We have a Binks MX pump, and a CAT bobcat pump. Hands down, the CAT is better, and I wouldnt hesitate to buy another. The unit is reasonably priced, and parts are reasonable. My finisher abuses it, and it just keeps working.

I like the Graco ES pump, it won't hiccup. I love the Graco G15 and the G40 guns, they are so much easier to disassemble for cleaning than the CA Technologies aa guns, and they are by far more ergonomic. To me, the most important thing I want is a small fluid hose, a 1/4" ID is great. The thicker fluid hoses are like trying to rig your gun to an eel or a boa constrictor which wants to twist & turn no matter how you try to hold it.

I meant 1/8" ID for the fluid hose, not 1/4"ID as I had written. Whoops.

We have several AAA pumps, the oldest is about 15 years old and has been rebuilt twice, the other two are 3-5 years old.

Basically these are good reliable pumps and they have good support over the phone, especially if you have a good WURTH nearby that sells them.

In all honesty though, I suspect we're going to eventually replace them with new Kremlins. I've sprayed Kremlins that were 25 years old that were horrendously neglected and left with precat finish in them constantly, and by some miracle of good engineering they always worked fine.

Even with good daily cleaning we find that we end up having to clean the bottom ball seals on our CAT pumps more than we'd like..... but we also spray conversion varnish which can be a bit more troublesome when cleaning since the cured residue is a lot more chemically tough.

I have a Cat rig also, maybe 8 or 9 years old now. I replaced the main seal after 3 or 4 years and the new one is adjustable so should last a lot longer, though I haven't had to touch it since. I've also found like Matt that I have to drop the intake tube and clean the ball every so often, maybe every other year or so. Replace the hoses every few years and that's about it. It really is a nice rig and the gun is pretty good as well. I thought about the Kremlin but money was tight at the time so ended up with the CAT. Can't really say anything negative about it.

good luck,
JeffD

I had both a CAT and Merkur running side by side for around 8 years and in that time I probably spent enough in replacement parts on the CAT to buy a new one and always had to keep extra seals and o rings on hand. Gun was rebuilt too.

In the same time period the merkur with the g15 gun had to have one $30 seal replaced in the last 6 months before I sold both.

And the Merkur sprayed better as well. I’ll never own another CAT anything.

If you want top notch look at the Wagner Cobra AAA.