How to Adjust the Air Pressure on a Spray Gun
A spray gun and air compressor supply options for professional painting results on cars, boats, motorcycles and for houses. The air adjustments provide the shape of the spray pattern from a circular pattern to a flat wide pattern. Making incremental changes to the air to paint ratio in a spray gun will enable exact adjustments to achieve the required results.
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Instructions
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Adjust the fan control on the side of the spray gun. Turn the fan control clockwise to create a round, circular spray pattern. Closing the fan control in this manner restricts the airflow in the horns on the air cap that mix with the paint.
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2
Turn the fan control counterclockwise to create flat spray patterns. Opening the fan control in this process adds more air through the horns in the air cap to supply the paint with additional air for a flat spray pattern.
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3
Close the fan control entirely to restrict all airflow in the spray gun and turn incrementally counterclockwise to open it. Pull the trigger of the spray gun and paint on a small scrap of lumber, plastic or any other object to test the pattern. Make necessary adjustments to provide the required spray pattern.
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Adjust the air micrometer on the back of the spray gun. It is on the back of the air gun closest to the handle and is the largest adjustment knob with a protruding rectangular metal piece in the center. Grasp the center and turn clockwise to add air pressure to the spray gun tip for more air volume in painting.
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Turn the center of the air micrometer counterclockwise to decrease air pressure to the air and paint mix for a smaller spray pattern.
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Tips & Warnings
The air micrometer fine-tunes small air adjustments on a spray gun. Only high-end spray guns have this feature.
Adding air pressure to paint in a spray gun allows for a very fine misting of paint as it exits the tip. This will create paint that dries quickly between coats as opposed to too little air pressure and dots of paint that can run before they dry.
