# Electric paint sprayers



## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

Are there any electric paint sprayers that are any good? Say just for small jobs. I was thinking of getting the Wagner Flexio 590 for doing some doors, my fence, and just random small odd jobs like that. 

http://www.lowes.com/pd_456606-97-0529010_0__?productId=4619636


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

Yes as long as you know their limitation they are ok. I had one I used to use for like I had 1 door to paint. I would take the door off take it outside and spray it. One thing I learned with it, don't let it get over half empty, if you do it would tend to spit.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

They're ok. I use my old Wagner to paint stuff like wicker furniture, etc. I'm sure it would be fine on some doors and fencing. Just don't go in with high expectations.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That would drive me nuts trying to do a bigger job like that fence, having to stop every few min. to refill it.


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## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

Yeah, I didn't think about that part. Maybe there is a way to rig it up to a bigger tank. Or just buy the more expensive one that rolls around on these little legs. That's probably the way to go. I think you can hook those up to a 5 bucket of paint or a 1 gallon. 

I'd just like to avoid an air spray rig, they require air, and my air compressor is really small. Also to get a decent one, its really expensive. The decent electric ones seem FAR cheaper.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

For small jobs like that I've found it's faster and I use less paint just rolling it.
By the time you get it set up, get the paint thin enough, not have to deal with masking or over spray and the clean time I would have been done with a roller and brush.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

You can hook up you electric sprayer directly to a paint can with a clear, long tube. I'll see if I can find a picture of one. It's the clear tube in the lower left of the picture, I think.


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## TarheelTerp (Jan 6, 2009)

Bennylava said:


> Are there any electric paint sprayers that are any good?
> ...for doing some doors, my fence, and


If the job is small enough to be done WELL with a sprayer
it's small enough to be done well with brush and roller too.

If the job is big enough to warrant spraying (like that fence)...
you can rent the proper sized spraying equipment to do it right.

In between are things like wicker furniture.
Unless you have a lot and often... spray cans will suffice.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

What kind of fence is it picket, solid, wood, chain link, solid panel, rail?
What is on the other side of the fence neighbor, field, garage?
How much fence is there a couple hundred feet, 1/2 mile, 2 miles?
These factors all have a bearing on best way to paint. Gotta say though it would be fun to watch the brush and roll guys do a couple miles of fence.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

I had one of those Wagners.....not worth the trouble. 

If the job is too small for my airless....and too big for the brush....then my go to is a HVLP sprayer.


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## Jmayspaint (May 4, 2013)

I got one of these little Gracos one time for 100 bucks. It worked very well for small/medium spray projects. If you have a short line (25' or less) you can spray a small project without much material waste. 

I ended up using it way more than I would have thought for the two years that it survived. I could even do small Sheetrock jobs with it. 

I've also used Wagners, and Graco hand held models. Of all of them, I would recommend this or something similar for smaller occasional spray jobs using acrylic paint/stain. 


http://magnum.graco.com/products/M_Pages.nsf/Webpages/0MagnumX5


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## VAProPainter (Jan 29, 2014)

I would agree that the Graco cup sprayer is a good product. It is much more user friendly than the Wagner, sprays unthinned latex, and is easy to clean up.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

The Wagner Flexio 590 is pretty good, I've used it with good results on small to medium projects. Some people who are referring to "the Wagner" seem to be thinking of older Wagners in general, and not aware that the Flexio sprays unthinned latex just fine.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

ddawg16 said:


> I had one of those Wagners.....not worth the trouble.
> 
> If the job is too small for my airless....and too big for the brush....then my go to is a HVLP sprayer.


Are you saying you've used the Flexio 590, and that it's not a HVLP sprayer?


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## Bennylava (Mar 22, 2013)

jeffnc said:


> Are you saying you've used the Flexio 590, and that it's not a HVLP sprayer?


I'd like to bump for the answer to this question. The Flexio 590 is the one I was looking at, due to its lower price than the Graco guns. 

I'd like to have the Graco, but its pretty expensive.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Bennylava said:


> I'd like to bump for the answer to this question. The Flexio 590 is the one I was looking at, due to its lower price than the Graco guns.
> 
> I'd like to have the Graco, but its pretty expensive.


