# Spitting at beginning and end of spray fan. Graco parts. NEED HELP



## JonM

Hi all,

I am having a problem trying to spray a fine finish on doors, casings, and mouldings.

The first time this happened I was trying to spray some wainscotting. When I did a test spray I had paint spitting or splattering at the beginning AND the end of the spray fan. I had a brand new Graco 212 tip. The sprayer was an older graco lent by a fellow painting contractor but worked fine otherwise. After talking to the guy in Vancouver who rebuilds and services Graco sprayers he told me it was likely the gun. So I went out and bought a brand new contractor gun and hose but the problem was the exact same. I tried different tips and pressures but nothing helped.

I then tried my new gun yesterday with a different Graco sprayer, the 490, and had the exact same problem while trying to spray doors and it was a nightmare. Starting and ending the spray fan off the door so the splatter doesn't end up on the door is not an option because I am often spraying in close quarters with the doors attached to one another.

I have heard people claim it is the Graco tip and/or the contractor gun which is not adequate but I'd like to sort it out because I'm sure these sprayers must be adequate for finishing woodwork or they would not be such an industry standard. There is some type of yellow O ring or seal that came with the 212 tip but I'm new to spraying and was not sure what it was and so did not install it inside the gun.

Any help is much appreciated.


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## ExcelPaintingCo

I know it's only treating the symptom and not solving the problem, but if you pull and release the trigger off your work (the object you are painting), then the spit will land on the floor, masking, etc. and not be an issue.

I've never been able to completely stop my guns from spitting, it seems to come and go, so I'm interested in a mechanical fix for this as well.


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## straight_lines

Its an issue with the gun save having any air in the line.


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## Rcon

It's the gun. Graco contractor guns have always spit for as long as I can remember - just pull the trigger before you're over the work piece and release it after.

They're just cheap $100 guns so don't expect much from them.


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## Workaholic

When you bought the new gun did you use the same tip housing?


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## mr.fixit

the problem is in the gun new or not. the tip and tip guard should not be the issue. something is causing the needle inside the gun to not seat correctly on the diffuser. the diffuser is the piece at the end of the gun that can be removed and is under the tip guard.the needle is inside the gun and cannot be seen without disassembling the gun, however if you remove the diffuse you will be able to see the end of the needle assembly that sits in the diffuser which contains the carbide steel seat, the ball at the end of the needle sits into that seat closing the gun. if that seat or needle is not sitting correctly or is worn or pressure cut the gun will leak. remove the tip guard and try to tighten the diffuse it takes a 5/8 wrench. there is also a nut on the back of the gun that can be used to adjust the needle position pressure the unit with water and try to adjust the nut. to adjust make very small turns to wrench. hope this helps


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## JonM

ExcelPaintingCo said:


> I know it's only treating the symptom and not solving the problem, but if you pull and release the trigger off your work (the object you are painting), then the spit will land on the floor, masking, etc. and not be an issue.
> 
> I've never been able to completely stop my guns from spitting, it seems to come and go, so I'm interested in a mechanical fix for this as well.



I normally set my doors up standing next to one another and nailed together with a piece at the top of each door. I do this because I spray on site and have tight quarters to work in so if I were to do that I would spit on the adjacent doors. I appreciate the reply but I need a setup that does a proper fine finish so I can work efficiently and have a great product and if I need to buy a better gun etc. I'm willing to do it.


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## JonM

Rcon said:


> It's the gun. Graco contractor guns have always spit for as long as I can remember - just pull the trigger before you're over the work piece and release it after.
> 
> They're just cheap $100 guns so don't expect much from them.


Any recommendations on a better gun? I'm not averse to buying one we just don't have much selection in Vancouver other than Graco/Contractor so I'd probably have to buy one from the states without being able to test it.


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## Oden

The problem could be in your handle filtere. Is it clogged? Is it too fine a mesh for your tip or material? Strain your paint into your feed and try using no filter or a very course filter and see what happens. Your symptoms tell me that your filter is the problem so I'd eliminate it, see what the result is and go from there. You can't have your gun spitting. That's just gypsy.


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## JonM

Workaholic said:


> When you bought the new gun did you use the same tip housing?


I did use the same tip housing, which was new and came with my 550 tip when I purchased it. There was a yellow ring with the fine finish tip but I don't know where it should be used.


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## JonM

Oden said:


> The problem could be in your handle filtere. Is it clogged? Is it too fine a mesh for your tip or material? Strain your paint into your feed and try using no filter or a very course filter and see what happens. Your symptoms tell me that your filter is the problem so I'd eliminate it, see what the result is and go from there. You can't have your gun spitting. That's just gypsy.


Filter was new, along with the rest of the gun. I am spraying a latex semi-gloss and have not added anything to thin it. I could try eliminating it but would then have no filter to keep contaminants from getting sprayed onto the doors etc.


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## Oden

JonM said:


> Filter was new, along with the rest of the gun. I am spraying a latex semi-gloss and have not added anything to thin it. I could try eliminating it but would then have no filter to keep contaminants from getting sprayed onto the doors etc.


