HVLP and Airless Paint Sprayers: What to choose?

If you are going to purchase the paint sprayer, it will definitely come in mind that whether you should choose a HVLP paint sprayer or an Airless paint sprayer. Here you will find the reasons and the best possible help for choosing the particular type of paint sprayer for your need. It is clearly dependent on the type of job you are going to cover. An airless paint sprayer is commonly used for outdoor application because of more overspray and loud noise as compared to HVLP sprayers. In contrast, HVLP sprayers can do the detailed and precise job with little overspray and almost no noise. For visual detail, you should take a look at the following video to see the differences in comparison between air assisted and airless system.
(The fast one is airless. The slow one is hvlp)

Comparison between HVLP and Airless Paint Sprayers

Operating Principle

HVLP sprayers are the advancement of conventional air sprayers. In an HVLP, air compressor atomizes the paint to spray at high volume and low pressure inside. In some units of HVLP, turbine can be used instead of compressor for atomization. On the other hand, in the case of airless sprayers, piston is used to pressurize the material through a small orifice. So, in airless sprayers, there is high pressure but it is created by the hydraulic pumps instead of air compressor.

Production

Thus, HVLP paint sprayers are known for fine production, not for high production. Airless units have a transfer rate of fifty percent while this number can reach to up to 90 percent for HVLP models due to their lower wastage. But airless paint sprayers are more powerful because of the high pressure inside of about 2000 PSI while usually, the HVLP ones just have pressure around 10 PSI at the nozzle.

One more thing is that painting result of HVLP units looks better due to better atomization. You can notice more it with stains, enamels or varnishes. Thus, HVLP paint sprayers are the best option for touchup and detailed jobs. On the other hand, HVLP can’t handle the exterior jobs rapidly. Noticeably, airless paint sprayers can consume a can of paint at the rate of two gallons per minute.

Material Viscosity

You don’t need to thin the paint for an airless paint sprayer as it can spray the paint straight due to high pressure. But, there is fuss for this case of HVLP sprayers where thick paints such as enamel latex are usually not allowed.

Performance

HVLP paint sprayers with compressor have no problem in achieving the fine spray. Moreover, you can get wide range of pressures using compressor. It is especially helpful when spraying fine spray. Besides, turbine units of HVLP paints sprayer are portable and their hot air reduces significantly the time for drying and thus no choke can happen inside the hose. However, there is one downside is that most of the HVLP paint sprayers can’t paint with the unthinned paints.

Airless paint sprayers are usually portable and really a workhorse to handle thick paints and jobs covering large area. They can spread gallons of paints in just a minute. That is the reason why these paint sprayers are widely accepted usually by the professional contractors. You can paint oil or water based product with an airless paint sprayer. But, it does not fit for jobs having small area because the spray pattern will be coarse and hard to control. Besides, airless paint sprayers have piston instead of turbine and they are much noisier as compared to HVLP paint sprayers.

Precautions

Airless sprayers are more dangerous due to high pressure and high temperature as operating. Also, these products have more overspray problem than the HVLP paint sprayers. So, you need to be more careful while painting with airless sprayers. It is compulsory to avoid direct contact and cover all the nearby things with drop clothes before you start using an airless paint sprayer. Also, there may be a risk of amputation even while using airless system. So, you need to read carefully read the instruction before using the airless paint sprayers. Use mask and safety glass for proper handling.

Cost

HVLP paint sprayers with air compressor are costlier than the airless paint sprayers and its turbine counterpart. But, if you already have a compressor, you can use it with the HVLP spray gun and its other accessories.

Suitability

As HVLP paint sprayers have less overspray, it is a superior choice if you are working with the expensive paints. They are also better option for the jobs requiring preciousness and detailed works such as furniture and fittings. On the other hand, airless paint sprayers fit best for big and relatively flat surfaces such as walls and oil tanks.

Conclusion

HVLP and airless paint sprayers are complement to each other according to the job application. Customer must pick the particular type of paint sprayer according to the specific requirements for the job. If you are want it for outdoor jobs, you must go for an airless system. On the other hand, HVLP technology fits best for indoors and common shop-use pieces. For a professional contractor, there are few models in the market which incorporate HVLP technology with the airless system for multipurpose jobs that are certainly the best choices.