 
Not that much more.


http://www.cjspray.com/homeowner-sprayers/products/reconditioned/graco-lts15-257060-sprayer.html


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

VAProPainter said:


> I would agree that the Graco cup sprayer is a good product. It is much more user friendly than the Wagner, sprays unthinned latex, and is easy to clean up.


If you mean the graco paint station 3900 or 2900 they will NOT shoot unthined latex. If you mean the trueshot yes it will but the cost is pretty prohibitive.


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## hotrod351 (Jun 15, 2012)

i bought the Graco Magnum LTS17 couple years back. problem is that its really designed for decent size jobs. wouldnt want to use it to paint a 10' X 10' shed or wall, more trouble than its worth to clean up. so i knew i needed something smaller to use. i bought the wagner flexio 590 and glad i did. and for the $129.00 at lowes. with both the main sprayer and a detail setup its perfect. really like the fact that i can simply flip the lever on the front and go from wide spray to narrow in a second. and its so quite, sounds like a hair dryer.you can set it down with the main sprayer on it but the detail one is not. they should of thought of that. the only bad reviews i read was the dripping, and i think thats from not cleaning, or straining the paint. by the way i strained a can of latex paint form HomeDepot though some window screen. no thinning required. perfect. not bad on over spray either. they have another model with a separate housing with the blower inside but then you have a hose attached to something to trip over and bang into and drag around. now it would be nice if it came with a extension for the end but it probably doesnt have enough power for that. only time will tell how long it last. again it really quite.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Bennylava said:


> I'd like to bump for the answer to this question. The Flexio 590 is the one I was looking at, due to its lower price than the Graco guns.


My question was a bit rhetorical, because I already knew it was a HVLP sprayer.

There are more reasons to use a "mid size" sprayer like this.

For small jobs, spray cans were mentioned. But with cans, you are very limited in your paint selection. Latex is out, for example, as far as I know.

For larger jobs, it was mentioned that a bigger rig might be better. But this can be cost prohibitive, and also the overspray knocks it out of contention for a lot of indoor jobs, and some outdoor ones as well where you don't want the overspray.

Then roller and brush were mentioned. But some jobs would be too tedious with brush/roller. Something like lattice, for example. Or a brick fireplace that has deep joints, like this. Maybe hard to see in the pic, but those joints would just take forever with a brush, and would be impossible with a roller.


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## hotrod351 (Jun 15, 2012)

again, go get the flexio 590. i think youll be happy with it.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

Just my opinion but I would look into the Graco X5 The cost is about double but again in my opinion you would be getting more than double the sprayer. Everything I have read on the Flexio says it has the same problems Wagner has always had it spits and splatters. The more you use it the more it splatters. The older ones if you didn't let it get over half empty It only spattered very little, but this meant refilling pretty frequently.

Also from what I have read in the reviews it really doesn't atomize the paint well. This means the paint coming out the nozzle are bigger than they should be. This could be the cause of the splatter and makes clean-up harder. From the two cites I read they both rated it at a little over 3 out of 5. Neither of these were Wagner sites they were consumer sites.

In the name of fairness I also checked the Graco x5 and the rating was 4.5 In my opinion it is a much more versatile unit and can be used easier and for more projects. Also you can work out of the bucket or can with out stopping to re-fill every few minutes. And if any larger projects EVER come up you will appreciate the versatility. Overspray was mentioned with the proper tips overspray is a non-issue. The difficulty of clean-up was mentioned, run a gallon of water thru it, remove the filter and swish it around in the bucket of water=done. What's the hard part?

Now again in the name of honesty I have not used either of these units. I have used Wagner units but not this model. I have used the smaller Graco units (Magnum 9). And I wouldn't trade my graco, which I still have and use for small jobs, for 50 Wagners.


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## jeffnc (Apr 1, 2011)

Comparing a Wagner Flexio to a Graco X5 is simply apples to oranges. You are comparing HVLP to airless, and they are just 2 different things.

