Manufacturer Cuts Paint Defects in Half

CUSTOMER: Industrial equipment manufacturer

GRACO EQUIPMENT: Pro Xpc Automatic Electrostatic Spray Guns

CHALLENGE: While replacing robots used for painting topcoat, the paint line supervisor of an industrial equipment factory knew he needed to troubleshoot spray gun issues.

Their air assisted airless spray gun tips clogged an average of five times per day. This led to poor finish quality, rejected parts, more overspray, and unneeded downtime. As a result they had:

• Bad transfer efficiency
• Poor finish quality that led to higher rejected part rates
• Higher booth/ carrier cleanings and robot cover replacements due to over spray
• Approximately 30 minutes of downtime unclogging tips per day

The paint line supervisor previously tested a Graco automatic spray gun and was impressed with the finish quality. However, upper management felt it was too costly to switch because they were storing so many parts.

SOLUTION: Their local Graco account representative offered a solution that could eliminate spray tips all together. Pro Xpc Automatic Electrostatic Air Spray Guns do not even need spray tips because air spray technology uses a nozzle instead of a tip like the air assisted airless guns.

The Pro Xpc’s air spray technology would provide a higher quality finish, better transfer efficiency and less downtime.  

RESULTS: Mounting Pro Xpc Auto Electrostatic Air Spray Guns on the new robot immediately reduced:

• paint usage by 15 percent 
• paint defects by 50 percent

Their parts came out with a smoother finish and better appearance.

With faster painting from a more efficient automatic spray system, production increased.

• The 30 minutes of daily downtime to unclog tips was eliminated.
• Booth and carrier cleanings were cut in half due to less overspray.
• Robot cover use went down by over 300 per year.