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An airless sprayer is made from several components which are
made from many individual parts all working together to help make painting easier.
An airless uses high pressure, rather than air, to atomize materials so they
can be sprayed on to a surface. Here we will talk about the anatomy of an airless
sprayer.
Pump / Fluid Section
The heart of an airless paint sprayer
is the pump, also called the fluid section. It is what moves and pressurizes
the material to be sprayed such as latex paint. Airless pumps are normally made
of hardened, heavy-duty steel so they can create the high pressure needed to
atomize paints and other "sprayable" materials. Some fluid sections such as
Graco's Endurance Pumps have additional features like their Chromex Rod for
longer wear. Current Graco Endurance Pumps also come equipped with V-Max packings
for longer life. - Read more about airless
sprayer pumps.
Motor
Probably the second most important
component is the motor, the power that pumps the pump. Most airless paint sprayers
use electric motors followed by gas engine driven sprayers. Graco's Contractor
Series electric paint sprayers come with a lifetime motor warranty. Definitely
something to consider when purchasing a new airless.
Drive Train
The motor would be useless if it is
not connected to the pump. Like a transmission, and axels in a car, the drive
train in an airless gets the power to where it needs to go. Graco's Contractor
Series paint sprayers come with a lifetime drive train warranty. Also something
to think about when purchasing a new sprayer.
Hose
Next we need to get the pressurized
liquid out of the sprayer and to the gun & spray tip. This is no regular piece
of hose! This is specially designed and manufactured to hold up to the very high
pressure the pump has put the fluid under.
Gun
For an airless to work the system
needs to stay pressurized so we need to hold back the fluid until we need it.
We also need to be able to easily and safely turn on and off the flow at will.
Tip
The spray tip controls both the spray-fan
size and the amount of fluid that is allowed to come out. Because of this, it
is a good idea to have several different tip sizes in your painting kit.
- Controls the amount of fluid being sprayed by using different
orifice (opening) sizes.
- Orifice shape determines the spray pattern size - height
and width
- Graco tips can be turned 180° to easily blowout clogs
Pressure Control
Since we can't control pressure with
the gun, hose or tip, we need a pressure control. There are 2 main types of
pressure controls; Electronic and Mechanical.
Chassis
We need something to hold all these
components together! There are three common chassis design configurations; Stand
(also called a "skid"), Hi-Boy (sometimes called an "upright cart") and Lo-Boy
(sometimes called an "low-profile cart"). There are a few other airless sprayer
design types such as Convertibles and Roof-Rigs - these 2 are hydraulic sprayers.
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