# PreVal Sprayer: Anybody Tried It With Latex?



## Twister (Jul 5, 2009)

Has anybody on this forum ever tried using a PreVal aerosol spray can with latex paints? And if so, what kind of results did you get?

I tried spraying an acrylic latex primer with it and the instructions said I'd need to mix it at a whopping 3-to-2 ratio (paint to a latex extender) because the latex was so thick. The Sherwin-Williams primer spit as much as it sprayed going down on the wood but seems to have settled out a _little_ better. The primer needs to be lightly sanded before top-coating and I'll post how a test piece turns out.

Anyway, if anyone out there has already tried this PreVal product, pls let me know. Looks like an AWESOME tool for touch-ups and small products if it will spray a smooth coat.


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## Twister (Jul 5, 2009)

Uhhh.....I take it, that's a "No"?.....


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## poppameth (Oct 2, 2008)

We use to sell those things. Total just right out of the box. They don't spray correctly period, regardless of whether you thing correctly or not.


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## Twister (Jul 5, 2009)

OK, so here's my review of the PreVal sprayer unit:

The good: 

- The idea of being able to spray various types of materials/mediums with a small, simple sprayer is brilliant 
- This unit is ideal for small projects that DON'T require latex paints 
- The price (at least w/o shipping) is easy on your pocketbook 
- Measuring the volume of liquid added to the glass container is very easy 
- It uses very little paint; hardly any 'overspray' occurs 

The bad: 

- It does NOT spray all materials well, particularly latex interior paints 
- The thinning information for "water-based paints" (which therefore includes latex) is confusing; the PreVal box says thin it at a ratio of 3 to 1 but PreVal's website says thin it at a ratio of 3 to 2. Furthermore, PreVal's 
customer service reps say you'll need to experiment with a thinning ratio 
for latex to find out what works. This is an unnecessary pain in the rear. 
- The plastic pick-up "straw" that extends into the glass container is fragile; I broke two separate units by trying to swivel the sprayer nozzle in line with the 
tri-angular vent/notch per PreVal's instructions. The pick-up straw broke where 
it enters the bottom of the sprayer. (BTW, if PreVal directs you to "Turn the 
button on the Power Unit so the red insert in the button points in the same 
direction as the air vent on the coupling" why don't they just manufacture it 
that way?) I finally ended up NOT trying to twist the nozzle face in line with the vent and just left the unit as it came out of the box; about 90 degrees out of line and it worked just fine. 
- The unit cannot be tilted more than 45 degrees or paint will run out the vent hole 
- The unit MUST be cleaned after finishing using it or the paint will dry and 
inevitably lead to clogging. Of course you'd expect this if you pulled the pick- 
up tube out of your paint bottle and left it but clogging occurs even if you 
leave the pick-up tube totally submerged in your paint, for instance, if you want 
to come back later and spray an additional coat on your project 
- You may not be able to remove all clogs; the instructions say to remove a clog that you need to hold your finger over the nozzle ejector and push the nozzle down thereby forcing propellant to go backwards through the nozzle and expel the clog, but I had some paint that got trapped in between the nozzle head and the pickup tube filter and there was no way to get it out (hence, another reason why you MUST clean the unit out by spraying thinner through it when you're done each time) 

_*So here's my experience with this product so far*_: I needed to spray a ceiling medallion with a high quality, white acrylic latex paint before I glued the medallion to my ceiling. Because latex is very thick it needed to be thinned. Some mediums need to be thinned at 8 to 1 or even 4 to 1 but latex needs to be thinned at a whopping 3 to 2 ratio. When I asked PreVal customer service if the high ratio of the thinning additive would discolor or alter the capabilities of the paint, they said "no" and referred me to the thinning product they recommended (X-I-M Latex X-tender). However, when you read the X-I-M Latex X-tender product sheet it boasts no dis-colorization or paint detriment when you use the product at a rate of 2-6 ounces per gallon, not at the enormous rate of 3 to 2. So the jury's still out on how your applied latex paint will perform in the long run. So after thinning at both a 3-2 ratio and even a 3-3 ratio, latex paint still does NOT dispense from the nozzle in a fine, highly atomized form like a spray paint can. Not good. It shoots small globules of paint; very small, but globules nonetheless. (Note: I didn't try to thin it down more than 50-50 because I felt I really needed more paint than thinning product on my medallion but that's just me.) True, at a ratio of 3-2 or 3-3 the paint does flatten out a lot when drying but I was never able to get a perfectly even, globule-less coat of paint; if I hold my project at various angles after the paint dried I'd see what looked like very small, light `freckles' close to each other on the medallion (this is the paint globules/spatters after they dried). Next I decided to move the spray unit across the surface more slowly and load it up with more paint. When I did this the `freckling' was not a problem; paint would dry in a nice, smooth coat. However, now the problem was that your paint is so thinned out, and put on so heavy, it runs. Remember, you can't tilt the sprayer more than 45 degrees while spraying. So you can't put your project down flat because you don't want to tilt the sprayer more than 45 degrees and get paint to leak from the sprayer, nor can you hold the sprayer upright and tilt your project up off your workbench (because paint begins to run). This was EXTREMELY irritating!!! I ended up tilting my medallion about 15-20 degrees and held the PreVal unit a little less than 45 degrees and tried to quickly paint my medallion before paint started to run. It seemed to work but what a hassle! 

*Keep in mind that my review deals strictly with spraying latex paint.*


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## Preval Tech (Oct 16, 2013)

*preval sprayer unit*



Twister said:


> Has anybody on this forum ever tried using a PreVal aerosol spray can with latex paints? And if so, what kind of results did you get?
> 
> I tried spraying an acrylic latex primer with it and the instructions said I'd need to mix it at a whopping 3-to-2 ratio (paint to a latex extender) because the latex was so thick. The Sherwin-Williams primer spit as much as it sprayed going down on the wood but seems to have settled out a _little_ better. The primer needs to be lightly sanded before top-coating and I'll post how a test piece turns out.
> 
> Anyway, if anyone out there has already tried this PreVal product, pls let me know. Looks like an AWESOME tool for touch-ups and small products if it will spray a smooth coat.


