High Quality Portable Spray Equipment For Marine LPU Paints

[Scubaseas]

The pressures listed and tack times look pretty steep. I'll toss in my $.02 from having painted cars/owned a repair and body shop for 38 years. There are two ways you can spray. One would be an air compressor and either a HVLP gun or a regular gun. The tip size specified is a bit bigger than what you would find for automotive paints but can be had. Guns are pretty cheap- a good one plus tip abut $250. The compressor at that pressure is going to have to be pretty substantial. My personal preference if a gravity feed HVLP gun and a large compressor with a large, effective dryer system. A pressurized paint pot would be nice for a job this big but your tack time would easily allow you to not use one. Get an extra cup and have a helper stir/pour/swap cups on the spray gun.

HVLP guns put more paint on the surface but needs a bigger compressor.

The other way is with a turbine which is a self contained HVLP electric unit. A decent unit big enough (like a FUJI) could go $800 or more with the right needle and tip. Note some people are not fond of these as the hose gets heavy on big jobs even if you toss it over your shoulder. Plus side is they are much better with water not getting in the air supply.

You might benefit from some reading here: https://pittsburghsprayequip.com/blo...spray-gun-faqs

To get a good finish you need the right tip, the right reduction (viscosity), the right pressure and the right technique. You would definitely benefit from experimenting and practice. Maybe do the prep work and hire a pro to shoot it for you?

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by cburger

I have decided to spray my sailboat myself, the paint will be Alexseal LPU.

Wondering if anyone knows of small portable equipment that will meet the paint manufacturers requirements of pressure for correct atomization?

Vessel will be painted outside and would like to place gear next to boat. Electric will 115v AC.

After all the comments re: the Alexseal, are you sure you want to do your first spray job w/this paint. While it is the "newer" Awlgrip, the amount of solids in it poses more challenges and high end spray equipment than other paints.
I haven't used Alexseal, but have sprayed several boats w/various Interlux products and Awlgrip. Will say the Interlux products were the easiest to use w/good results, while the Awlgrip was more complex w/different accelerators/solvents depending on the conditions created a bit more a learning curve for the Awlgrip for good results.
The boat I painted w/Interlux in 1992, we sold in 2016 and the hull still looked very good.

If I had to compare bang for the buck, would recommend spraying w/Perfection (Interlux) over the very expensive Awlgrip. If you follow directions and do the prep work well, you will have a very good long lasting paint job w/out breaking the bank.

[Scubaseas]

After all the comments re: the Alexseal, are you sure you want to do your first spray job w/this paint. While it is the "newer" Awlgrip, the amount of solids in it poses more challenges and high end spray equipment than other paints.

^This. If you are going with cheaper spray system it may not easily handle this paint. The 42 to 70psi spray pressure is quite a bit higher than other paints.

[Fore and Aft]

Cburger you will need an extraction fan if you are spraying in a tent. I was once involved with a job where the extraction fan deposited paint on a number of parked vehicles. It was a fairly costly mistake.
Cheers

[jpendoley]

I rolled and tipped my old Pearson Vanguard with Perfection-Flag Blue-very demanding color. It was close to flawless. Many unsolicited positive reviews. Very easy paint to work with. It is not that durable a finish though-I only got five years out of it before I recoated-but that was an easy one day job.
I have not heard anyone mention it so I will- I thought Interlux Perfection was a two part urethane-thus very dangerous to spray without supplied air for the human-not the paint. Something to consider if you thought of spraying.

[scfoster]

Going to use Alexseal as well (arrived yesterday). Have done a LOT of research on it, including calls to the SC headquarters.

You will NOT get much better results spraying that using a roll method. It will use a LOT more paint and has all the other hassles noted already in this thread.
Have a FaceTime appointment tomorrow with Andy from BoatWorksToday (check out his YouTube channel), just to go over things one last time.

Alexseal just came out with A5018 Topcoat roll additive. It is supposed to provide near spray parity with a LOT less work. At $24, it's going to save a lot of money (overspray) and time.

Have 3 hatch covers in the garage, one of which needs new core/fiberglass work. Going to do some sanding and see if I can get painting done this weekend. I'll post results.

Almost forgot to mention. If anyone goes the roll method, there are different products that need to be used with the primer and topcoat. They are spray or brush specific. Make sure your supplier knows which you need...ask me how I know.

[Thumbs Up]

My experience with Alexseal is that the fumes are even more toxic than Awlgrip. Mask up!

[scfoster]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

My experience with Alexseal is that the fumes are even more toxic than Awlgrip. Mask up!

Absolutely! The 20' wide garage door is open with a large fan going, in addition to the 3M respirator.

[randomrun]

When rolling Alexseal, follow up with a dry roller to remove any bubbles. Worked great for me.

[scfoster]

Originally Posted by randomrun

When rolling Alexseal, follow up with a dry roller to remove any bubbles. Worked great for me.

Just got off the phone with Alexseal. Using the roll additive, there is NO tipping and backroll lightly with the unloaded wet roller you're using to add paint. No dry roller.

Over the Alexseal primer, add 1st topcoat, wait 2 hours and add second coat. Wait a couple days, 400 grit sand then add 3rd (final) coat. Can be applied down to 50degF.

They are good about answering the phone and taking questions.

[Training Wheels]

Russel Brown has a good pamphlet on rolling paint to get a spray quality finish. I think his website is PT watercraft.