Fluttery lines

Used the graco 3900 IV for the first time this year... put a new tip on and was spraying yellow latex over new sealer.... I couldnt get the edges to be crisp or smooth at all... The edges were like fluttery on both sides....Last year no probs.. now horrible...changed pressure changed tips,,, no luck! ?

Paint may be a little thick. Try thinning it a liitle. You didn't say what the temperature was. I have this problem with my LL3000 when it's colder.

dbarnettt wrote on May 6, 2006:Go to #2

Paint may be a little thick. Try thinning it a liitle. You didn't say what the temperature was. I have this problem with my LL3000 when it's colder.

it was in the upper 60's thin it with.....?

Iguess you mean fuzzy or do you mean hour glass? could be thin paint for fuzzy or tip size or low pressure or too small or short spray line to gun for hour glass

It's water based . I guess you'd just splash a little water in it? Honestly, I don't use latex enough to say. Whatever you use to clean out the machine when you're done, I guess. I spray about 99.9% CR. Like I said, in cooler weather (50-60deg F), it's like the pump has a problem with the higher viscosity of the paint. I'm assuming you're talking about the really small ripples, not hour glasssing. I posted before that I've also had luck moving the gun to the left side of the machine(away from the pump).

dbarnettt wrote on May 6, 2006:Go to #5

It's water based . I guess you'd just splash a little water in it? Honestly, I don't use latex enough to say. Whatever you use to clean out the machine when you're done, I guess. I spray about 99.9% CR. Like I said, in cooler weather (50-60deg F), it's like the pump has a problem with the higher viscosity of the paint. I'm assuming you're talking about the really small ripples, not hour glasssing. I posted before that I've also had luck moving the gun to the left side of the machine(away from the pump).

yeah its the small ripples on both sides of the lines

"Ripples" is one thing.... a sawtooth or herrringbone pattern is another and is caused by vibration from the motor on the striper or Lazyliner.

could be to much pressure or high wind will make lines fuzzy also

Hourglass? fuzzy, ripples, these are all different. if posable could you post a picture so we are all talking about the same thing.

Pictures! OMG what a concept. Oops I promised to do a "how-to" on embedding pics in posts. The only shortcoming is that pictures are size-limited in posts on this forum. Maybe I can figure out how to link to pics posted in either the PLP archives, or the picture host. here is an "embedded" pic (size limited, so you lose detail): Same pic, but you have to click the link (better detail, which is important! ) http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3107/2005030865xu.jpg I will get on a tutorial on posting pics. Hey Don, is pic sizing really necessary here?

Good lord Chip, give me a heart attack. The line problem could also be with the humidity. Not much you can di if that is the case.

"Ripples" is one thing.... a sawtooth or herringbone pattern is another and is caused by vibration from the motor on the striper or Lazyliner. Hey Stripes, How do you prevent this...I had it happen today...job came out good except for the saw tooth edges...hopefully property owner doesn't complain. Jay

More often than not it comes from a harmonic resonance created by the two motors running at the same time. That is, the Lazy Liner and the paint machine. If this is the problem the solution is simple..... just raise the rpms on one or the other motor. I have also seen this condition from smaller short throw pumps that aren't healthy like the Graco 3000 and Speeflo 3100s.... Sawtooth lines are common on the little diaphragm type pumps. There is a striping company (actually more than one) in the metromess areas that stripe with smaller short throw type machines and another with diaphragm ... always sawtooth patterns. About the only other cause is loose hardware i.e. gun, gun mounts, motor mounts, etc.

I'm using an Airlessco 3300 which I think would fall under the diaphragm pump category and I moved the gun around today so I could get in between some parking blocks so I'm guessing I didn't tighten up the mounts enough...thanks for the info Ken. Maybe a dumb question (no such thing right) but give me a little lesson on what a short throw pump is. Jay

Ripped, not sure what you mean by fluttery but...sometime the surface/substrate comes into place in terms of porocity and smoothness. This in a mild condition can cause ripples on the top of the line which can have some "overflowing" to the edges. In a more severe condition (smooth surface, no porocity, too slow,or too big a tip for the job) it can actually splash the paint outward (usually slightly forward). I'd be suprised if it was vibration related on a 3900 IV. Could be paint, clogged filters, engine speed in relation to clutch actuation or pump changeover. Clutch would be every 2-5 feet a slight hourglass. Every 2-5 inches is changeover. At shorter intervals its substrate/ vibration, or... Jay what you are seeing is typical of diaphragm pumps (Airlessco), they are single acting pumps and by nature in one stroke they are in siphon mode and the other is pressure mode. So 50% of the time the pump generates pressure and 50% of the time they lose pressure. That is why they run them at speeds in excess of 600 Cycles per minute, to mask the non pressure mode. You are seeing the saw toothed effect of the pressure spikes and drops. Piston pumps on the other hand, siphon AND displace material on the up stroke and simply displace on the downstroke. With this technology, flow is more consistent in terms of edge line quality.

I have forund that if the hose is wound up to tight it can cause issues like that. Also check the motor mounts on the engine. Sometimes they fail and break loose. That will cause a nasty vibration