Wagner Spraytech 2454976 FLEXiO 3550 18V Cordless Handheld HVLP Paint Sprayer, Sprays Most Unthinned Latex, Includes Two Nozzles and Two Batteries, Complete Adjustability

I've used lesser quality HVLP sprayers before with mixed results. I have a cheapy Graco factory refurb and a new DSP 360 and used them for several projects, but now they both leak or won't spray correctly. Rather than drop a king's ransom on an Earlex or Fuji HVLP, I decided to give the Flexio 5000 a try, as the reviews seemed to be favorable.We are painting our kitchen (Kent Moore cabinets, not cheap stuff) and my wife is hand-priming the face frames in the kitchen whilst I took all of the drawers and doors out to the garage. We didn't want to mask off the kitchen to spray indoors. Everything was washed down with genuine TSP and then sanded with 320 grit 3M sandpaper and rinsed again. I got a gallon of Zinsser 123 primer and thinned it a little until it smoothly ran off the stirring stick.I tested the Detail gun on a flat surface, dialed in the power (about 50%) and started spraying. After priming about 18 doors, I have to say this is a *very* good HVLP spray unit! Since it is humid today (typical Houston spring with a little rain) I need to wait longer for the primer to dry, and then flip all the doors over to prime the fronts. I will edit this review once I have painted on the Behr Cabinet paint. I expect great performance with it too.Clean up is a breeze, and I do suggest the purchase of the cleaning brush set (I got the 22 piece set and it took me only a few minutes to clean up the gun and paint container. I did a full cleaning since it would be over an hour before I can continue spraying.Edit (as promised): This is getting better and better. We bought the Behr Cabinet, Door and Trim paint in the satin sheen. This paint brushes on like butter, but we're not talking about brushing, are we? It sprays on beautifully too, and without thinning! A few things I learned along the way.1) Strain your paint ALWAYS,2) Spray on first coat and note the finish when it dries. If a little rough, sand very lightly with 320 grit or higher,3) Spray next coat a little more slowly to allow a somewhat thicker coat. The Behr Cabinet paint is self-leveling, but you have to make sure the coat is thick enough for that to happen,4) Check the spray tip often and wipe off any build up,5) Clean up the gun very thoroughly, even just between coats. We're talking about a very expensive paint job, and you want the sprayer in tip top condition for every coat.6) The cleaning brush kit was a god-send and made clean up so much better,.In summary, this is a terrific spray kit for the price. If I was a professional cabinet maker, I would probably splurgh on a Fuji sprayer and spend upwards of $1500, but I am a weekend sawdust maker and this unit fits my budget AND gives me great results.

I was excited to write this review after several months of use because if you are like me, you are hesitant in purching this unit for fear or undesired results or clean up hassle. I will say this, I would only recommend using water based paint, primer, and poly in this unit. Oil based requires too much time in clean up. This sprayer is awesome. I have used it to prime, paint, and Poly finish my custom built cabinets. I can achieve a professional finish with this gun. I built a spray booth in my Garage and after diluting the latex paint almost 10% and adding floetrol this gun sprays amazing for the price. I am the type of person that does not like brush marks and I am a good painter when it comes to using a brush or roller.Clean up is actually easy once you get the hang of it. Clean up takes about 25 minutes with latex paint for me now. I can paint one coat of a cabinet carcass or multiple cabinet doors and clean up in less than 1 hr. I would not recommend spraying oil based as it makes clean up too difficult. I have sprayed water based primer, latex, and water based poly with this with amazing results. Perfectly flat finishes without orange peel marks. Spraying Poly can be difficult however trial and error on test pieces is advised. Use premium latex paint with this gun and you will see amazing results.I have not yet tried the fine sprayer that comes with this unit. Am planning to try that soon in spraying some stain or dye. When diluting the paint I usually spray on or around the 5 power setting and back the nozzle control knob all the way back. From this position i slightly advance the nozzle knob until I achieve the desirable results. There is definitely a learning curve to this sprayer, in fact my first attempt using it failed miserably and caused me several hours of stripping and sanding down the poplar cabinet doors and face frame back down to bare wood. My issue was that I did not tighten the nozzle assembly tight enough causing splatter/globs to come out. This was of course user error.Diluting latex up to 10% and adding floetrol is a must to achieve professional results on wood. It allows the latex to dry slowly and level out eliminating orange peel effect. The floetrol allows the gun to spray the paint better and more consistently. Do not attempt to spray the paint without either of these. You will get frustrated and believe the error is on the product and not the user. My first cabinet received 10 coats between the primer, latex and poly and they turned out with a perfect professional look. In fact it turned out better than my friends custom cabinets that they spent 10K on.If you are like me and hate brush painting and want professional results with your paint then do not hesitate to get this sprayer. You will be glad you did. I could not afford to spend $500+ on a spray unit, and I am glad i didn't. I have used it outdoors, and indoor in a erected booth and both give amazing results. curing paint should be stored inside to eliminate bugs and dust particles from landing on the paint or poly.