Harbor Freight HVLP Spray Gun Mods

In this video Iain fixes two common issues common to the Harbor Freight purple HVLP spray guns. Iain fixes the paint leak and the stuck air valve.

[@stevelindsay3643]

I've taken cheap Chinese knock-offs from the Paint Gun Manufacturing industry and turned them into some of the best paint guns I've ever used, that goes for Graco, DeVilbiss, Fuji, PowRyte, etc. The patent on the knockoff guns is the same as the patent the top dogs use for the most commonly used guns, same castings, same internals given they are the same needle and port volume, the big difference is the quality of the parts, the quality of material they are made from, the workmanship in their construction and machining... Much like the one showed in the video there are small things you can do to turn it into a good reliable paint gun. It starts with polishing and fitting the internal parts with valve Lapping compound, some 3000 wet paper, and other polishing consumables to put the best quality finish on all the intersectional parts you can. It takes about 2 hours from when you start to when you finish. If you have a mini lathe then chuck up the parts you can to polish them. Dremel tools are great with polishing compound, get rid of any burrs, etc. After frigging around with my cheap ass spray guns, and I do have quite a few, I've pulled off some excellent work with them. Consistent, Reliable and as good as I could expect out of any spray gun. Be picky when choosing cheap guns, look for the better quality outside finish as a representation of the inside you can't see. I use them all the time, I won't spend hundreds of dollars on a spray gun when with a little elbow grease I can make a bunch of them for the cost of one. But that's just me. I do that with just about everything because I restore stuff for a living, repurpose, invent all kinds of things so it isn't a big deal to make something out of nothing. Enjoy, be creative using your God Given Ability is a wonderful thing.

[@alvarochaim1643]

I realize it is kinda off topic but do anybody know of a good site to stream new movies online ?

[@peytonfrancis4869]

@Alvaro Chaim flixportal :P

[@alvarochaim1643]

@Peyton Francis thank you, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :D I appreciate it !!

[@peytonfrancis4869]

@Alvaro Chaim Glad I could help :)

[@velvetypotato711]

You should make a video on how to fix up a spray gun.

[@AdamUlvi]

Hi Ian, great video, thanks for posting. I just picked up one of these guns and painted my jeep, had the exact same air leakage problem but was overall satisfied w/the results. Your prior video about cleaning the gun was a huge help, thanks again!

[@iainportalupi]

Adam Ulvi I’m glad it helped and thanks for watching!

[@uriel-heavensguardian8949]

For the money can’t complain. And breaking the gun down and doing these mods just gets a person to know the gun more Intimately. In my opinion these spray guns all look the same. I’m assuming that the expensive ones have better internal components. But a little time a few bucks you’ve just bumped your gun up to work just as good as the expensive ones. Thanks for sharing this. I have to find your video on cleaning it.

[@cslloyd1]

My air valve stopped working today (model 67181, same as yours). Apparently, the spring opened up and the plunger was inside the spring. To fix, I simply bent the end of the spring across the opening and it now prevents the plunger from going inside the spring. Works better now than it has in a long time.

[@OldSkoolF]

Very smart video.... Nice Channel! I have 4 of those HF guns and never realized the fluid o-ring was changeable.... I have since bought the Tip kits on Ebay to have up to a 1.8 tip...

[@raymondcascella4920]

Great vidio I also have had the same issue with one of my guns. The most important thing is taking it apart end cleaning the silicone seal thats on everything. With a little experience you can produce some high guality work. The best part is if the gun doesn't work in the middle of a paint job you can afford to grab your backup gun to finnish the job, I have about 8 of these nothing wrong with a backup.

[@magnatron7734]

I stretched my spring. Great vid thanks. I love this gun

[@marcinose]

This sounds like a simpler solution than the spacer.

[@bdyt]

What's the air only feature for, blowing dust off a part?

[@FABRIC8TIONUNLIMITE1]

I fell out when he said @ 4:18 " I can't even really see it in real life"

[@jumpingjo3689]

He went on to say, when he takes it under the light it tips at a angle.

[@tarmac245]

Sir you are what KZbin is all about and as a result Steve Lindsay gives even more information about the Chinese guns that I can afford. Great comments from others to.

