Conventional airspray guns are great for most coating applications, but there are some jobs whose size and scope require something faster and more efficient than what traditional airspray can provide. This is when airless spray guns come into play.
Airless spray guns are designed to utilize high material pressures to atomize the coating by forcing it through a very small orifice at the tip of the gun, thus negating the need for air. Material pressures typically range from 1,500 to above 4,000 psi. There is no needle and the “nozzle” of an airless spray gun is referred to as the tip. Just like nozzles, tips come in various sizes for different material types. The tip also acts as the air cap in the way that in affects the spray pattern itself. With a traditional air spray gun, you would adjust the fan pattern control in order to regulate how much air is coming from the horns in the air cap, thus effecting how wide the fan pattern is in the spray jet. With an airless spray gun, the size of the tip also regulates how large the fan pattern will be on the spray jet.
These systems are typically more compact and simpler than their airspray counterparts as there is no need for an air compressor and the related hoses and fittings. There is simply a high-pressure pump, which is typically mounted on a trolley, that feeds the material through a hose to the spray gun itself. The pump is supplied from the material container. The higher material pressures also mean quicker coating times for large areas since much more material is being disbursed. This makes airless spray systems very popular in the contractor market, particularly with wood, architecture, aviation and marine applications.
Jorge Flores, Marketing Coordinator
Coating Equipment Technology, Inc