Earlex 5500

[Don Huffer]

I have an Earlex 5500 and was looking for advice on setting up the gun to spray lacquer. Im using the 1.5 tip but still have trouble with the spray pattern having too much material on the outsides of the pattern. Does anyone here have experience with spraying lacquer that could give me some tips on fine tuning the spray?

Thanks Don

[Don Huffer]

Maybe I posted this in the wrong spot?

No one uses an Earlex?

No one sprays finish?

[Jack Lemley]

Don,

I have the Earlex 5500. I have used it to spray Target Coats urethane and Zinsnner (spel?) shellac straight out of the can with no thinning. Used a 1.5 needle. The only adjustment I made was to reduce the volume of fluid coming out of the needle. My guess is the material viscosity is off, you need to reduce the material coming out of the gun (knob on back of gun) or your needle/cap are dirty. Not much else that can go wrong on the gun in my opinion. I painted cars with a siphon spray gun for years and the Earlex is much easier to use.

Jack

[Charles Neil]

Don,

I suspect your tip is dirty or the holes on the air cap are clogged some, make sure they are clean.. Often the needle /and fluid nozzle can have some dried finish arount the tip. You may also try turning the fluid down a little. Sometimes guns can have this issue if the fluid is fully open.
Many times the dried finish is hard to detect, disasemble the air cap and nozzel and make sure they are clean.

[Don Huffer]

Don,

I suspect your tip is dirty or the holes on the air cap are clogged some, make sure they are clean.. Often the needle /and fluid nozzle can have some dried finish arount the tip. You may also try turning the fluid down a little. Sometimes guns can have this issue if the fluid is fully open.
Many times the dried finish is hard to detect, disasemble the air cap and nozzel and make sure they are clean.

Well Charles thanks so much for your reply. Is it your videos I've been watching on the net?

The gun and system are brand new. I have a heavy amount of material at the outside of the spray pattern. When doing a test spray holding the gun in one spot and spraying till the material runs, which is how I was taught to adjust the gun, I can't get an even amount of material. Heavy on the ends light in the middle. It's been this way right out of the box. If I close it down I have to spray so slow to get good coverage. I'm using a 1.5 tip spraying Mohawk pre cat lacquer. Maybe with this gun the material needs to be thinned.

Wouldn't it be better if we had an adjustment for the amount of air?

Don

[Don Huffer]

Don,

I have the Earlex 5500. I have used it to spray Target Coats urethane and Zinsnner (spel?) shellac straight out of the can with no thinning. Used a 1.5 needle. The only adjustment I made was to reduce the volume of fluid coming out of the needle. My guess is the material viscosity is off, you need to reduce the material coming out of the gun (knob on back of gun) or your needle/cap are dirty. Not much else that can go wrong on the gun in my opinion. I painted cars with a siphon spray gun for years and the Earlex is much easier to use.

Jack

Thanks for your reply. I had that knowledge and was hoping someone had a hint or hints for operating the gun. If I can't get it to preform I'm going back to my conversion gun. For me I don't think three adjustments for the spray are enough.

Say is there any other filters in the turbine to clean besides the little disk of foam on the bottom?

Don

[Jack Lemley]

Thanks for your reply. I had that knowledge and was hoping someone had a hint or hints for operating the gun. If I can't get it to preform I'm going back to my conversion gun. For me I don't think three adjustments for the spray are enough.

Say is there any other filters in the turbine to clean besides the little disk of foam on the bottom?

Don

Don,

I don't know of any other filters that would affect the spray pattern.

Jack

[Don Huffer]

Don,

I don't know of any other filters that would affect the spray pattern.

Jack

That was a question not in relation to the spray issue. The little disk is all I need to clean?

Don

[Curt Harms]

Don, did you check your material viscosity using the included cup? Too thick material does kinda splatter. I have the 5000 (less cfm) and see sort of the same thing, heavier on the edges, lighter in the middle. That may be part of the reason for recommending a 50% overlap. I've not sprayed lacquer, just thinned 'latex' and shellac. I had to really turn the knob down with shellac, 1.5 mm tip and maybe 1 to 1 1/4 turns from fully closed. I use the round pattern quite a bit because I seem to have a lot of narrow surfaces to spray, face frames and such.

[Charles Neil]

To check viscosity ,I keep it simple , if it will pass thru a med mesh strainer about as fast as you pour it in your good to go. You might try thining it a little .

