I have been using a Binks Model 7b/c with a pressure pot since somewhere around 1986. I have had many people tell me I should try the new 3M PPS. I have now been trying it for about three months. I have yet to get a satisfactory coat to lay down. I started with the smallest tip and am now shooting with the red 2.0. Laying down vinyl sealer and lacquer. We can not get hardly any fluid out of the gun unless we run it above 60psi with the fluid nozzle backed out as far as possible. We have to cover about 1 inch per second (extremely slow) just to get a semi wet coat. It will not lay down a smooth coat no matter what. Have thinned to 40 percent. Have shot about 5 gallons an cannot get a single coat to come close to being acceptable. Are these guns crap are did we just get a bad gun. (sales rep is of no help) Thanks all.

What spray gun are you using with the 3m.pps cup?

We have been using a 3M PPS gun for conversion varnish on smaller jobs for a few years now. We use a 1.4 tip for that, and the 2.0 tip for small paint jobs. We did start having trouble like you described last summer, which I diagnosed as a bad regulator. The one that comes on the gun is a piece of crap. I swapped it out with a $20 digital regulator I found on Amazon, and it's worked great ever since.

mastercabman, we are using the gun that comes with the 3m pps package.
Duster, never thought about the regulator being an issue (it is new why would it be bad) will try one of our reliable Sharp or Devilbiss regulators and see if that will fix or problem. Thanks for the responses.

Make sure you aren't using one of those
little strainers in the cup.

I think OP is talking about the accuspray setup not the pps system. We use one quite a bit.

We are using the 3M PPS system with the Acura spray gun that comes with it. Jim, every cup has a built in strainer. We have been throwing them out after every job. Have changed the cup lid with the new strainer 3 times during one spray. Did not help...so I would assume it is not the strainers that are causing the problem. Will be shooting today with a new regulator and see if that helps.

Which Accuspray gun are you using? A gravity feed one or a pressure feed one? If you used to use a pressure feed gun it sounds like you should be using the one with the pressurized cup. That way, you should be able to get similar results to your old gun with the same N/N set and cup pressure.

The Accuspray gun and PPS cup system is only an advantage in reduced finish waste, and reduced cleanup time and solvent usage. If you aren't changing finish very often it isn't going to offer any advantage.

John

John, we purchased the gravity feed gun based on the sales rep recommendation. I did not know that there was anything different in the PPS category. I will have to look into this. Also, your information sounds correct. We seldom change what we are shooting. Most customers require lacquer, while the next largest group will require conversion varnish. A few will require 2K poly or polyester.

For clarification, PPS is the cup system and they work with almost any gun with the appropriate adapter. 3M makes a line of Accuspray guns with replaceable/disposable components that incorporate the PPS cup system. There are gravity feed guns like what you have and guns with pressurized cups. Both type of guns are really well suited to autobody shops where the paints they use are very expensive and the color they use changes with every vehicle.. Minimizing loss and fast, efficient cleanup are really important.

None of the above sounds very important with what you are doing. If you are spraying gallons of the same stuff your current setup sounds like the correct choice. Maybe a different gun and pressure pot for the 2 or 3 key products you use.

John

We run a couple of these quite a bit and with regards to not getting material out of the gun I can only think of super thick material (fine filter in the lids) which has already been mentioned and youve said you dont think is an issue. We spray a lot of heavy body waterbornes that can tend to not play very well with the fine filters in the lids though they all do spray well if you keep them agitated.
We have never had a need to go beyond the 1.8 with even the heaviest of finishes though we've never tried spraying anything like latex.

In the times we've had issue with the lid filters the fluid head will fill and spray fine for a bit then taper off when the material in the fluid head is used up. The biggest issue we've had with heavier bodied materials is as the cup collapses, material feed will diminish even when there is a substantial amount of material in the liner. You can tell if the liner/filter is the issue by pushing your finger down in the top of the skeleton cup deal and manually putting some pressure on the liner and the gun will spray (because you forced material through the filter)

I agree that these guns are moreso for quick spray applications not for daily use. I use one for pretty much anything under a gallon. Im not going to clean out a rig to spray some odd clear/toner/stain/pigment for less than that. I can clean the fluid head with pretty much nothing and the spray tips last a long time a gallon at a what on wood work (Im not spraying lambo's).

Id think your first step is put some pressure on a full liner with your finger from the top, if you dont flood out material, youve got other problems.

Its a great system for us when we change materials. We recently did a 10 color job and even with a standard gravity or cup system it would have sucked. Ive had great pattern and laydown results with the two we have but again Im not a dedicated finisher and looking for lambo level finish and speed out of a plastic gun.

Sorry for the late response. We have been real busy and just wanted to report our findings. The Accuspray gun that comes with the 3M PPS system is our problem. It will not pull enough liquid after you have used product passed the mid point. The lower to empty you go the worse the gun works. We had a sales rep loan us an Anest Iwata LS400 Supernova gun. This gun pulls product out of the cup all the way down to empty with no loss of production. It is an amazing tool and works very well with the PPS system. Best gun we have ever used. Thanks for all the comments and help.

Thomas,

I was wondering what compressor you were using for your 3m gun. Those guns are hogs when it comes to air, you need at least 10 cfm at 40 psi to make them work.
If you strain your material ahead of time you can just pop the filter screens out on the PPS cups.
Over.

Scott.
Thanks for the response. We are using a 4 cylinder 120 gallon tank compressor with a 5hp motor. I do not recall the name brand. We are now using an ANST IWATA gun. We gave our 3M gun and tips to one of our customers. Have not had a problem since the purchase of the IWATA. Thanks for the response.