Overspray and spray in the air are related to particle size and velocity. Yes, you get a finer spray with a high pressure airless sprayer, and you get larger particles with an HVLP. But that is not an advantage or disadvantage, it's just an attribute. Inside an occupied house without using a body suit and ventilator and covering everything in plastic, you don't want a fine spray making a cloud in the house, you want a larger particle size that won't get airborne. You don't _want_ it to atomize the paint _too_ well. That is the point of using this kind of sprayer. It is not just a question of overspray and tip size, it's a question of atomizing the paint into the air.

At the same time, many HVLP sprayers don't have the oomph to spray thick latex. The Flexio does. Yet you would certainly not use it to paint the entire outside of your house, for example. That is what airless sprayers are for. These are 2 different types of tools and while there is some overlap, they are meant for different jobs.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

jeffnc said:


> Comparing a Wagner Flexio to a Graco X5 is simply apples to oranges. You are comparing HVLP to airless, and they are just 2 different things.
> 
> Overspray and spray in the air are related to particle size and velocity. Yes, you get a finer spray with a high pressure airless sprayer, and you get larger particles with an HVLP. But that is not an advantage or disadvantage, it's just an attribute. Inside an occupied house without using a body suit and ventilator and covering everything in plastic, you don't want a fine spray making a cloud in the house, you want a larger particle size that won't get airborne. You don't want it to atomize the paint too well. That is the point of using this kind of sprayer. It is not just a question of overspray and tip size, it's a question of atomizing the paint into the air.
> 
> At the same time, many HVLP sprayers don't have the oomph to spray thick latex. The Flexio does. Yet you would certainly not use it to paint the entire outside of your house, for example. That is what airless sprayers are for. These are 2 different types of tools and while there is some overlap, they are meant for different jobs.


I respectfully disagree with with your apples to oranges analogy as both are considered DIY sprayers. If I had compared the Flexio with a real HVLP 5 stage unit which will spray uncut latex and runs about $3000 then another $600 for a pressure pot setup that would be apples to oranges.

This statement is simply not true. With the correct equipment and the knowledge we are now painting trim ,crown, and baseboards. And although spraying in an occupied house is not something you want to do it is done.

Unless it's a very small job as stated the airless with different tips and sizes is a much more versatile tool. It will do the smaller jobs but if you ever want to do the side of your house or say a shed you don't need another tool.

And as for atomization yes smaller is better with a small tip and hold your gun closer you don't get the "splash back" for lack of a better term. This means less overspray and and the drops are small enough that at about 2' if there is any overspray it will be like dry fall.

All I'm saying is after using HVLP and airless both, my HVLP is in the garage in a box.


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## hotrod351 (Jun 15, 2012)

jeffnc said it best. perfect.


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## hotrod351 (Jun 15, 2012)

many HVLP sprayers don't have the oomph to spray thick latex. The Flexio does. yes it does. no problems, even doing it in 100 degree weather.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

If you found something you like and it works for you that's great. Not trying to change anybody's mind just another point of view.


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## dfphoto (Jan 18, 2011)

*flexio 590*

Hi group, I just bought one {flexio 590} used it two days (a couple hours a day) I sprayed pva primer on a bedroom ceiling 1.5 walls and a larger dining room, living room, spare area ceiling. I was using an lvlp (yes low volume low pressure) but that won't shoot a ceiling.

Here's my take:

1. The flexio is pretty powerful and can shoot a ceiling no problem.
2. Definitely more over spray than the lvlp.
3. Clean up was no more time than the lvlp - tooth brush, and a couple of tube cleaners would be helpful. I bought a harbor freight spray gun cleaning kit worth 5.00 for sure.
4. Only two issues... one is the first day I think the finish has a roller looking pebble finish I don't think I had it dialed in. second issue is if you let it sit a bit I got a splat of paint the first pull of the trigger, so I think I need more power I had it lower trying to avoid the over spray never shot it on full power which I'll try tomorrow. 

At the worst case I get a roller like finish with a few splats here and there I did have a 3" roller handy to smooth out but I learned to pull the trigger and let the splat hit the canvas then start shooting the gun. Also, this used a lot more paint than the lvlp.

Didn't use the fine sprayer but will tomorrow. if you have questions let me know.


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