[@keithkrueger1609]

perhaps use a silicon grease made for water faucets and you wont have an issue. or perhaps change to a small quad ring and that may help also.

[@PM17E5]

Rudely interrupted by the air compressor haha!

[@iainportalupi]

I was filming a video on my DIY tire machine today and it interrupted me again.

[@patrickdolan.]

I drilled my tip out to 2mm. It's a great primer gun and latex paint gun

[@broken1965]

The more expensive HF purple gun on handle MAX 45PSI 3BAR for primers it's different assembly no needle packing adjustment an trigger is bit different I had no problems with leaks but i use gun lube every other use

[@paulfonte468]

Good to know a cheap gun can do the job. Thank you

[@mikelarson3704]

Thanks helped me out

[@iainportalupi]

I’m glad it helped.

[@Mechaniclyfe]

Another good mod is using the disposable cup system , makes it super easy to clean your guns, and use less material, and depending which system you use, you can also spray upside down!

[@frankpagano9947]

Yeah real smart buy a disposable cups system that costs 3 to 4 times more than a gun that is disposable

[@GarageTimeAutoResto]

Thanks man, I love to save $$$. Have you tried needle grease to help that upper o ring last longer?

[@blowme5150]

Oh ya and hf has a new and improved green gun alittle nice quality but I'll see how it holds up to the purple one?

[@ProfessorOzone]

At what hardware store did you find a little tiny o-ring like that off the shelf?

[@americanstreet8704]

Ace, or harbor freight sells sets of like 1000 for like 8$ very handy

[@joedejesus6363]

Great Video and Tutorial,...THANKS!!! I really learned something from you today.

[@glytch5]

Nice man! That is the basic story of just about everything you buy at harbor freight. It works, but you are going to have to do a little work or modifying to make it right. I don't have this gun but I always wonder about the air valve and the gaskets in there. They appear to be lubed with silicone grease... but I am afraid if I put more on it will shoot silicone into my paint somehow. PS: what KIND of gunk did you clean out? Just about every gun under 60 dollars I have purchased is absolutely LOADED with white thread locker that is incredibly difficult to remove... like no solvent will remove it and it is very difficult to scrape off. Is that what was in there?

[@bjr2379]

How can you go wrong for $10.00? Perfect for a DIY guy.

[@user-lq2rs1we9y]

How mach spray gun price

[@vaminglee8019]

bought me a 30.00 at harbor freight. i was wondering how long and many time the gun can be use until it start breaking and cant use it anymore

[@Subi_doo]

The thing I hate about a lot of pneumatic products that use o-rings that harbor freight sells is they don’t size the o-rings correctly. A lot of time the rings are oversized and get pinched on assembly so there damaged delight from the factory. I bought an print kit at harbor freight and I install new rings that have better fitment right from the start. PS- when you tested it the PSI was insane sounded like you had like 70 psi blowing through that gun... turn it way... a lot of new guns only require 10-20 psi at the gun

[@iainportalupi]

#MLB_MotoVlogs I think they mistakenly go with the bigger is better mentality with their O rings. Also it was 90psi going through it. I just wanted to test the air valve in it. 35psi seems to be where it sprays best.

[@DickMann11]

1:05 Did gripping the shaft a little tighter help?

[@JohnSmith-qt7ul]

Lmao

[@MucaroBoricua]

A metal screw of the right size plus a few washers would have worked the same or better than the piece of round bar, and with less sweat.

[@augustaking8]

You can stretch the spring.

[@phantom2226]

Where did you buy the needle pin? Thank you

[@nn2380]

Your videos have been very helpful in dealing with this HF Paint Gun, as has this one! Thanks! One question, how did you cut such a small piece off the metal rod? Chopsaw? Cutting disc of some sort? Bandsaw?

[@iainportalupi]

N N I cut it off with my bandsaw and then spent some time digging through the chip tray to find it. A hack saw would work too. A cut off wheel would work but might launch the thin piece across the shop.

[@larryd4747]

@@iainportalupi Just stretch the spring.

[@drizler]

You can use a 4” Zip disk in your cordless grinder. Works as good and fast as anything else

[@sweetwilliam49]

Larry D Exactly what I thought

[@spelunkerd]

Now that you've had a couple of years of experience with this gun, what pressure setting seem to work best for automotive painting? The manual gives a wide range of pressure settings, much higher than typical HPLV.

