Maintenance of AAA sytem

[Jim Beachler]

Just got a AAA system off a CraigsList. I need some help with the maintenance of it. The manual says to just leave it with finish in the system when leaving it for short term and to flush it if leaving for long term. What is short term? Is overnight considered short term? Or is that long term?

[ray hampton]

I not familiar with AAA system but if you are talking spray paint ,five minutes might be time enough for some paint to dry

[Howard Acheson]

I'm assuming "AAA" = Air Assisted Airless. If so I know nothing about it specifically. However, whether you can leave a finish in the gun for some period of time is dependent on the type of finish you are using. Some finishes like NC lacquer and shellac can be left for a day or more as they continually redissolve themselves. Two part activated finishes like Pre and Post Catalyzed lacquers harden without oxygen so need to be cleaned within an hour or more or they will harden in the gun a lines.

You question is best answered by the tech department of finish manufacturer.

[Scott Holmes]

I use an AA Airless. (Graco FinishPro 395) as Howie said; depends on the finish. Best to let off the liquid pressure for overnight. Shellac is good for many days, as is NC lacquer. Varnish is OK overnight; I usually at least rinse the gun. Water-borne; CLEAN THE GUN; OK in the hoses overnight.

Thorough cleaning if you are leaving it more than a few days...

[Jim Beachler]

I use water based lacquer. Currently I have been cleaning it every night but was wondering if that was really necessary. I was thinking about flushing it out every friday before the weekend.

About cleaning: I pump water through the system until it starts coming out as water and leave the water in it overnight. then in the am, pump out the water until the lacquer shows up. Is this the proper method?

[Scott Holmes]

Wwater based lacquer is really an acrylic water-borne finish. I would clean the gun every night. It's not an evaporative finish like shellac or NC lacquer; it's not a reactive finish like varnish; it's a coalescing finish; different animal altogether.

[michael gates]

When I used to spray waterbase I left it in the system all the time, Some brands are different than others though. I wouldnt leave water in the system you should have it cut with acetone. Hopefully you are not using city water.

[Jim Beachler]

What is wrong with city water?? I am in the St Louis area and we get our water from the Missouri river. We don't have all the iron and other nasty stuff that some cities have.

Concerning the acetone, are you talking about cutting the water with the acetone?

[Scott Holmes]

I suspect he is talking about cleaning the water-borne filled gun and cup. I think acetone will ruin moxt water-borne finishes.

[michael gates]

Thats right cut the water with acetone and flush your system. The chlorine in the water will eat your gun parts, It corrodes metal. I ruined my aircap by letting it soak overnight in water, it took about 4 months and my aircap was ruined. I could scratch the metal away with my fingernail. It Ruined my tip too.

[Jim Beachler]

Scott, If I understand this correctly, I should flush out the system with water until the water is emptied out of the system. Then restart it in the morning with the lacquer. Overnight the system would be filled with air.

Seems to me that is giving the lacquer a chance to dry out and seal up the hose.

Michael, What would you suggest to leave the cap in overnight so that the lacquer doesn't dry onto the cap. Then I would have to scrape it off every morning. Is there water that can be bought that does not have chlorine in it? If cutting the water with acetone, how much are we talking? A drop in 2 cups of water?

[Scott Holmes]

I clean my AAA system each night if using a WB finish. Cleaning is cheap (water). Since AAA typically don't use a cup; thus the liquid is in the hose, no air can get to it and it would probably be fine over night. Leaving the gun in water may work but I don't do that. After cleaning (or rinsing) I blow compressed air through the liquid line so I don't worry about chlorine in the water. My gun is stainless steel so I don't think the cholrine would hurt it.

As for the HVLP systems... I don't own one, so I'm not sure the best practice on them. I think most HVLP mix the air and finish in the gun and have air in the cup, so I would not leave a WB in the gun or cup overnight.

[michael gates]

I always rinsed the system with water then rinsed it again with pure acetone and let the lines sit empty. My supplier recommended water cut with acetone to save money on acetone, but I saved the Acetone and reused it over and over, after you have flushed good with water the acetone doesn't really get very dirty.

Water doesnt clean any WB lacquer I used good enough for me. I used lacquer thinner and a brush to clean my tips and gun and air cap. You can also buy water base cleaner which works real good.
When I first started with WB I used warm water and dish soap to clean my gun and parts (exterior) but it didn't work very well.

You can clean your cap and tip with what ever you have that cleans it good, then blow it off and let it sit dry all night.

What type of AAA do you have? I didn't have any luck using water for WB, it was a very poor thinner to thin the WB coatings and it did a poor job of clean up.

[Scott Holmes]

Sorry, I wasn't very clear .. as I said cleaning (should have said rinsing) was cheap really rinsing with water and clean with acetone, DNA or lacquer thinner; all work fine to clean the WB out. I too reuse the Acetone, DNA or lac thinner.

My system is a Graco FinshPro 395 AA Airless.