# Earlex 5500 VS Brush VS Airless



## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

As far as my little business goes, production does not matter. Well, it always matters to a degree, but doesn't really affect this particular question. 

I'm still doing mostly older homes (early 1900's) with 6"-8" baseboards, 4" trim around doors. Oak banisters, french doors...that sort of thing. Sometimes they have been painted sometimes still original. 

I've been intimidated to use my ProShot indoors. I've done it a few times, but it blows so much product in often small spaces. (12X12 or less rooms) I can brush or whiz roll doors and trim by the time I prep a room to spray the same. 

I've never used my airless indoors of a residential house. Dragging and filling a 50' hose and pump for small work never seems justifiable. Sometimes all I would need is a quart to do one window or two doors, that sort of thing.

A brush is a brush. Aside from some super hero painters out there it would be safe to say "spray looks better (smoother) than brush".....

I'm wondering if a HVLP is a solution or not. This Earlex is a cheap unit for under $500. The most attractive aspect of this is the mobility and easy clean up. (waiting for Scotts review....slacker!)

Without having seen one of these in use, the question is the overspray minimal enough that I could use in occupied residential home? Is it realistic to spray a door with one of these?

What I'm not bringing up is the air assist due to cost. I just don't do enough or will I to justify it. 

....and so I'm looking for a solution to bettering my brush quality, but with the down fall of minimal use and application. In winter I do not have a realistic heated space to do this work. (garage pad...yes in floor heat...is being poured next spring :thumbsup

Suggestions......other things I might consider?




ps....sorry if this reeks Wolf. :whistling2:


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

Some examples:


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

You do great work!

I use my HVLP weekly, I spray int. doors, cabinets, and stair rails. You can dial it in for minimum overspray. I just sprayed a interior front door with one piece of 12" paper around the door and a drop cloth.


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

BTW if you do a google search of "Earlex hvlp" some youtube vids come up. I have never seen those units. I have only used Graco and Titans. You can pick up a small unit for about 800 bucks. The smaller the stage you will have to thin your material more. So the bigger the better for heavier materials.


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

Thanks, aside from the painted window the other pics are of projects coming up. 

There is that little airborn material? Heartening!

The wood work is good, but certain bits and pieces are worn down with hand oils, dirt build up over the years, sils that have weathered and water stains from potted plants etc...


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

I've watched many of those YouTube vids but still doesn't give an idea of over spray and 'real world' scenarios.


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

ewingpainting.net said:


> You do great work!
> 
> I use my HVLP weekly, I spray int. doors, cabinets, and stair rails. You can dial it in for minimum overspray. I just sprayed a interior front door with one piece of 12" paper around the door and a drop cloth.



That gets me all paint geek excited....


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

The only potential downfall can be is the turbines in the HVLP throw out warmer air than a compressor, resulting in increasing the temp of the coating, speeding up the cure time.

It's not a issue unless you need/desire more open time. More open time allows the coating to level more, less can result in flashing on coatings that naturally dry faster like alkyd emulsions. When I sprayed BM Advance it shortened the open time, which was fine with me.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

PH

The Earlex 5500 is a great unit at its price point, which is in the same range as the ProShot and ProShot Fine Finish ballpark. It is a good sprayer to fill a gap, I think best for guys who have an airless and dont want to haul it out to a job to spray a couple of doors or closet shelving type of stuff. 

It isnt a precision crafted piece like some of our other hvlp units, but at its price point, it will deliver a good finish and I find it to be a producer in the right situations, which I probably wouldnt consider trim packs in occupied spaces to be ideal for it. 

I agree that the regular ProShot is too much, and lacks adjustability. The Fine Finish can do it, and I have used it in that application, but the downside for me is that there is a quantity point at which a cordless quart cup is too limiting on. If you are running it hour after hour, your production will get ahead of the battery ability to recharge. I take 6 batteries when I am running it for more than an hour or two, and multiple cups. I do this from time to time, but would not want to rely on it in a larger capacity such as spraying alot of trim hour after hour. 

I know you are not looking into aaa at this time, so I won't bore you with why I like that option. I would say that the next best option to meet quality and efficiency goals, and by that I mean transfer efficiency and lack of overspray resulting in a great finish with the ability to pump most any finish at a high level, the 9.5 Turboforce is a great tool. It is higher priced than the Earlex, but its a little stud hvlp. Five stage with some nut is hard to beat in that class. 

However, you are still limited to a quart cup, but a quart in hvlp goes a good bit further than a quart in a ProShot. 

