I've always struggled with spraying white and getting it to cover the wood color differences. We are spraying Axalta Ultra Guard with a CAT CRP gravity gun. The biggest problem seems to be I have to thin 35-45% in order to get it to lay down, then there is hardly any white left to the mix. We try to put heavy coats on and get a good white in two coats but it seems to always take three coats and a lot more time than expected. With all the reducer we have to used retarder to keep it from drying before we are done with the door but we cant seem to get that right either.

I must admit finishing is not my first love and I am no expert. I've struggled with this for a long time, but we usually only do 20-30% painted cabinets so I've just stumbled through it. We are getting more demand for painted and its going to drive me nuts if I don't get it figured out.

I have a kremlin AA but I have been too scared to put any pigmented through it. I'm assumeing I could get by with less thinner using a pump and have better coverage. Does anyone recommend switching from clear to white with AA pump? I would like to keep the colors separate in a cup gun if possible but would consider using the pump if it would save me hassle.

Also,I have also heard of some sort of fine white filler in a tube that can be used during finishing to fill the cracks in door ends and such, can someone tell me what this is?

Buy a second pump. A CAT 14:1 pump can be had for $1680 from spray gun world. We have had one of these for 10 years and it has been fantastic. We are very hard on it, dont clean it as well as we should, and it just keeps on working. We have rebuilt the gun once, and the pump once, and have just ordered parts to rebuild the pump for the 2nd time.

We used to switch back and forth between clear and colours, and it can be a bit of a nightmare with getting specs of white in your clear over a dark stain.

We started with The CAT bobcat, then bought a Binks MX. We use the CAT for clears, and Binks for pigmented. When one of them finally dies and needs replacing, it will be another CAT. It works every bit as good as the Binks, but parts are 1/3rd the price.

The other benefit to the 2nd pump, is you always have a back up ready to go in case a seal blows or whatever.

Steve what size tip are you using in the CPR?

Hard to beat a Kremlin. I have one for clear, one for white and one for primer. I'd be willing to put a color in the primer gun but the other two I wouldn't change.

It's the 1.7 tip, I remember trying one of the larger tips once but didn't go so well.

Yes changing colors through the pump just seems like a recipe for disappointment down the road to me.

How about those of you who spray a dark paint and then a white, do you end up with a bunch of dark chunks coming through?
Would a guy have to have a clean pump dedicated just for white?

No issue mixing dark paints and white paints. We go back and forth all the time. If there is a spot of the previous colour sprayed, it mixes right into whatever the current colour is. We have never seen a single spot of another colour in the current colour. We use one pump for primer and that same pump for our paints spraying everything from white to black to anything in between. Never an issue.

The problem with clears, is the clear can’t hide the spot of colour, be it white, red, whatever, because it’s clear. So the spot will sit in the clear on top of your stained or unstained wood.

I don't think the issue is the pump itself. It can be cleaned fairly well if you take it apart. It's the hose and what is stuck on the inside that is hard to clean.

I disagree fully with having to use multiple pumps between pigments and clears. I work for a facility that goes through hundreds of gallons of coatings a week..... We run pigmented and clear through the same pumps/guns all the time...…. what you guys are seeing is bad housekeeping habits.... If you flush properly right at the time of product change there should be zero issues..... flush correctly... pull the gun screens and pump screens clean/replace if you have them and switch tips.... nonsense. The interior passages of the hose and gun are smooth... proper flushing with clean solvent the correct way will take care of residue...

Agree with Shane, we also go through hundreds of gallons a week including a spray line that I spray clear and colors through. Only time we have an issue is when it was not cleaned properly.

Hi Steve!
Here we have just one pump for transparents and colored products.
What we discover is that we have to use off-white colors to help coverage on different woods. With a little tint you increase coverage.
We apply one coat, wait 10-20 minutes, and apply another coat without sanding (wet on wet), It also helps with coverage when we have wood colors diffences (MDF with pine for example). After 2 hours, we repeat the coats.
Do not use dark colors under white, you will have another problems.
Good Luck