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Summary:
- Make sure your turbine is set up for a non-bleed gun...a non-bleeding gravity feed turbine gun with fan width control is the modern standard - avoid bleeder or cup-fed guns, as well as those without fan width control.
- The Fuji T-75G is state of the art, and at about the same price point as much less capable guns from Apollo, Titan, etc. Excellent customer service - we've had the president answer the tech advice line, and when we've had issues (a dropped XPC gun that cracked the metal cup), we've had a replacement in hand the next day...at Fuji's expense.
More details:
You will need a turbine HVLP gun - unless the gun is specifically turbine-compatible, it will not work with your turbine. This seems obvious, but guns which convert low volume, high pressure air from a compressor to high volume, low pressure air inside the gun are referred to as 'HVLP conversion guns' to distinguish them from conventional spray guns. This can be confusing if you are just getting into spray work, and frustrating in terms of returning the gun and finding one which will actually work with your system.
In terms of compatibility, you might check to see if the turbine is configured for bleeder gun use (air always flows from gun) or non-bleeder use (air flows from gun only with first stage of trigger depressed) ...if set up for bleeder use, you'll need to drill a small hole in the output fitting (1/16" -3/32" should be enough for a 3 stage) or use a relief port adaptor between the turbine and hose when using a non-bleeding gun. The hole is needed to allow enough air to continue to move through the turbine to provide cooling when a non-bleeding gun is used. It may very well be that your turbine is set up for either type of turbine gun if it is less than 15 years old. All of Fuji's turbines over the last 15 yeas or so have been compatible with either type of gun, while other brands lagged behind, so worth a check.
Most higher-end turbine guns (Apollo, Accuspray/3M, Fuji, Turbinaire, etc.) will work with most brands of turbine and air hose sets; we had both Apollo and Turbinaire turbines in the shop for a while until we standardized on Fuji - all compatible in terms of fittings. While turbine air is turbine air - just like compressor air is compressor air - the bargain-brands like Earlex may or may not be compatible in terms of fittings, so worth checking with your vendor when shopping for guns. Also consider whether the gun you are considering will take PPS and other similar paint systems...3M has conversion fittings for most guns, so if set on using PPS, check that the gun you are considering is one of those covered with available fittings.
Avoid cup guns, guns without fan control, and guns that do not use 100% stainless steel in the fluid passages if spraying waterbased materials. We use several T-75G Fuji gravity guns in the shop (gravity feed, composite cup and lid, all-stainless fluid passages, excellent fan width control), with a 1.3mm #3 tip set for lacquer and a 1.0mm #2 for waterbased materials. Used turbine guns you may encounter will likely be older bleeder guns or non-bleeder guns without fan width controls - modern non-bleed guns like the Fuji XPC and T-75G (Fuji's latest generation of gun) handle like compressor-driven gravity guns, and match up well in terms of performance with $400-$600 conversion guns.
We have found that most sellers will substitute the tip set desired in a gun package if asked, so if only shooting EnduroVar or other water-based material, you might ask (for a T-75G, for example) for a #2 tip set (nozzle, needle, and aircap) as a substitute for the standard #3 set.
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For the times they are a changin'
- Bob Dylan
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