I agree, about the pressure thing.. but then again adding fan adjustments and pressure adjustments, would take the unit out of the price range .
If its doing this out of the box, you possibly have a defective needle/nozzle or air cap. If you have another needle/nozzzle try that to see if it does the same thing. This will allow you to determine if its the needle/nozzle or air cap .Give Earlex a call and I feel sure they will take care of it ( Tell Sam at Earlex hello for me ). I have taught aloto of finishing classes and we have used the Earlex alot, its not the top of the line but it works pretty well. One of the things you have to deal with is because you dont have a pressure regulator or fan adjustment , is adjusting the fluid .When you hve a fixed pressure you have to be able to reduce the fluid or thin it so the pressure will sufficently atomize the material .
As to the Videos, I have done a few ..

[Don Huffer]

Don, did you check your material viscosity using the included cup? Too thick material does kinda splatter. I have the 5000 (less cfm) and see sort of the same thing, heavier on the edges, lighter in the middle. That may be part of the reason for recommending a 50% overlap. I've not sprayed lacquer, just thinned 'latex' and shellac. I had to really turn the knob down with shellac, 1.5 mm tip and maybe 1 to 1 1/4 turns from fully closed. I use the round pattern quite a bit because I seem to have a lot of narrow surfaces to spray, face frames and such.

Curt
Thanks for your reply. The vis. is good. It does however work a little better if I thin a small amount. This allows me to turn down the material and still get an even spray at the speed I need. At first I thought it was me but now I've sprayed the equivalent of 20 4X8 sheets of walnut plywood and have resigned to believe its the gun. I'm going to call Earlex next.

Don

[Don Huffer]

To check viscosity ,I keep it simple , if it will pass thru a med mesh strainer about as fast as you pour it in your good to go. You might try thining it a little .

I agree, about the pressure thing.. but then again adding fan adjustments and pressure adjustments, would take the unit out of the price range .
If its doing this out of the box, you possibly have a defective needle/nozzle or air cap. If you have another needle/nozzzle try that to see if it does the same thing. This will allow you to determine if its the needle/nozzle or air cap .Give Earlex a call and I feel sure they will take care of it ( Tell Sam at Earlex hello for me ). I have taught aloto of finishing classes and we have used the Earlex alot, its not the top of the line but it works pretty well. One of the things you have to deal with is because you dont have a pressure regulator or fan adjustment , is adjusting the fluid .When you hve a fixed pressure you have to be able to reduce the fluid or thin it so the pressure will sufficently atomize the material .
As to the Videos, I have done a few ..

Damn dad your famous! I've watched you with the Earlex and you do quite well.

Seems I read a tip somewhere that if I unscrewed the ring holding the air cap a couple of turns it may help even it out. I did that and it did help. Next time I set up to spray I'll take note of how much and write back.

What if I found a way to adjust the air down? Like cutting a plastic disk to reduce the size of the hose at the gun?

Don

[Charles Neil]

Cutting the pressure ,I don't think will help , perhaps if your using a thin shellac or solvent product.. If your using water base the 5500's pressure just is adequate .. I fear reducing it , you would not atomize very well. You could get a heavier courser spray. When you spray water base you want the texture just behind the gun to be about like 120 to 180 grit sand paper and you wan to see the bluish/white haze, ( the haze shows your wet enough for it flow out smooth) .

[Curt Harms]

To check viscosity ,I keep it simple , if it will pass thru a med mesh strainer about as fast as you pour it in your good to go. You might try thining it a little .

I agree, about the pressure thing.. but then again adding fan adjustments and pressure adjustments, would take the unit out of the price range .
If its doing this out of the box, you possibly have a defective needle/nozzle or air cap. If you have another needle/nozzzle try that to see if it does the same thing. This will allow you to determine if its the needle/nozzle or air cap .Give Earlex a call and I feel sure they will take care of it ( Tell Sam at Earlex hello for me ). I have taught aloto of finishing classes and we have used the Earlex alot, its not the top of the line but it works pretty well. One of the things you have to deal with is because you dont have a pressure regulator or fan adjustment , is adjusting the fluid .When you hve a fixed pressure you have to be able to reduce the fluid or thin it so the pressure will sufficently atomize the material .
As to the Videos, I have done a few ..

There is an 'undocumented' way to reduce pressure. Plug the Earlex into an external router speed controller. I just did it to see if it works, it does, only ran it a minute or two. Works with Fein vacs too I don't know if using an external speed controller like that would shorten the life of the blower or not.

[Don Huffer]

There is an 'undocumented' way to reduce pressure. Plug the Earlex into an external router speed controller. I just did it to see if it works, it does, only ran it a minute or two. Works with Fein vacs too I don't know if using an external speed controller like that would shorten the life of the blower or not.

I was thinking the same thing. If its electronic it shouldn't hurt the motor. Did you have the same problem with the spray pattern?

Don