Hey guys! I know I'm way late on this but just in case someone stumbles upon this, I'd like to give you some advice on using the sprayer with latex paints. Sorry to hear that you had issues. The Sprayer can accommodate latex paints, but the dip tube must be primed in order to do so. Remove the strainer from the dip tube, hold a rag (or use your finger) over the red insert in the button, block the orifice and push the button down for a second (you will see bubbles in the liquid as the clog of latex is pushed out of the unit). 

The biggest problem usually is spraying latex with acrylic polymers as that can bind and clog up the dip tube as well as the filter that's on the dip tube. We typically always recommend that you strain your paint prior to spraying it particularly when the paint is not brand-new and remove the strainer. Every latex is different and water usually does work as long as the pain is strained because the strainers typically will remove any large strands of acrylic.

If the power unit gets cold, wrap it with a hot towel to bring it to room temperature or the pressure will become too low.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask or refer to our website for FAQs on different types of uses of the sprayer.


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## Twister (Jul 5, 2009)

Preval Tech said:


> Hey guys! I know I'm way late on this but just in case someone stumbles upon this, I'd like to give you some advice on using the sprayer with latex paints. Sorry to hear that you had issues. The Sprayer can accommodate latex paints, but the dip tube must be primed in order to do so. Remove the strainer from the dip tube, hold a rag (or use your finger) over the red insert in the button, block the orifice and push the button down for a second (you will see bubbles in the liquid as the clog of latex is pushed out of the unit).
> 
> The biggest problem usually is spraying latex with acrylic polymers as that can bind and clog up the dip tube as well as the filter that's on the dip tube. We typically always recommend that you strain your paint prior to spraying it particularly when the paint is not brand-new and remove the strainer. Every latex is different and water usually does work as long as the pain is strained because the strainers typically will remove any large strands of acrylic.
> 
> ...


I'm the guy that wrote the lengthy review of spraying with latex paint using your product. Is your recommendation to pre-prime the pickup tube a *new* piece of information/instruction on the PreVal website or info your techs give out now?, because when I was talking to the techs, NONE of them told me this, nor was it on the website at the time of my issues (several years ago). The consensus from them was, thin it down and experiment until you found what worked. No offense, but that's a  answer. Your company makes a BRILLIANT product, in theory, but I'd have to see a demo of it on YouTube, spraying with LATEX, before I'll sing your praises. BTW, if you want to give your product the PR you think it deserves, I recommend you go on Amazon and refute my reviews there....I must have posted the same review at least 3 or 4 times on Amazon because I was so frustrated with it.

So, to get the PreVal sprayer to work as you claim when spraying latex paints, what is the thinning ratio you use? I was using 3 (paint) to 2 (thinnning medium....Zim's Latex Xtender) and even 3 to 3.

BTW, I think I actually DID prime the unit before spraying. I DO remember VERY clearly that I sprayed quite a bit of material on a test scrap BEFORE painting the medallion in order to ensure I had paint flowing freely through the pickup tube. Is that not "priming" the pick up tube? (BTW, my paint was fairly new and I stirred the crap out of it before using.)


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## Twister (Jul 5, 2009)

So, to get the PreVal sprayer to work as you claim when spraying latex paints, what is the thinning ratio you use? I was using 3 (paint) to 2 (thinnning medium....Zim's Latex Xtender) and even 3 to 3.

BTW, I think I actually DID prime the unit before spraying. I DO remember VERY clearly that I sprayed quite a bit of material on a test scrap BEFORE painting the medallion in order to ensure I had paint flowing freely through the pickup tube. Is that not "priming" the pick up tube? (BTW, my paint was fairly new and I stirred the crap out of it before using.)


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## Preval Tech (Oct 16, 2013)

Twister said:


> So, to get the PreVal sprayer to work as you claim when spraying latex paints, what is the thinning ratio you use? I was using 3 (paint) to 2 (thinnning medium....Zim's Latex Xtender) and even 3 to 3.
> 
> BTW, I think I actually DID prime the unit before spraying. I DO remember VERY clearly that I sprayed quite a bit of material on a test scrap BEFORE painting the medallion in order to ensure I had paint flowing freely through the pickup tube. Is that not "priming" the pick up tube? (BTW, my paint was fairly new and I stirred the crap out of it before using.)


Dear Twister,

Frustrating.....we know - oh do we know!!!!

In short, priming the unit with water or solvents is always a great way to clean the unit and lubricate it however by straining the latex with a stocking, or strainer you will remove any large latex strands that is probably creating this whole mess.

By straining prior to, you can than remove the standard built on plug strainer from the bottom of the diptube, as this piece is no longer needed, and you will decrease the chances of buildup. 

The built on plug strainer is mostly used for straining lower viscosity paints and we are even considering on discontinuing the accessory altogether.

Next, thin the latex using (depending on latex, etc, so these are estimates) 3 parts paint, 2 parts thinner (preferably xim latex xtender if using Sherwin Williams paints, or a latex conditioner for better flow, or even water)

Softly shake it up using the product container and twist on cap. Never shake the product in the container when it's attached to the power unit.

Now --- You are ready to test, again, and;

We would be happy to send you a bunch of free product to try it for yourself again, consider this as an apology and let us know how it sprays. If you have a camera shoot some photos or video (before and after) as we always love to share them with others who also aren't in the know.

But one thing we do know: "it sprays latex professionally." 

The Preval Spray Team


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