HVLP - help troubleshooting

[Adam Sharp]

Hi BP -

I need some help with my HVLP spray gun. I recently purchased a 2.0mm gun and ran it at 40psi today to do some cabinet painting. I used BEHR Bonding Primer and thinned it using the recommendations on the can (1/2 cup water / gallon pain) and strained it afterwards.

It was a miserable experience. I had to reduce the spread all the way, open the flow almost all the way, and crank the psi up to 60+ to even get product out of the tip. My 8gal compressor was running the entire time and I’d only get a few passes before I didn’t have enough pressure to get the pint out. Even then the coverage was less than that of a normal spray paint can. It took me forever.

I bought a few gallons of BEHR Cabinet/Trim that I would like to apply via spray gun but after today I’m second guessing basically everything.

Does anyone have any advice? I thought I did my research on this one but failed.

Do I need a larger tip gun?

Thin the paint more?

Should I be using a different system?

How do I finish the project? Tiny rollers?

Please help. This was a total buzz kill today that I was really looking forward to working.

Thanks!