[@iainportalupi]

spelunkerd I kind of settled on 30-35 psi at the gun’s inlet which ends up being 40-45 psi at the wall. I measured the pressure drop with a gauge mounted to the inlet of the gun and that’s how I figured out it took 45psi at the wall to get 35 at the gun with 25feet of 3/8 hose and standard quick connectors. I use that pressure for everything, primer, sealer, base and clear coat.

[@spelunkerd]

Thanks, I'm about to use this for the first time on a car door. Practice with mineral spirits on a sheet of plywood at 32 psi seems to work fine.

[@iainportalupi]

spelunkerd I’ve got a piece of plywood that I test spray at the start just to get the fluid control and fan pattern set. Most of the time I open fluid wide open and the fan wide open. If I close the fan and the fluid way down to do small spots I’ll turn the air pressure down to 20psi because if I leave it at 30 it drys the paint before it lands on the car. I’ll actually be using this gun again tomorrow for some base coat clear coat.

[@butterbean4195]

who in there right mind would spend 300 to 500 for a paint gun just to use at home for DYI projects? i rather spend 200 bucks buy 2 purple guns and use the other 400 bucks to buy more tools!

[@OldJoe212]

Good review/video... I'm going to be doing some painting soon. I also need a new compressor. What compressor/size are you using? Looking at the numbers, this gun seems like it'll only work with a monster. Also, Have you looked into LVLP guns ? such as SP-33000? Anyway, this is the first of your videos I've found. Will bu subing. Thanks.

[@iainportalupi]

Thanks for watching! I’m running a homemade 60 gallon compressor that puts out 15cfm @ 90psi so air supply has never really been a big consideration in tool purchases. The closest I’ve come to an LVLP gun is my trusty LVHP siphon feed gun it could probably run off a 30 gal compressor with ease.

[@BladeforgerKLX]

Thanks!!!

[@iainportalupi]

BladeforgerKLX you’re welcome, and thanks for watching!

[@valmanks]

The only way I was able to get my gun apart to clean it was to dismantle it as much as possible and then bake it in the oven at 300F for an hour. Still not easy to remove nozzle but it was possible. I used this method for both models of the gun.

[@blowme5150]

Ace hardware sells springs

[@DickMann11]

You could have probably stretched spring and not used spacer.

[@resurrectiongarage4659]

For the money throw it away buy 5 to replace it

[@johng9562]

Cheap tools & materials represent the single biggest mistake DIYers make when approaching these types of projects. Remember tools are not an expense, they are an investment you make in order to achieve superior results. When the job is done can then be sold for 80-90% of their value and in the end it is cheaper than renting. These 2 budget HVLP Systems are the best and hold their value: 1st choice: Fuji 2202 Semi-PRO 2 (2203 gravity version) & 2nd choice: Earlex HV5500.

[@thinkonthesethings...2377]

Isn't your time worth simply spending $10 - $15 for a new one?

[@03usmcinfantry00]

He'll likely have the same problems even if he buys a new one. Many of these cheap purple hvlp guns have these issues right out of the box or after a use or two. For less than a $1 you can fix the problems for good and have a halfway decent gun.

[@cicely1977]

Dude why did you just go back to Harbor freight and Buy Another gun for $15 bucks Instead of doing all of that and the two-year warranty is only seven dollars more🙄

[@blowme5150]

Gruelling""

[@delz3501]

well, I just bought one and i want to take it back.. I can't get it to work for beans!..i think this gun is a hoax with all you people making videos for money.

[@divebobber]

Mine works. But I just bought the new HF green one, and it works even better.

[@frankpagano9947]

It's a $9 gun for God's sake throw it away and buy a new one

[@iainportalupi]

Frank Pagano don’t have to because it works again.

[@sashasoule4585]

Wouldn’t purchase a ten dollar gun if we could afford to burn cash like that lol

[@rikujkoivisto]

You fix this sh*** again and again and again and again. It cost $8 ..! What is your point? 😄😅😂😂

[@iainportalupi]

Riku Koivisto maybe I like just like fixing it.