This is a tough question. I think figuring out the average size of your typical jobs would be key to making the decision on type of technology. You may find that none of them serve your current situation and budget range well enough to invest in. But if you are committed to having something onboard to increase your efficiency, I think the discussion in this thread has it on the right trail.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

P&H that window on the orange wall can be sprayed with an HVLP with less overage than a brush. Dialing-in an HVLP is essential to its transfer efficiency. Full open bore would not be the way to spray the window or that french 15 lite. Even on the frenchy, the overspray would be next to nothing and shouldn't need to exceed a 1" piece of tape on the glass. 

You can see in this photo below how minimal the overspray could be. Even in this photo, its excessive, but that was production and no need to be neat.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

What a shame to have to cover that oak.


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Wolfgang said:


> What a shame to have to cover that oak.


I've committed worse blasphemy this week.


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## mpminter (Mar 21, 2011)

I own the earlex in question and I wish I could return it. I bought it to paint trim and occasionally do clear finish work, but have been disappointed everytime I have used it. A good friend of mine has a capspray 6 stage and he can spray unthinned latex with it. I now have a PS FF and that has taken over the "small item" role for now until I get a bigger HVLP. I don't know weather or not I want a pressure pot unit or a turbine. Leaning toward...both:thumbup:


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

VP - alright, I apologize for the "slacker" comment....

Thanks for the perspective.

I don't have a problem spending money if I have use for it. Your right, its a balance. If I painted full time this would be a no brainer, but as I'm heading into winter, so starts basement renos, kitchens and baths. There are opportunities for its use though. 

The size of job will always be small. What is small? A few doors, banister, trim here and there. Building some cabinets for a wall unit, refinishing some furniture. Never mass production. 

A big part of this is my own personal quest of getting better at this painting thing. Not sure why, but I don't hesitate tearing apart a room and rebuilding it, but I'll have angst over how to finish it. What's that about? PT instilled paranoia?

These fuji's get good reviews...http://www.feldercanada.com/html/fuji/mini_mite_3.html

$600 for a decent starter unit sounds like a good price point. 

Here is a local used one... http://winnipeg.kijiji.ca/f-HVLP-Classifieds-W0QQKeywordZHVLPQQisSearchFormZtrue

Like JP's example, I'm fascinated with its uses. Jamming a brush at a grill seems so uncouth. :whistling2:


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## Rcon (Nov 19, 2009)

For the kind of work you're thinking of using the unit for, i'd just go airless if you're not ready for an air assist yet. 

HVLP shoots some mighty fine finishes, but while the overspray becomes less of an issue the dust in the air it produces quickly negates it. Because an HVLP uses air to put out material, all those fine bits of atomized finish end up in the air creating a ton of dust. So in the end you need to do just as much masking (if not more) for HVLP than you do for airless. So again I would just go airless until you can get an air assist. 

Oh and don't shoot solvent lacquer with one in an enclosed space without proper ventilation or - BOOM! HVLP creates a lot of 'fog' which is ignitable.


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

Rcon said:


> For the kind of work you're thinking of using the unit for, i'd just go airless if you're not ready for an air assist yet.
> 
> HVLP shoots some mighty fine finishes, but while the overspray becomes less of an issue the dust in the air it produces quickly negates it. Because an HVLP uses air to put out material, all those fine bits of atomized finish end up in the air creating a ton of dust. So in the end you need to do just as much masking (if not more) for HVLP than you do for airless. So again I would just go airless until you can get an air assist.
> 
> Oh and don't shoot solvent lacquer with one in an enclosed space without proper ventilation or - BOOM! HVLP creates a lot of 'fog' which is ignitable.



That's exactly what the Graco guy said today also.


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## Rcon (Nov 19, 2009)

Paint and Hammer said:


> The size of job will always be small. What is small? A few doors, banister, trim here and there. Building some cabinets for a wall unit,* refinishing some furniture.* Never mass production.


For this, you'd probably be very pleased with an air compressor that puts out a minimum of 8-9 CFM and a gravity gun. Sata makes the best guns but any will do - even a CH from the big orange store (or princess auto if you have one). I use a princess auto gravity gun to spray stains - works great for stains and sealers but it's not great for topcoats. 

If you surf your local classifieds you can probably find a great compressor for fairly cheap - I found a used Devilbliss 11.9 CFM 25 gallon for $500. Far better than any HVLP in my opinion. Use the 3M PPS cups with it and you'll be really impressed. 

And just topcoat with your airless.

ETA - that's for shop use - I don't use it for site work due to the fog issue.


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## paintpro08 (Jun 21, 2008)

As vermontpainter said, HVLP, air assisted airless and regular airless are all complete different systems for different applications.

HVLP is perfect for fine finishing, where you can get a lot of control of the spraypattern and finish with minimal overspray.

We sell Titan, Graco and Apollo. I like the Graco Turboforce units, but really love the Apollo turbines and guns. Apollo only makes HVLP equipment, unlike Graco. Probably Graco's biggest interest lies in Airless/Air assisted units.