Your filter should corespond to your tip and it's not so much to keep contaminants off of your substrate as it is to keep your tip from clogging. Sometimes the mesh might be clogged or the mesh may be too fine for you're material. That upsets the pressure in the gun and the trigger action won't work right and it will spit. I would try using a very course mesh filter and prestraining the paint or I would try thinning the material.


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## JonM

Oden said:


> Your filter should corespond to your tip and it's not so much to keep contaminants off of your substrate as it is to keep your tip from clogging. Sometimes the mesh might be clogged or the mesh may be too fine for you're material. That upsets the pressure in the gun and the trigger action won't work right and it will spit. I would try using a very course mesh filter and prestraining the paint or I would try thinning the material.


The mesh is whatever came stock with the gun but it looks quite fine. I would assume that latex semi gloss would do ok with the filter size but I will try and suss out a larger diameter filter mesh to try.
Thanks


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## JonM

mr.fixit said:


> the problem is in the gun new or not. the tip and tip guard should not be the issue. something is causing the needle inside the gun to not seat correctly on the diffuser. the diffuser is the piece at the end of the gun that can be removed and is under the tip guard.the needle is inside the gun and cannot be seen without disassembling the gun, however if you remove the diffuse you will be able to see the end of the needle assembly that sits in the diffuser which contains the carbide steel seat, the ball at the end of the needle sits into that seat closing the gun. if that seat or needle is not sitting correctly or is worn or pressure cut the gun will leak. remove the tip guard and try to tighten the diffuse it takes a 5/8 wrench. there is also a nut on the back of the gun that can be used to adjust the needle position pressure the unit with water and try to adjust the nut. to adjust make very small turns to wrench. hope this helps


I took the gun apart and everything seems to be seated correctly. I can see and feel the needle sitting tightly against the carbide steel seat. I have the nut on the back of the gun tightened completely to ensure the needle is sitting as firmly as possible into the seat.


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## JonM

I'm not sure yet what this piece is for. It came with my FFT212 tip and I'm sure it must be used somewhere. Can anyone tell me?


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## painterman

I can not see the picture but what you have is the seal for the tip if you are spraying other than latex. This is not your problem. What pressure are you spraying at...You should be using a 100 mesh filter (blue I think) with a 212 ff


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## Damon T

ExcelPaintingCo said:


> I know it's only treating the symptom and not solving the problem, but if you pull and release the trigger off your work (the object you are painting), then the spit will land on the floor, masking, etc. and not be an issue.
> 
> I've never been able to completely stop my guns from spitting, it seems to come and go, so I'm interested in a mechanical fix for this as well.



Yeah I think thats pretty common. Everyone I know starts off the work and finishes off the work. Graco guns spit. Maybe it's the nature of airless spraying? You can set the doors up in an accordion type position, using the 90 degree brackets installed at the top of the door, of just set them up in accordion style and run two 1x2's on the top with screws, if they're even spaced 3-4"s away from eachother at an angle you will be fine Jon.


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## nEighter

another way to know if your gun filter is getting clogged is that it stops turning freely at the swivel joint. 

Since you say this is a new gun, is everything properly torqued? I haven't messed with a new gun in a while, but I can remember there being a couple adjustments you can make to it to adjust that pin on the seat IIRC. Read the online manual to your gun, google any issues and see what you can do.

good luck.


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## oz_painter

if the yellow o-ring thing is the seal behind the tip in the gaurd it needs to be used in unison with the tip i would assume. is the tip guard new? because to me it sound like the tip guard is not tightened up properly or could be the orifice of that seal behind the tip in the guard is to large.

when ever i have this problem i replace the tip guard, tip and the o-ring seal behind it and generally that solves the issue


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## Dj913

the yellow ring is supposed to be used when spraying "hotter" fluids. solvent based products..


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## Hoffmann

I have the same issue after borrowing my sprayer to a friend. I don't know if its his fault or not but I never found a solution for that problem. I'm using a cheap Wagner sprayer thou, so it's not a big deal.


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## Truckee Painter

I always thought it was caused by using and extension. I will have to try the courser screen technique.


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## woodcoyote

The yellow ring is best used for lacquers etc. The reason being is that the black ring has a tendency to swell when lacquer or lacquer thinner is used, I never clean the rings with lacquer thinner for that reason.

Secondly, what about the filter in the actual machine? Seems like you checked the filter in the "gun". Try a 60 mesh in the actual paint rig if you don't have one already, 60 is meant for thicker materials like paint.

Sometimes if your using the switch tips it helps to run for 1 or 2 seconds first in the "flush" position, before turning it to the spray side, clears some debris out. I've found if I let it got for 1-5 seconds, I get better results.

Contractor guns spit possibly, but anyone ever try the FTx guns? I usually go contractor, but Sherwin gave me a dang good price on a new FTx, have yet to use it. $150 was hard to beat for that gun, seemed like it was a better quality one too. 

Good luck.


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