[stenhouse]

I purchased my first airless sprayer this year. I have a Grace 395. I have painted several whole house interiors with it. I have been using the HEA tips and they seem to wear out quickly, I purchased them because they claim to have less over spray and cause less wear on the pump. I didn't know about flat tips until recently. They are so much cheaper than the HEA reversible tips. When are people using flat tips? is cleaning the clogs really that big of a deal? I strain my paint, my pump has a filter, my gun has a filter and I would get a cone filter that sits behind the tip. It seems like I would only get a few clogs per day. Any feedback on when people use them would be appreciated. I am generally spraying entire house interiors so although I don't want a crazy amount of over spray, everything should be covered.

 

[kmp]

Flat tips are ancient tech, but still used. I have only used them a few times and it has been a long time. They work but since they are cheap they wear out faster so you need more of them. If you are spraying a house and one clogs it is easier and faster to change tips rather than jerk around trying to clear one. They are a complete pain to clear, also messy. Not worth it for me. Just use the graco black reversa tips and if you think there is going to be an issue with the finish just back roll the walls, which you should be doing anyway.

 

[stelzerpaintinginc.]

I agree with @kmp in that they were way more popular years ago. That's pretty much all I ever used between '90-'96. To the OP, if you're using them for finish work, they might work for you as long as you strain your paint well and use fine mesh filters. I also had a pre-filter housing on the end of the gun to help minimize clogs and I always carried a sewing needle in my hat when spraying with flat tips to quickly unclog it. For walls & ceilings, I wouldn't even consider using flat tips though. The money saved in flat tips wouldn't be enough to offset the added labor to always be unclogging it.

 

[Woodco]

theyre a b!tch to unclog... IMO, not worth the hassle. I tried them for a while...

 

[finishesbykevyn]

I purchased my first airless sprayer this year. I have a Grace 395. I have painted several whole house interiors with it. I have been using the HEA tips and they seem to wear out quickly, I purchased them because they claim to have less over spray and cause less wear on the pump. I didn't know about flat tips until recently. They are so much cheaper than the HEA reversible tips. When are people using flat tips? is cleaning the clogs really that big of a deal? I strain my paint, my pump has a filter, my gun has a filter and I would get a cone filter that sits behind the tip. It seems like I would only get a few clogs per day. Any feedback on when people use them would be appreciated. I am generally spraying entire house interiors so although I don't want a crazy amount of over spray, everything should be covered.

These are repaints? AKA people are living in the house with furniture etc. and you're spraying everything?

 

[Woodco]

These are repaints? AKA people are living in the house with furniture etc. and you're spraying everything?

why would you assume the house is anything but empty?

 

[finishesbykevyn]

why would you assume the house is anything but empty?

Says he's trying to keep overspray down and has to cover everything... so was more of a question really..I

 

[stenhouse]

The houses are completely empty. No one is living in the houses. I wanted to learn on the HEA tips because as some point I am sure I will want to spray in a situation where I do need to control over spray and I liked the idea of not wasting paint. But it seems like no one uses flat tips.....

 

[Respec]

I don't believe any of the stores I shop even carry flat tips. They would have to be ordered.

 

[Tlapaints]

Personally, I stick to the grayco fine finish tips for anything other than drywall priming or ceilings on new construction. Even then I'm back rolling. With a 208 fine finish tip over spray past 4 feet falls as dust.