What would be the result difference in shooting at 26 psi with fluid turned out 2 1/2 turns verses 20 psi with fluid wide open? would like to practice around with different settings but the price of paint is too expensive. I'm using a Tekna Pro.

Uhhhh....gun settings are just that until you "paint." I mean.....base coat/clear coat, SSU,? Mixed by viscosity cup or eyeball? What size is your compressor? High flow fittings? Where are you getting that pressure reading at????? What are your temps? Pro booth or box fans in a chicken coop? If you don't have paint in that gun what do you have????
Do yourself a favor.....go to the local paint jobber and see if he's got some mismatched crap or factory packs he's clearing out.
Oh, and just guessing but putting a full flood of material through a gun and turning it down under at least it's design pressure (about 24 psi. for that gun, I thought?) is just going to give you poorly atomized paint...... but hey, you don't know that until you do it.....

there's a lot of things that work together to make a gun spray right other than turning the knobs. as above the best way to understand your gun adjustments is to get some paint in it and an old door or something and start spraying. turn the knobs in and out to see what they do. if you could mix some with fast reducer then mix some with slow so you can see the difference it makes. sounds expensive but look what it cost a brain surgeon to be what he is. most likely when you drop your air pressure you get poor atomization, orange peel for one. sometimes you can turn the fluid down then turn the air down and get a reasonable spray. I've done this doing door jambs with out having to mask the opening, also round sockets for turn lights and brake lights to name a few. most of the time if I was doing a complete and there were difficult places to spray I would load up my detail gun and use it.
Jay D.

1Bassmaster wrote:What would be the result difference in shooting at 26 psi with fluid turned out 2 1/2 turns verses 20 psi with fluid wide open? would like to practice around with different settings but the price of paint is too expensive. I'm using a Tekna Pro.

instead of practicing with different settings, i strongly encourage you to use the PSI the gun manufacturer suggests, set you fan pattern and fluid control right, and practice with ONE set up and perfect that one. the gun manufacturers have their setup specs for a reason- they sprayed once or 5000 times with the gun to determine best results.

to add to above. for the o/p or any new painter they need to learn what the fluid control, fan control, and air pressure do how they affect the spray pattern and your results on the surface. the specs given for the gun are just a starting point, no way would one setting be good for different materials or colors for that mater. its all about viscosity, some colors spray different that others one material will spray different than another. the painter needs to be able to compensate for this with air pres. fluid adjustment and fan control. you wouldn't spray a 50s chevy pickup grill with a 6 or 8 in fan pattern same for a motorcycle frame.
Jay D.

Hobby painter and learning alot from this site and trial and error. Thanks for responding. My biggest problem i have had recently is laying down pearl base without striping or mottling. Using 5HP 2 stage 80 gallon compressor w/ high flow fittings. What would be the best settings and technique for an even distribution of metallics? Using PPG Omni . Used 1.3 fluid and 1.4 tips. Should have air adjusted at gun to 24-26 psi and turn down fluid? I have been spraying clear just fine at 26 psi with full fan and fluid turned out 2 1/2 turns. Any tips would be very appreciated before next metallic/pearl job

The article will help you understand how to set up a gun so it operates properly.
http://www.autobody101.com/content/arti ... omization/

Anybody using or have used Devilbis Tekna Pro that could share gun settings and technique for spraying pearls and metallics?

Avoiding tiger stripes....

Mix so you get the coverage you want in 3 good coats. Less material per pass, 66% overlap. Meaning you hit every square inch exactly 3 times for each coat. Keep distance to the panel and gun speed exactly the same on each pass. Keep the gun at 90 degrees to the surface you are spraying... if the gun is angled up just a little the bottom will get a heavier coat and make a stripe. Just keep spray right over any openings and past the end of the panel. Don't follow body lines. Don't spray in the exact same pattern on each coat... start at the top, start at the bottom, start on the left, start on the right.

And practice.

Tiger stripes are usually a result of tipping the gun when spraying, usually while reaching toward the center of a horizontal panel like the hood.
They can also be caused by not having the tip cleaned properly and one side partially plugged but you should be spraying a test pattern on masking paper taped to the wall to insure the gun is set up right and has a good pattern before painting.