Paint thickness

i have a graco 3900, it tells me that im putin it down between 13mil and 15 mil on a 4" line with a 317 tip. any thoughts. new stripe or re stripe?

Are you walking really slow ?

I don't think so, maybe 2mph. And by the way if you don't want to help answer the ? don't waste my time with your lack of knowledge. Thanx

Allied Striping wrote on May 27, 2005:Go to #3

I don't think so, maybe 2mph. And by the way if you don't want to help answer the ? don't waste my time with your lack of knowledge. Thanx

Waste YOUR time with what? You never asked any specific question. Trust me that BornToStripe is one of the VERY best and most knowledgable people on here .

You asked for any thoughts. I read in BTS's answer that you might think about using a larger tip so you could speed up your application. But now you add that you are walking at about 2 mph. makes me think that your tip may need to be replaced because it is allowing to much paint to pass for a 317 @ 2mph.

Allied Striping Your response to BTG leaves one to question why provide a response at all. BTG response was in effect stating that either in your question, you must be going VERY slow or there is something wrong with your tip. You ask "new stripe or re-stripe" as though this might be a riddle. What specifically are you really wanting to know or help with.

Hey Allied, sorry, I was in a mood. PPS: Pre Payroll Syndrome. The crumb snatchers wanted their money. If you are putting down 12+ mils with a 317 it is either worn out or you are walking really slow. I use 219's and barely put that down at my normal striping gait. With a 219 (Hey Graco, how about a dang 221!) and a Line Driver I have to watch my speed to achieve 'the desired results'. I think I walk about 3.5 mph, but I'll have to check, haven't done it in a while.... All that said, I bow to the 3900's onboard telemetry. It is smarter than I am.

I've never been able to get a 4" line from any of my Graco 2xx tips no matter how high I raise the gun. BTW I do like the Graco tips much better than Titan because of their consistency. Got my first bad Graco tip today.....had 319 printed on it but sprayed like a black 111 painter's tip. This is the first out of about 25 since changing over from Titan. I remember it was a "roll of the dice" as to what kind of tip I'd get w Titan.

Jeebus Ken, you need to get a Graco with some oomph. My gun setting with 219's is 2-4" above the bar.....remember you move the gun UP to get a wider line ROFL.

I'm with Ken, I ran a 215 last night to shoot an odd logo "Gibby's way" (8 steps) and I had the (expletive) thing 15"+ in the air before I switched to a different tip.

Can't get a 4" line to save me eather But aren't they great for shooting from the hip!

You got that right about shooting from the hip! They may not be worth much (under our circumstances) for striping, but they sure do a good job of shooting the hombres pequinos (little men) (ADA wheelchair guy) without having to get up off the Lazyliner. No problem with getting the paint to atomize but I have about a 3" spread from about a 5' distance

Hey BTS, after 10 years with the same tip anything 2xx will spray a 4inch line that close. The tips do go bad after aseveral thousand gallons. Jim ps. Did anyone get their May first S.W. 5% price increase yet

Sorry for the up tight tude, but I've done 10 jobs this month with no complaints and i got one complaint about thickness on new asphalt I explained to thick it will pull up the asphalt, peel etc.I was just lookin for some feed back. I'm using the same amount of paint that I'm quoting the job for, according to my supplier. Peace

jpanz wrote on May 28, 2005:Go to #13

Hey BTS, after 10 years with the same tip anything 2xx will spray a 4

inch line that close. The tips do go bad after several thousand gallons. I guess I'm going to have to breakdown and take that second tip out of its wrapper....I was hoping the tip that came with the striper I bought in '93 would last a couple of more years. -- I can see I am going to have to take a picture. I can believe y'all can't get a 4" line out of a 219. Quote I got one complaint about thickness on new asphalt Paint NEVER looks thick on new asphalt, unless it is TOO thick. A lot of single coat new striping jobs are lucky to last a year.

Allied, New asphalt, it just "drinks" up the paint. You are filling every pore the first go round. If you are using waterborne you are probably doing you customer and his lot a favor by not loading it up. A quick question, did you reduce the material at all of spray full bodied? BTS, Graco introduced about 10 plus new tip sizes this year, but unfortunately 221 was not one of them. While I use mostly 3XX, I, like you, do find an occasional use for a 2XX. They work for me on rough lots and windy conditions. A note: As a tip wears the orifice gets bigger which allows more flow. As the orifice enlarges, the pattern width narrows. This makes it tougher and tougher to maintain line widths. Sound like the 2XX is becoming more marginal in terms of maintaining line width over time that the 3XX with todays harder to atomize paints. The original Linelazers were shipped with 219's due to the 219's ability to "tolerate" bumpy lots and wind. But those were the coatings of the early 1990's.

hey, bts i think i got it down. i just did a small road and put down a 5 inch line for 9328 l.f. and used 18gal. of paint, at 2500 psi with a 317 any thoughts. thanx

The calculator says that is 518 lf of 5" line per gallon, and most manufacturers suggest the average coverage should be 300-400 lf of 4" line per gallon, so I would definitely look at using a 219...oops....a 319 or 321 tip in the future. which would bring you closer to 400 lf per gallon and you could lower your pressure too. Are you using a Graco with display? Is it telling you you are putting down 15 mils at that application rate?