Bought a binks 2001 cup sprayer tomake my life easier,….u-huh! Was tired of the airless “clean-up” procedure. Yesterday, had to stain and finish an ironing board insert. I figure this cup sprayer was the ticket for these type of projects, but yet again I could not get it to spray right. I am sure it is me, not the gun. Started with the sanding sealer and could not get it to spray wet. I had to get it about 1/2 inch to stay wet. Added thinner, no luck. adjust pressure to 55. Turned down the pressure to 40. Back to 50. Nothing. Added more thinner and retarder. Getting there. ended up with a witches brew of , say,..3 parts thinner, 2 parts retarder 1 part SS. Whatever,..it worked! Now the lacquer. Not sure of the mix, but it worked. ( I was really REALLY upset by then, 240.00 and I have this frustration). Now the problem was that the gun would shoot a pretty good mist, get it wet, but stop after 10 seconds. I found that f I took the cup off and gave it a couple of sprays, then put the cup back on I could get another 10 seconds of spray. It is like ther is not enough suction drawing the material up the tube. I did manage to finish it and it looks good, BUT,..holy cow! What is going wrong. SOmeone please tell me what I am doing wrong. How can I avoid this. I want to be able to use this gun. I want to be able to consider the ambient conditions, walk up to my material, load it and shoot it and brag. Tell me how to do this and I will be your best friend.!!! thanks
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Replies
Look at the hole in the cover of your cup. It allows air in to replace the fluid drawn from the cup. If this hole is blocked, it will give exactly the symptoms you describe.
All paint equipment has to be kept scrupulously clean to function properly. In my experience, airless cleanup is as easy as anything to clean. If you got a 2001 to keep from having to clean the gun, you got it for the wrong reason.
To clean a binks 2001 or similar cup gun, I dump out the remaining material in the gun. Pour in a three or four ounces of thinner, swirl it around in the cup, and spray some through the gun. Repeat the process a couple of times until the inside of the gun is appears clean. Then wipe out the cup, wipe off the pickup tube and the bottom of the cup lid. Add a little more thinner, and spray it through the gun until the thinner is gone.
Remove the air cap, clean it and the outside of the fluid tip with thinner and a small brush. Make SURE there is no residue in the outside of the fluid tip, or in the holes in the air cap. Do not use metal to clean out the holes; a brush or a sliver of wood will do the trick. Wipe down the outside of the gun and check the air hole in the cup cover. Lubricate if needed.
If you do this as part of your spraying routine, you'll almost never have to take your gun apart. Neglect the routine, and you'll be forever having problems. I'm lazy and don't like to spend time on unnecessary work, but 30+ years of finishing has taught me that some things you just gotta do. The process takes 5 to 10 minutes, max, and will save you hours.
Also, you would save yourself a lot of trouble if you got a book or two on spray finishing. Every one I have read covers these types of problems.
Michael R
Woodwiz ,
I concur about the hole in the cover of the cup . Some spray guns have a piece of plastic tubing connected to the hole , and the tubing can get clogged up and produce the described symptoms .It seems when I used a cup gun I kept something around to keep the hole and tube clear.I have been shooting an airless for the last 10 or 12 years and would not want to switch back. The cleaning takes all of maybe 5 minutes. In fact of all the tools and equipment I have ever purchased the airless has earned me more $ than any others with the exception maybe of the ts .
dusty
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