Auto Technical Reference Library Auto Refinishing: Aftermarket Refinish System Equipment

Topic Index

Spray Guns

A painting tool powered by air pressure that atomizes paint transferring it to a stream. Spray guns are used to apply sealer, primer, paint and other liquid refinishing materials to the vehicle. Conventional or high pressure spray guns have a very low transfer efficiency blasting the paint into small particles creating a fair amount of overspray. With this type of equipment, a higher percentage of paint leaving the spray gun ends up in the atmosphere instead of the surface being refinished. Working under such high pressure the paint material bounces off the surface being refinished, creating the overspray. Strict air emission and pollution standards prohibit the use of these guns in some geographic areas.

Siphon Spray Gun

Siphon style guns have reservoirs that hold as much as a quart of reduced sprayable liquid.  The movement of the air inside the spray nozzle creates a siphon that pulls paint out of the reservoir via the siphon tube.

Gravity Fed Spray Gun

Gravity-feed guns mount the paint reservoir on top and utilize gravity to allow the paint to flow down into the air stream.  These reservoirs typically can hold about a pint of reduced sprayable liquid