If you would contact Apollo, I think you will find them very easy to deal with and they will give you answers for your questions. :thumbsup:


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## mpminter (Mar 21, 2011)

I touched on this briefly earlier on, but I would be curious to hear from those who have used both turbine cup guns and compressor powered cup guns/pressure pots. What's the main difference in performance? Is there a difference? I'm thinking I can get a pressure pot setup for less than I would spend on a turbine. Am I on track?


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

Rcon said:


> For this, you'd probably be very pleased with an air compressor that puts out a minimum of 8-9 CFM and a gravity gun. Sata makes the best guns but any will do - even a CH from the big orange store (or princess auto if you have one). I use a princess auto gravity gun to spray stains - works great for stains and sealers but it's not great for topcoats.
> 
> If you surf your local classifieds you can probably find a great compressor for fairly cheap - I found a used Devilbliss 11.9 CFM 25 gallon for $500. Far better than any HVLP in my opinion. Use the 3M PPS cups with it and you'll be really impressed.
> 
> ...


Thanks Alec. I was in Princess Auto the other day (its a weekly visit ) looking at their guns and compressors. 

The local graco guy also suggested a compressor/gun as the best option. 

Like VP said, nothing fits perfectly for what I want. In fact maybe playing with FF tips and mixtures with my Proshot is the best option for now. Not sure I can see a Proshot doing finishes on the wood work you see in my pics though. 

Portability and minimal clean up are key. 

.....maybe a brush.


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

I won this unit in the shootout VP hosted on his site. I have found plenty of uses for it, and love using it on small jobs where I would have been fighting that pos blue cordless gun. 

This was spraying SW easy sand primer on these new built ins I made, and some bead board MDF.


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## Steve Richards (Dec 31, 2010)

VP and NEPS both give cool stuff away in here?

Couple of nice guys, IMO


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

I've used my Turbin HVLP for lacquering many times, the only time it clouded up bad, is when my air flow was to high. I think that can happen with any spray unit. 

I've had pressure pots, the last one sat around because I kept going to my HVLP unit. Easier to maintain, clean, move. You can also do away with the cup gun with a turbin unit. The compressor pack accessory attaches to the unit. Giving you the ability to separate the gun from the material cup.


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## JoseyWales (Jan 8, 2011)

I rarely use my 4 stage HVLP...You need to thin latex excessively because the air blows so hot..Dialing it in to produce a nice finish with acrylics is difficult and time consuming...Because you have to thin latex sometimes 30-40% it has a tendency to run.

Rcon is correct about the dust...I sprayed a Fireplace + window with Aura in a master bedroom and had to cover every square inch.

Before I'd buy a 6 stage I'd look for an air assisted unit for jobsite spraying...That's my next purchase.


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## Paint and Hammer (Feb 26, 2008)

At the risk of being cheezy, I'd be interested in someones used HVLP if they want to sell and upgrade. I don't think I'll do enough to spend $$ on a new one, but would probably get years out of a used one. 

pm me.


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## ewingpainting.net (Jun 2, 2008)

My wife wanted our stair rail painted black. So I grabed my a hvlp from the shop and I was going to spray it. I got spray dust all over the house, taking away any points I had gained. Boy she was pizzed. 

The fact is it takes learning the unit and knowing how to use the unit. Scott said it in a post about the Proshot, you treat it like a proshot. Same with the turbine HVLP, you can't treat it like a proshot or a AAA, you have to learn the machine and how to use it. I now can spray getting liltle to none spray dust other than in my imedate spray area. I do thin material, but its only 1oz to 1 quart of paint. It just getting to know the unit.


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

JoseyWales said:


> I rarely use my 4 stage HVLP...You need to thin latex excessively because the air blows so hot..Dialing it in to produce a nice finish with acrylics is difficult and time consuming...Because you have to thin latex sometimes 30-40% it has a tendency to run.
> 
> Rcon is correct about the dust...I sprayed a Fireplace + window with Aura in a master bedroom and had to cover every square inch.
> 
> Before I'd buy a 6 stage I'd look for an air assisted unit for jobsite spraying...That's my next purchase.


That was oil primer Josey.


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

I did use my airless and a 210 fft for the advance satin top coat thou. Its going one more coat after I get the tile finish and the crown up.


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## Mike's QP (Jun 12, 2008)

Paint and Hammer said:


> VP - alright, I apologize for the "slacker" comment....
> 
> Thanks for the perspective.
> 
> ...


 If you get a good HVLP setup you can add bathtub refinishing to your winter agenda!


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## vermontpainter (Dec 24, 2007)

Good stuff Tommy


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