes to control the fluid output and achieve your painting goals pretty easily without creating any mess. Compressed air sprayers are also pretty cheap, and if you already own essential hoses and compressor, it’s affordable for anyone!

Cons: If we look at the drawback of compressed air sprayers, the prominent one is the inability to provide high volume application. With this type of sprayers, you cannot achieve a high volume of paint to enjoy the most beautiful finish. Moreover, compressed air sprayers fail to provide a smooth finish at times. Due to low pressure, you might find it pretty easy to layer the spray, but there are huge chances of spray to mix with the air and create the bubbly effect. Compressed air sprayer requires a compressor separately that costs pretty expensively so if you don’t have one, you will need to buy it.

Best For: Compressed air sprayers are best for large projects including greater surface coverage. This type is more suitable for professionals than do-it-yourselfers.

2. High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP)

Pros: The most impressive benefit of High Volume Lose Pressure sprayers is that they offer reduced overspray resulting in less paint loss and decreased mess. This type allows painters to cover the surface with more accuracy and higher efficiency. HVLP sprayers are famous for consuming fewer materials but providing smoother coverage. Almost 99% of the paint lands on the surface which means you are not going to face any wastage. You will be surprised to know that HVLP sprayers are pretty affordable and quite accessible to use and handle.

Cons: High Volume Low-pressure sprayers do not have many drawbacks but a few. This type comes with the technology of low pressure that leaves users with no option other than investing more time in completing the project. The application requires much time that makes this type unsuitable for larger surfaces. But of course, you can ignore this drawback because you don’t need to invest much time in prepping up or making adjustments when using an HVLP sprayer. Moreover, cleanup time is also not required because reduced overspray means less mess!

Best For HVLP sprayers are quite suitable for professionals as well as do-it-yourselfers. This tool is best for small projects due to low-pressure feature.

3. Airless Paint Sprayer

Pros: Airless sprayers are one of the best options available for DIY projects. These types of sprayers make almost no noise because they do not come with any compressor. They are as quiet as a paintbrush and roller that is pretty impressive. Airless sprayers allow even and smooth paint applications in no time. With steady movement and right grip, you can coat a surface pretty uniformly faster than ever. Moreover, airless sprayers come with reversible nozzle feature that allows painters to turn over the clogged nozzle and continue painting without pausing.

Cons: Where this type offers many advantages, it also has some drawbacks. When using an airless sprayer, you have to be very careful with your hand motion. The movement should be constant because a single pause can ruin the coverage by making it uneven. Moreover, this sprayer type allows the use of limited fluids because the processor and nozzle are not designed to work with all textured materials. The last thing you might find quite frightening is that airless sprayers require cleaning after each use. You cannot leave paint in them overnight as it will clog everything.

Best For: Airless sprayers are suitable for do-it-yourselfers as well as professionals. You can use this type for small and large projects such as painting the fence or furniture and varnishing the wood cabinets.