The 3 Styles Of Conventional Spray Gun: Gravity, Suction, And Pressure Feed
Suction Feed - Gravity Feed - Pressure Feed
Both conventional and HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure) spray painting systems offer three main styles of spray guns: gravity feed, suction feed, and pressure feed. These names refer to the method by which paint is delivered into the gun. For example, a gravity feed gun holds paint in a container on top of the gun, allowing it to flow downward naturally.
Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages, making them suitable for different applications. In this post, we’ll explore the pros and cons of each style and discuss their most common uses.
1/ Gravity feed
As mentioned above, a gravity feed style holds the paint or fluid in a container on top of the gun.
Gravity feeds require less air pressure to atomise the paint, providing the direct benefits of lower overspray, less paint wastage, and a greater level of control for the painter. Thanks to these advantages, the gravity feed gun typically delivers better finishes.
This style of spray gun is portable and versatile, and the associated clean-up is far easier than, say, that of a pressure feed gun. The gravity feed style allows you to efficiently spray paint in smaller volumes, making it particularly useful for touch-ups and less intense projects — but its main use is in auto refinishing.
Gravity guns come in two styles: mini and standard. The mini gun is a smaller version of the standard, and it’s designed specifically for touch-ups and fine detail work.
Downsides? The nature of the gravity feed system makes it difficult to paint with the gun upside down or in tilted positions — and because material needs to be able to flow easily downward with the force of gravity, this style doesn’t work well with heavy-bodied coatings.
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2/ Suction feed
Also known as a siphon feed, the suction feed spray gun is essentially the opposite of the gravity feed model. It holds paint in a container beneath the gun, drawing the liquid upward through suction (or siphoning). Like the gravity feed, the suction feed is portable and affordable. Its key advantage lies in its versatility—it allows for spraying in a variety of positions, including upside down, making it ideal for projects that require flexibility in movement.
Atomisation of the paint occurs automatically which is both an advantage and disadvantage, as it lets you spray smoothly and evenly but with limited control.
The container on a suction feed spray gun is typically bigger allowing the user to paint larger surfaces with less refilling.
Suction guns are capable of precision spray painting of cars, boats and furniture, while also perfect for spraying heavier bodied coatings like glues, zinc rich paints and anti-foul coatings.
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3/ Pressure feed
The third and final style of spray gun, the pressure feed pulls paint from a remote pressure pot, allowing you to modulate the fluid and air pressure separately and therefore offering the best control of any of the styles. Since you can increase or decrease the pressure, it’s equally efficient for liquids of all viscosities — but in general, the pressure feed is better for higher-volume applications.
The third and final style of spray gun, the pressure feed, draws paint from a remote pressure pot rather than an attached container. This setup allows for separate control of fluid and air pressure, offering the highest level of precision and control among the three styles. Because you can adjust the pressure to suit your needs, pressure feed systems work well with liquids of all viscosity, however, they are especially well-suited for high-volume applications.
Pressure pots are ideal when large quantities of paint are needed, as they come in a range of sizes—from 2 litres up to 20 litres, with special-order options available up to 120 litres. Because the paint is stored separately from the spray gun, the gun itself is much lighter, enhancing mobility and reducing fatigue for the painter. This makes pressure feed systems not only efficient for extended use, but also more comfortable during long or complex jobs.
Its main disadvantages? Because you have to buy a separate pressure tank, the pressure feed system incurs a higher cost than either the gravity feed or the suction feed.
You also have two hoses to deal with (the usual air hose and an additional fluid hose from the pressure pot) — and the pressure feed system takes more effort to clean, as the fluid line can vary in length up to 10 metres.
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