An airless paint sprayer is a paint tool that speeds up the painting process and leaves you with a flawless, evenly distributed finish. You might think the process takes more time? Ironically, it’s a big no! The job is finished at twice the speed compared to other traditional painting practices.
But the efficiency of the airless paint sprayer depends on how well you prime and service it. Before we take a look at how to prime a paint sprayer, you might want to understand how a paint sprayer works.
Why is there a Need to Prime a Paint Sprayer? Irrespective of whether you rent the paint sprayer or buy the paint sprayer, you need to take care of a few setup points. All the sprayers have a screen and they need to be cleaned of the paint waste and dust. Many of the newer models have filters and cleaning them is a must while using those because it directly affects the runtime of the machine.
How to Properly Prime a Paint Sprayer
Pieces of equipment for safety will include goggles, gloves, dust masks, and coveralls. On a clean surface, take the materials required to prime the machine.
Step1: Pressure Relief
Proper setup is important to keep the machine in an efficient working condition. Before operating the machine or starting it for the first time de-pressurization is a good practice as it helps the machine to last a long time.
- Employ the gun trigger lock
- Kill the switch
- Disengage the lock by reversing the tip
- Hold the metal part against the ground and trigger the gun to relieve the pressure
- Employ the trigger lock
- Shift the prime valve to the drive or drain position
Step2: Prime the pump
- Employ the trigger lock again
- De-assemble the tip and guard from the gun
- Let the intake hose in the paint can and place the drain tube in the trash can
- Make sure that the position of the valve is in the drive or drain position
- Set the machine to the lowest pressure setting
- Turn the on/off switch on
- Increase the pressure of the machine until the engine starts. Let the paint flow in the nozzle until the outlet from the hole is smooth
- Kill the on/off switch
Step3: Prime the Hose and the Gun
- Hold the gun firmly to the grounded waste pail, detach the gun trigger and pull the gun trigger and hold
- Put the prime valve in the spray position
- Let it flow until an outlet of the spray is witnessed. After this, turn the switch to off position and let go of the trigger
- Position the gun to paint pail and pull the gun trigger, alongside turn the switch to on, and let the spray run for 20 seconds
- Let go of the trigger and let the pressure get built in the sprayer
- Employ the trigger lock
- Screw the tip and tighten
Test the revived masterpiece as testing always helps to facilitate the output.
Cardboard, scraps or any waste material can be used to test the machine. For spraying follow this process.
- Put the pressure control knob in a midway position.
- Keep a distance of 12 inches between the test surface and the nozzle, detach the trigger lock and spray the test pattern.
- In case of heavy edges, keep spraying with a slow increase in pressure.
- Continue the process until the edges are turned into a soft, blend-able spray pattern.
PRECAUTIONARY ADVICE: The spray speed is immense and it can be pretty painful if you end up injecting yourself. So, always test the machine by keeping the nozzle away from your body and others as well. Switch the trigger to the lock position when not in use.
How Does a Paint Sprayer Work?
The paint sprayer works under high pressure, 3000 PSI to be exact. Under this tremendous pressure, the paint is pushed through a hose. The real beauty is the design of the tip — your paint will break into tiny droplets that are sprayed in a fan-shaped pattern for maximum coverage.
And because airless sprayer pumps paint directly from a 5-liter gallon or a can, they turn out to be a real time-saver. It is easy to use and efficient in painting large areas such as painting a new house or a large fence.
One downside to the method is that it takes extra time to flush the paint from the hose and clean up the gun completely. And, if you are renting the sprayer, things can get worse as you have to clean the whole filter and install special storage fluids.
Conclusion of How to Prime a Paint Sprayer
These steps will surely tune your machine and it will be spray ready. Be sure to follow the safety procedures and the start-up method to receive the best cleaning. Happy Spraying!
