Popular Woodworking 2001-12 № 125, страница 58
Campbell-Hausfeld HV3000 Despite its low price, the Campbell-Hausfeld HV3000 has a three-stage turbine, which helps improve atomization.The gun, however, has more plastic parts than we'd like.The hose fitting on the turbine, and the nozzle ring, handle, fluid adjustment knob and air connectors are all plastic.And though they all worked fine, we wondered how they would hold up after years of hard use.We're not entirely opposed to plastics, but the fact that many of the critical parts that need to be cleaned and adjusted (especially the threaded hose connection and nozzle ring) were plastic gave us pause.The gun gives you the option of locating the hose either high at the rear of the gun, or at the base of the handle.Also, the cup-release lever is mounted to the rear on the Campbell-Hausfeld unit while all the other units have theirs mounted to the front. It's awkward to reach around the trigger to release the cup.The instructions were thorough and reasonably easy to follow, including tips on spraying and clean-up. Our overall opinion of the unit is that it does a good job of applying a finish, though the quality of the gun makes it feel less like a quality tool, giving us some concern about longevity of the gun. Fuji Super The Fuji system has some nice things going for it, but we expected a little more for the price.The three-stage turbine is housed in a light-gauge steel box and is the only system we tested with a built-in circuit breaker to reset the unit.There are two filters for the Fuji. One fine filter for protecting the turbine (and your airflow) from dust.And a second coarser filter that protects the fan cooling the motor. Don't get the two mixed up. We were a little disappointed with the spray gun. The gun is mostly metal, with a few key components made of plastic: the fluid adjustment knob, the nozzle adjustment ring and the fitting for the air hose.And though the gun sprayed just fine, the fit and finish were less than stellar when compared to the Wagner, Lex-Aire and Lemmer. The instructions provided with the system are adequate and provide a reasonable amount of instruction about spray finishing, but they assume a certain level of knowledge about adjustment of the gun and maintenance.All told, the systems works well, but for the same price you can get a more refined gun with more metal parts. The Canadian-made Lemmer unit is the least expensive unit we tested. Except for the two-stage turbine it has the features of the more expensive units. In fact, the steel turbine housing is nearly identical to the Lex-Aire model. It uses a large pleated filter and a good-quality gun that is all metal except for a plastic nozzle ring.The only disappointment with the gun was in the fluid-adjustment knob. Once you dial in your setting,you have to lock it in using a second threaded ring. If you don't, the fluid balance can change while you're spraying.The air-control valve is located on the hose and is a lever action for easier control than the dial-style on some of the other units.The instruction manuals were the best of any of the test units.The manuals offered explanations of the workings of a turbine unit as well as of the gun itself, offered finishing advice and gun adjustment with good diagrams, as well as good information for cleaning and maintenance. Overall the performance was good, but with some slight clunkiness in adjusting the nozzle and, as mentioned, in adjusting the fluid knob. The metal handle did allow some transfer of heat to the users hand, but the gun felt of reasonably sturdy construction.All in all, for the price this system is a good one and would do well in most shops. This in no way impacted the finish provided, but it did make the Wagner feel like a more professional gun (pull the trigger the air comes out; let go and it stops) and it kept us from accidentally stirring up dust around the project. A couple of quick comments on some of the features that helped us determine our preferred turbine system. Hoses and cords make a difference. Though our preferences were not driven entirely by this feature, longer air hoses and power cords make the units easier to use. Also, the flexibility of the air hose can make a large difference in the ease of use when spraying larger and multi-sided pieces. When it comes to filters, all our units employed adequate filtration to allow the units to perform without difficulty. The pleated-style filters (on the Lemmer and Lex-Aire) are more efficient at removing dust particles from the air than the open-cell style filters, but they also restrict the air flow around the motor, causing a delicate balancing act to cool the unit. Again, we didn't see this affecting performance. When our testing was complete, we preferred the Wagner unit over all others for its almost entirely metal gun (but for the plastic handle wrap which is a ben- SOURCES Campbell-Hausfeld - Harrison, Ohio www.chpower.com or 800-626-4401 Fuji - Toronto, Ontario www.fujispray.com, or 800-650-0930 Lemmer - Calgary, Alberta www.lemmer.com/HVLP.htm, or 800-561-6908 Lex-Aire - North Billerica, Massachusetts www.lexaire.com/index.html, or 800-539-2473 Wagner - Minneapolis, Minnesota http://www.wagnerspraytech.com, or 800-328-8251 |
