# Capsray vs Apollo hvlp units



## sayn3ver (Jan 9, 2010)

Anyone have first hand experience with both, particularly the respective performance of the included guns? I was dead set to pick up a capspray 115 but saw Apollo makes a very similar unit. 

I'm in South Jersey so Sherwin Williams are on every corner... Getting parts for the titan should be pretty easy. 

Is there local support for Apollo units or are you forced to rely on the internet and shipping for parts and filters? 

Both have roughly the same needle sets available. The 6 vs 5 stage doesn't seem like a huge deal. By the time one would purchase additional fluid sets for the Apollo to match the included tips of the capspray they are equally priced. 

Seems the capspray has some additional add on accessories if one ever needed to spray more material continuously. 

I would also assume the gravity gun is preferred over the siphon cup for thicker materials or is that more personal preference?


----------



## Bobmatko (Jun 11, 2015)

The apollo gun is great. The ring lets you adjust from spot, to fan on the fly without much effort. Breakdown is a snap, and the new guns have a pin instead of the screw like on the youtube video. The power 5 sprays aristoshield with very little thinning. I just got done spraying a whole house worth of trim and doors. The small amount of overspray let me use 9" paper taped to the wall instead of plastic cover everywhere. There is a slight mist after spraying a whole room, but it blows out when you open windows. Im using a 2.5 needle/nozzle setup for the heavy paints. Overall the price was worth it to be able to supplement the power of my airless, which would make a mess of such small jobs. 

Gravity cup or pressure cup, your gonna feel the pain after a little bit. Holding 1 quart of paint, plus mechanism puts a workout on your hand/forearm. I plan to eventually add the 2 quart fluid feed system that they make.


----------



## sayn3ver (Jan 9, 2010)

Does the Apollo gun have separate air and fluid adjustment like the capspray elite gun?


----------



## Bobmatko (Jun 11, 2015)

The Apollo gun has a ring near the nozzle area. Depending on how much you rotate the ring will determine the spray pattern. The needle knob on the rear of the gun controls the volume of paint that gets applied. The needle knob is universal on all hvlp that I've used. The fan pattern however is unique to Apollo. You can do a YouTube search on the apollo 7500 gun to get an idea of what I mean.


----------



## sayn3ver (Jan 9, 2010)

Besides online it doesn't look like Apollo has any distribution in the new England area? Is that something to be concerned about? 

It looks like their air filters look very similar to an older airfilter that would be used over a carberator. Any chance of pep boys or autozone carrying an automotive part that would work in a pinch? 

I did watch a few videos online and their product seems solid. I just hesitate buying anything where parts and distribution are limited to mail order channels.


----------



## Bobmatko (Jun 11, 2015)

Being in CA im probably much closer to the manufacturer, and im still dependent on the internet for things. So far, I cant comment on durability as I havent used it long enough. If access to readily available parts is a great concern than this may not be the best option. Personally, I trust the reviews I did on the product and hope to get many years of use out of it, time will tell. 

If your going for the power 5, which is what I have, it has a meter on it that tells you hours of use. On the side of the filter housing (chrome shield) there is a sticker, "replace filter or clean after 50 hours of use". Im not sure how much spraying you plan to do, but thats quite a bit of work. You can also help them stay clean by keeping the unit out of the area where you will be spraying. Im not sure about car filters fitting, but the $35 for 2 new filters is not that much every year or 2 for a $1000+ tool. Im sure most people spend more than that on Coffee in a month. 

Again, its a choice you eventually will have to live with so I cant help in that regard. What I can say is that I have purchased 90% of my tools online with only a few complaints (e-store not product).


----------



## sayn3ver (Jan 9, 2010)

The cost of the filters wasn't a concern . I wasn't sure of the maintrnance schedule. The Apollo filters look to be cheaper than the Titan replacements anyways. 

My concern is that people say if the filters get dirty the tubine will start tripping it's breaker meaning it's pulling more amps then it's designed for because it has to work harder to pull air past the filter. I know you said it's recommended every 50 hours. But we all know filter life is dependent on the environment it's operating in. Same room as you are spraying is going to accelerate their wear. Spraying fence pickets out in a dusty area. Etc etc. 

I guess I could just keep stock of the wear items. 

I was asking more to make sure I wasn't overlooking a local channel. 

I know the two closest Sherwin Williams don't stock parts for the caprays either despite being able to sell the unit to me so it's not a huge difference if I needed a filter or part in a pinch.


----------

