Air line setup

[71mopar383]

what is a good setup for my air line to do some paint work do I need a dryer or 2 do I use a seperate air line just for painting?

[70charger_boy]

1/4 NPT line with a good water seperator applied to the base of your gun.  Air compressor must put out the required cfm of air you need.  You definately need a 2 stage compressor 220v.  If you use a 110v compressor you can contaminate your paint with water and oil.  If your just applying  primer you can get by with a 110v compressor

[bill440rt]

I do not recommend just using a "last chance filter" as they're called as your only stand alone filter.  You definitely need an in-line water separator, placed as far away from the compressor as possible. I have two of them, placed at opposite corners of my garage where I plug my air lines into.

And, a LARGE 110v compressor will work fine (approx 5gal, 30hp). I have one, with no problems. It is a Craftsman, I believe a 6 gal, 33hp size.

[Todd Wilson]

Using a HVLP gun there isnt a 110volt compressor out there that will keep up. I know for a fact the 20gal 5 hp Cambell Hausfeld Heavy Duty unit wont do it. I know for a fact the black craftsman pro series 5 hp  33 gallon unit wont do it.  I ended up having to buy a 2nd 110volt unit in order to complete my 71 project a few years back thats how I ended up with both. Together I had about 50-55 gals of air reserve. We started with the CH unit and quickly learned we didnt have enough air to run the DA and air tools for any length of time to get things done. So I found a damaged freight Craftsman oiless Pro unit. Together they both ran constant and did the job. When it was time to paint  01 suggested using the Craftsman as the only pump as it was oiless that would help in not having a chance to get oil int the air. It wasnt several minutes into the process he yelled at me to kick on the CH unit as he was low on air. We never did have an oil problem. My CH unit I bought new many years ago and it didnt have but a few hours run time so we basically had 2 new units when we started.


Believe it or not we used the CH air filter setup. You can buy them at the farm store. If my memory is right they are roughly 125$ unit. You replace the moisture beads. We did this several times thru out the process to insure clean air. We also had a small inline filter at the gun. The gun was  Devilbiss GTI Mil. HVLP gun. Very nice unit.

I would guess you need a minimum of about 12cfm  to do body work in your garage. I estimated I had around 13.5cfm. Both units worked hard but they did the job. A 220volt unit is the way to go if you have a place to put it and 220 juice to your garage. Save your $$$ and invest in a good 220 unit.

If you are just gonna squirt a shot of primer here and there a 110volt would do it but that seems like a very expensive thing to do after you mix up your chemicals for just a few spots here and there. Dont matter if its primer or paint you got to have a system that will keep up.  Make sure you have that system in place before you start or you will have a very expensive problem on your had after you mix up your primer or paint  and start spraying the car only to find out you cant get it done before your primer flashs on you and is no good. Its not like a can of spray paint.   Once you mix up your stuff  its like lighting a fuse  and you got to get r done. If you have priced good quality primers and paints  you will know this could be a costly mistake not to mention screwed up all your hard work on the car if it spits and spats all over it.



Todd

[Todd Wilson]

I
And, a LARGE 110v compressor will work fine (approx 5gal, 30hp). I have one, with no problems. It is a Craftsman, I believe a 6 gal, 33hp size.

Those are odd units you have there?!   


Todd

[bill440rt]

YES, it is a 6hp, 33 gal. It puts out 11.9cfm, & is oiless, 110v.

It worked totally fine spraying for me, including HVLP. You can't run an entire body shop with it, but it works great for me here at home.

[lilwendal]

Best thing I ever bought for my paint set up was a dryer.  Found a real nice Ingersal Rand on Ebay for a  steal.  I bypass it most of the time and use it only when shooting. Talk about clean dry air.  I noticed a difference with the next car I shot. Especially here in Florida where we already live with 90% humidity all the time.