Intro to Airless Paint Spraying

Another fluid spray method is High-Volume, Low-Pressure – or HVLP. These systems also utilize compressed air, but in a different way than standard air spray systems.

With an HVLP sprayer, a turbine delivers a large volume of air at a much lower pressure to atomize and spray the fluid. In fact, the unit must be 0.7 bar (10 PSI) or less at the air cap to qualify as HVLP.

These systems are designed for smaller fine finish jobs because they provide the least amount of overspray and unmatched precision forthe highest quality professional finish.

The third spray delivery method is Airless Spray. This method differs from the previous two as these sprayers need neither a compressor or a turbine. 

Airless spraying is the fastest and most versatile way to achieve professional painting results and spray the widest variety of materials, unthinned. In fact, using an airless sprayer is up to 10 times faster than using a brush, and at least four times as fast as a roller!

Airless spraying achieves this speed by atomizing, or breaking up fluid into small droplets, without the use of compressed air. Instead, fluid is pumped under high pressure through a spray tip. The fluid emerges from the tip as a high-speed solid stream – but when that stream hits the air, it becomes disrupted – and the fluid separates into very small droplets that form the spray pattern.

If you’ve ever placed your finger over the end of a running garden hose, you created a very simple form of airless spray.

Finally, Air-Assisted Airless is the fourth delivery method. This system combines airless and air spray methods to deliver the finish quality of an HVLP sprayer, with the speed and efficiency of an airless sprayer. This is achieved by adding compressed air to an airless spray fan pattern.

With air-assisted airless spraying, material is delivered to the gun at 20-40% lower pressure than traditional airless spraying (35 – 100 bar vs. 100 – 227 bar) and is partially atomized through a small tip. Full atomization is achieved by adding a small amount of air (0.35 – 2.5 bar) to the edges of the spray fan – resulting in a softer pattern, more control, higher transfer efficiency, and less overspray.