I’m somewhat new to the finish department (9 months) and I’ve been having a lot of trouble trying to train myself without anybody to teach me or certifications etc.. the biggest problem I’m having right now is some kind of solvent pop or micro bubbles or fish eyes, things like that coming up in my finish. I use a AAA CA technologies gun for spraying ML Campbell vinyl sealer and magnaklear, and for those I have the bobcat with only one sized tip. Almost all the stains I use are from ML and I do all of the color matching in house with mineral spirits. That’s a whole thing in itself that I’m slowly learning how to do. Like I said, I don’t have anybody here to teach me how to do this and I’m kind of learning by trial and error, but there are some errors that I keep coming across which I have not been able to find a permanent solution for. Most of the solid pop and micro bubbles. I have been able to solve by putting butyl acetate in the magnaklear but today’s issue was attempting to put black coloring into topcoat of a gravity gun since I didn’t want to ruin my only AAA; and spray black magnifier mix through the cup gun, which worked really well on the smaller pieces that I had but anything more than 12 ft.² is a real pain in the ass to try and drag the cup gun evenly across and spread it perfectly. It doesn’t help that a couple months ago the fan in the fan booth speed regulator has broken so I only have a fan at 100% or 0% so things are drying very quickly and most of the spray is getting sucked towards the fan, which is pretty huge. The entire booth is about the size of a studio apartment. We do lots of mass production at the shop, but I can generally get away with somewhat subpar quality for the industrial commercial jobs but that’s not really what I’m aiming for. I want to be good at this and I would really appreciate any and all tips and help for Things like toning shading glazing. I’ve gotten a hold of a couple of friends who are also in woodworking and wood finishing, but all of them do residential stuff and have never really touched the kind of equipment that I’m messing with here. I’ve been going to the forum here for a couple months, trying to make sense a lot of of it, but most of these terms techniques tools, and so forth are way above my reference of knowledge. That being said, thank you in advance for any and all help.

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in your last photo you have the pickup tube sitting in an open can. I would get a mixer which sits on top of the can and also keeps debris out.
also get your variable speed fan fixed and invest in some different size tips for your gun.

Hey Chris. So the shop manager has had a few electricians and HVAC ppl come look at the VFD and attempt to replace it and/or fix it. I honestly need to get the entire sprayer setup serviced. I’m familiar with magnum sprayers but never used AAA’s before.

Pics posted are the 3 guns I use here at the shop.

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Hello Will, hopefully as you learn more and gain experience you will get better at finishing along the way. Stay on the shop manager until you can regulate your air flow. I see you use CA Technologies spray guns. We use a few of these guns too, but different styles than yours. Chris is right when he says invest in multiple tips. I find the right needle matched to the right tip, and the correct air cap makes a big difference when spraying different products. See if the information for these guns is still around and start learning which setups you need for your guns. You can also find gun diagrams online. If you can't I'll see if I can find the website for you. And if you don't know how to, get comfortable breaking down your guns for cleaning and to inspects your needle seals, and miscellaneous washers and seals. My CATs are finicky and require periodic reworking. To minimize downtime I keeps a parts board by my spray bench with my spare important parts, and extra needles, and instructions for which products they are to be used with. Good luck to you.

a couple of thoughts do u soak the aircap, if so, stop, here is why

when u drop the air cap into a jar of solvent,, it disturbs all the sediment in the bottom of the container. it will over time and luck, clog the air cap especially the horns of the cap, then mostly, u will get a weird pattern not caused by the spray tip, it will drive u nutz

all u need to do is take a soft bristled brush and clean off any overspray. if u r getting a lot of overspray dirt on ur aircap, in most cases u r spraying to close to ur part and getting bounce back.. u r aircap should remain clean at almost all times except for the above or a seal defect.

good luck herb j also a vfd if faulty should only be about 300 dollars < 5hp