Alternative Uses For Conventional Striping Machines

[Anonymous]

Hey Dan,
Thought it would be better to start a new topic on this one. Anyhow….I have just put a bid in on painting 12 storm cleanup beds and 12 trailers. They want to use cheap ol’ Van Sickle Paint and Primer to to coat them with. The measurements for each bed and each trailer are roughly 600 sq. ft. Two coats of prime and two coats of paint will be applied to bare carbon steel. They don’t have to be showroom quality and will be painted outside of their welding shop. I need to have a portable system to do the job. I do not currently own any pressure pots though I might after this is all over.

My question is….. Would it be feesible to use the conventional striping machine and only use the stencil gun for this?

I am aware that I would have to get different internal parts for the gun. That’s not a problem. I’ve got that worked out already. I’ll just go buy another gun. My problem is not noing if the compressor on the machine will keep up with that kind of painting. I’m thinking that it would but I’m not sure. OH yeah…. Oil Base Enamel and Oil Base Prime too. That’s why I’m wanting to use the machine on this. Portability and clean up. You understand I’m sure.

[Girish C. Dubey, President STAR, INC.]

Hey Shoal Creek
Honestly?…here’s what I’d do.
I wouldn’t spend $4000.00 on a conventional for one job.
That said…I would keep it all in mind.
If I lived in a Four Season climate…and I do…I would own one…and I do…wish I had two…will one day.
(How’s that for a sentence?)
I would bid the job. Buy a different tip for that type of painting = specifically for “Painting” not “Striping”.
The fan is different. The spray is dispersed differently so that you do not have twice the thickness on the overlaps. (Striping tips assume no overlapping…though we all do it for Stop Bars etc.)
OK…spend $40.00 for the different tip. Create waste cleaning. Store it or use it up somehow.
That said…if I saw a repeated need for Oil Based or Acetone Based etc…I would seriously look into a Conventional. But…that’s me. Many crews simply buy another Airless…dedicate it to a color and type of paint and then?…never clean it.
Let me know how it turns out.
Dan
P.S. I’m thinking that the Needle, Fluid nozzle and Air cap…(you may not need a different Air cap)…for the HRL-1, may cost around $30.00 each? I’d buy the $40.00 painting tip.
P.S.S. I did use my Conventional years ago to paint my neighbor’s house. It was the same color. We didn’t cut anything in. It went well. Then I used my Airless to paint my sister’s house. It also went well. So the over all answer is yes…you can use these to do other things.
Keep in touch.
Dan

[Anonymous]

Hey Dan,

Thanks for the reply. I am actually bidding on 27 different units that will need to be painted. Since I will be starting and running my own painting business that will include parking lot striping I figured that a conventional striping machine would be the way to kill two birds with one stone. Besides the fact that I would have to spend $4000.00 on one, in the long run I would have to spend about $3000.00 for a pressure pot, pressure feed gun & hoses, and a gas powered air compressor. This job will be large enough to more than compensate for the extra $1000.00. Plus it might help me sell the services a little bit better considering the solvent costs for that many units. Hopefully the compressor will keep up with such a large volume of painting. Thanks again for your help.

[Girish C. Dubey, President STAR, INC.]

Shoal Creek…that makes sense.
The HRL-1 worked for me. And…I didn’t change out the interior of the stencil gun. It’s a Binks 2001. I did try an air cap that had the little pin holes in the sides…to fan and atomize the paint upon exiting the gun…but they weren’t needed. I simply went back to the original “set up” that the gun came with…including the Air Cap…which has no pin holes…and all was well. I believe it’s because the original set up is for thick striping paint. The paint I had going through the system was house paint = smoother and more than likely thinner. The gun did fine and I wasted money on the other interior “set up”.
The compressor never stops. The frame…see my video…both the explanation part and Part 3…where I start it up…fills with air and when a certain pressure is reached a relief valve “pops off” allowing the pressure to drop and then rebuild. Well…the compressor never stops…the frame fills almost immediately…and the air supply is constant…between 60 – 80 lbs. Shoal Creek…it’s always enough to atomize the paint…and again…especially if I’m right…in that…the Primer and Oil based paint are probably thinner and even easier for the HRL-1 to spray.
Shoal Creek…search out what is best for your company plans. If I can quote you a price on the HRL-1…cool. We’ll build it just like you need it…probably just like mine. I’ll even throw in a stencil.
Let me know if I can help.
Dan

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