Settings for an Air-Assisted Airless Spray Gun
Pros advise a beginner on how to ease up on the right fluid and air pressure settings for his new AAA equipment. April 19, 2006
Question
I've got my Kremlin MVX with the 06, 09 and 12 tips and I did a little spraying. Can you guys direct me to starting-off points for Clawloc, it's dilution, best tip to use, fluid and air pressure? And the same for Resistant and Krystal? I know you guys did all the brain work on this, and I'm riding your coat-tails, but it sure would save me a lot of wasted material.
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor A:
You do not need to reduce your coatings with the use of an Airmix. Lay down your 4 - wet mils of unreduced coating and off-the-gun you have your world class finish. For tip sizes and set ups, if your supplier of materials also sells Kremlin then let them come into your shop and show you how their finishes and your equipment will make you money. Hands on demonstration is best. I use the Kremlin but as for the settings I have (still) almost no idea. I do know that I am spraying unreduced material.
From contributor B:
The 09 series will do just fine unless you are fast with the gun in hand. If so, you will need the 12 series for the primer. No need to reduce the Clawlock or Krystal - cat and spray away. However I would reduce the Resistant 10%-15% . Settings on Primer 40 psi fluid (red), 15 psi Air (red). Resistant and Krystal 35 psi (red), 10-15 psi Air (gray).
From contributor C:
I would tell you what I tell all my finishers. Start every day the same way: both knobs start at 0, go with fluid up until it atomizes the way you want, and then add air pressure to get rid of tails. It’s pretty simple. I will say that resistant has been trickier than most. I would say that you would not have to thin approx. 90% of materials shot through a Kremlin. Resistant is one of those exceptions - we go 10-20% thin, and run at approximately 40 psi fluid and 10 psi air.
From contributor D:
You did not specify what Kremlin pump you have, only the gun - so the advice you got above may not correspond to your pump settings. If you have a 10 to 1 or 20 to 1 pump for instance you have to use different settings. I would recommend 500 to 600 psi of fluid pressure at the gun and about 10 to 15 psi of atomizing air. You will need to determine what setting on your pump will achieve these fluid pressures. For instance a 10 to 1 pump will take 50 psi (Red knob) of air and convert the fluid into 500 psi because of the ratio of air to fluid in the pump itself. The same 500 on a 20 to 1 pump would only take 25 psi of air at the Red knob. The 09 tip will work for most of your applications unless you like to move very fast, in which case try the 12.
From contributor A:
I looked at my settings for unreduced Duravar (for example). The knob on the left is set to 12 psi and the knob on the right is set to 40. Then when I reduced my Duravar I adjusted the left knob down to 10 psi. I am using the 10:1 pump. I forgot what tip I had but that didn't matter since when I changed tip sizes I used the same knob levels, 12 and 40.
I have never had such a pleasure spraying 4' x 8' panels than when I used the AAA. If there are any folks using the Asturo AAA I would like to hear from them either here or privately, especially if it has been A/B'd against the Kremlin. If there is an appreciable difference between the two rigs, that's what I want to hear about. If they are two of the same, more or less, then that's what I want to hear about.
From the original questioner:
To all those who helped me out, I just finished shooting the second coat on 25 drawer boxes with Krystal. I used one half gallon of material. That's $0.60 a box. I used about 3 qts with the first coat and the #9 tip, but I used the #6 on this one, as I got a few sags. As I get better, I'll move up to the #9. This is one piece of equipment that makes one feel empowered in their potential. I can make a bunch of money with this rig. Once again, thanks to all!
From contributor E:
My first set of drawer boxes with a #9 was a lesson in moving quickly. I have a #6 on order for any future small items or when I need to shoot soft/slower. The #9 seems to be perfect for cases. I imagine the 12 would be great for large backs or table tops laying flat.
I agree with the material saved. After using my rig for a few jobs, I remember watching my other booth user spray a table top with a cup gun. It was a cloud of overspray. All I could think of was how much material was hitting the floor and booth filter wall - probably more than half. I reduce Magnamax by 5-10% with flow enhancer2 and a bit of thinner. No Krystal yet, so I have no advice for that material.
