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Old 02-26-21, 09:21 PM
  #16  
Doug Fattic 
framebuilder
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Niles, Michigan
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Originally Posted by Mulo
Ok guys I'm about to buy the W300, the offers from Japan at $200 are tempting.
Just need to clear some doubts:
  • Hoze connection: Japan hozes are the same, is any adapter required ?
  • Air controller: should I buy the Iwata (+$50) or any air controller will do the job ?
  • Cup: I see you use 3M cups with adapter, the Iwata original cup (+$40) is not necessary right ?
  • Filters: I suppose I just can buy any in a retailer closeby
Anything else I may forget ? I'm a french leaving in Brazil. You can't find these stuff here unless paying 2-3x the price IF there are available -the W300 isn't and I'd get a headache if I ever try to import it here. So I'll have everything delivered to France and wait until someone comes to visit me, but with the pandemic... you get the picture! That's why I really can't forget anything! 3M stuff are quite available over here, and industrial standards are generally US or EU. I've got no idea if there are any difference between US and EU in spray guns but if japanese spray guns standards are the same as the US I'll just check if they use the same here.

AH! so I'll use this gun for base and clear, for primer I was thinking buying a Devilbiss StartingLine (there are made here and aren't so expensive). They're not amazing but I'll still get Devilbiss quality. Bad choice ? any gun will do the job ?

Thanks a lot for your advices anyways ! Can't wait to see my paint runing, orange peeling etc hahaha!
It is a great gun and you won't be sorry. It is perfectly suited for painting bike frames. Keep its setting to a round spray pattern. The control is the top knob. I don't know anything about connectors outside of the US. YES, get the Iwata air control! Others can do the job, just not as well (I've explained about different types in my other posts). Get the Iwata aluminum 150 ml cup. I'm not sure what filters you are talking about. I have an airline filter at the base of my gun. That is important. Most dust nibs on the surface of the paint come through the hose airline (not through the air). I also strain paint through a filter while pouring the paint into the cup. 3M disposable cups have a filter in the lid of the cup.

If you use the 3M disposable cups (an outstanding idea for clear and a good idea for primers) you will need to get the 3M adaptor that corresponds to your paint gun. You will not need a primer gun if you use disposable cups and clean the gun carefully after each use.

The reason to have a separate primer gun is because it is difficult to 100% clean all residue of primer after each use. And it is very difficult to get rid of that residue after it has been building up over time. That residue can interfere with color coats and especially clear coats! It only has to happen once to you to spoil a paint job you have spent many hours working on to realize the mistake of using a gun that was not throughly clean. Remember that it is much harder to start over because you now have to remove the paint as well.

This is why I love, love, love my 3M Accurspray gun as a primer gun. Because the cups are disposable and the nozzle is disposable, I can always have a clean gun every time I use it. I'm careful with cleaning the nozzle so I only have to change them once a year or so (+ -). Also it is very light and doesn't tire my hand/arm as much.

Your hose fittings need to be HVLP compliant. This means they have a bigger through hole. Don't get the regular industrial kind sold everywhere. For example when I got my 1st HVLP gun, I changed my regular industrial fittings to fittings sold by DeVilbiss for their spray guns. They sell those kind of fittings other places too. I got aluminum ones because I want to eliminate as much weight as possible.

This is important. You want a very good airline filter after your normal airline regulator. Just to be clear from the compressor air supply line (maybe hose, maybe pipe) to your spray area (booth) you will have 1st, a normal airline filter than an air pressure regulator and then a 2nd filter. Sometimes the 1st air filter comes after the air pressure regulator. These 2nd filters are designed for paint spraying and are often very expensive. There is a cheaper one that uses a toilet paper roll as a filter. The reason this 2nd special filter is so important is because most contaminants come through the airline as water/oil/crud from the compressor. What looks like dust nibs spoiling the smooth paint surface seldom comes through the air. It comes from your compressor. Don't forget this important tip or always be satisfied with junk on the surface or your paint. To continue our list of equipment from the compressor, an air hose will go from that 2nd filter to the bottom of you paint gun where i have a small disposable 3rd filter. Why have all 3 filters you might ask? Because junk in your finished paint looks terrible and requires work to buff out. After that disposable filter is your Iwata (don't get a cheaper one) air pressure regulator. Air pressure needs to be regulated at the gun for HVLP guns because they require exact air pressure to operate the best.

Last edited by Doug Fattic; 02-27-21 at 02:45 AM.
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