Wasted $200 on a cheap paint gun before learning my lesson

I bought one of those $60 Amazon HVLP spray guns thinking I was being smart. It sputtered and dripped on a 2018 Ford F-150 fender and I had to sand it all off and start over. After buying a Satajet 5000 for $200 more I finished the job in half the time. Has anyone else lost money trying to save money on spray equipment?

3 comments

3 Comments

adams.vera2mo ago

Did you actually pay $200 more for a Satajet 5000? I think those run closer to $600 new so you probably got a knockoff or a used one. Either way the cheap gun lesson is a expensive one for sure.

graceprice13d agoOG Member

My buddy Mike paid $400 for a used Satajet 4000 off Craigslist and it showed up with a cracked air cap and dried paint in the fluid tip... ended up spending another $100 on parts just to get it spraying right.

john_singh2mo ago

Frankly, I think you're BOTH wrong here because I've been using a $35 Harbor Freight purple gun for three years now and it lays down clear coat better than any fancy Sata I've ever borrowed. I painted my whole 2012 Ram 1500 with that cheap gun and a regular 20 gallon compressor, got maybe three small runs total that sanded right out. The trick is thinning your paint properly and dialing in your air pressure with a real regulator at the gun, not just cranking the compressor to 90 PSI like most guys do. People BLAME the tool when their prep work is sloppy or they don't understand how to adjust fluid flow. A Satajet won't save you if you're still spraying heavy coats without testing your pattern first.