8 Reasons Not to Buy a Cheap Sprayer

Used spray cans ready for the landfill

when to buy a cheap sprayer

For spraying one or two small objects where the quality of the finish doesn’t matter much — and that’s all the spraying you do for the next few years — then aerosol spray paint can be a great choice.

To use spray cans of paint, stain, or varnish routinely?

Then you get into the big reasons NOT to buy a cheap sprayer.

What do I call a cheap sprayer? A spray system that ranges from 2 aerosol paint cans for about $5 — two cans in case one clogs or you need extra coats — up to a price of around $300. (By comparison, a Fuji Spray setup costs $500 or more.

So which to choose? An important question.

8 Reasons not to buy a cheap sprayer:

1. Finish quality suffers

A better quality spray system will give you a smoother finish. Cheap sprayers don’t give you much (if any) control over the way the sprayer changes the spray fluid into tiny drops that blend together into a smooth coating.

The smoothest coats with best coverage are from more expensive sprayers that let you adjust these controls in a gradual incremental way:

• how fast the fluid flows out of the sprayer, and

• the size and shape you spray

2. Spray direction is limited

Try spraying an aerosol can of paint or varnish upside down. Doesn’t work.

Cheap sprayers can spray at very limited angles. (Compare this with the Fuji Spray GXPC spray gun, whose fluid cup rotates so you can spray upside down when you want to.)

3. Cheap sprayers are hard on your hands and arms

Ergonomic design doesn’t come cheap! Nor do handles with a soft non-slip coating.

4. Overspray!

Cheap sprayers produce a lot of overspray — fluid that doesn’t land precisely on the surface you’re spraying. Instead, the extra fluid drops go onto surrounding surfaces AND into the air you breathe and that we all breathe eventually.

Spray fluids include VOCs (volatile organic compounds) — unhealthy for you and others to breathe, and a contributor to climate change.

Minimizing overspray is a factor in the time and materials you hav to spend on preparing to spray, and cleaning up afterward.

If you have to use drop cloths and tape to protect a large area around what you’re spraying, the preparation and cleanup time can be huge. This uses extra cleanup materials — newspapers, drop cloths, paper towels, rags — and means sending more to the landfill.

5. Cheap sprayers are S - L - O - W….

Cheap sprayers use no fan (as with aerosol cans) or only one fan. This means they apply the fluid with minimal force, much of it wasted or in too large a drop to blend nicely. By contrast, the slowest, least powerful Fuji Spray HVLP system has 2 fans. (That’s why it’s called a 2-stage system.)

So using a cheap sprayer can double the time you spend spraying, though still providing rougher results.

6. LIMITED SPRAY FLUIDS

Most cheap sprayers are designed for one type of fluid — solvent-based or water-based. Even if the nozzle can handle both, cheap sprayers are harder to clean well, so it’s difficult to switch among different fluids.

Usually a cheap sprayer comes with only one nozzle size. Even if an extra nozzle size or two are available, the range is very limited. This limits the viscosity of the fluids the sprayer can spray with excellence.

The inner parts of the sprayer may corrode if used with water-based paints, or become coated inside with solvent-based paints.

7. Limited Size and Shape of Surfaces You Can Spray Well

Most cheap sprayers would be agonizingly slow if you use them on large surfaces, like room walls or a long fence. Spraying a ceiling might be out of the question because of the angle — yet all these could be fast and easy with a better spray system.

Cheap sprayers can also be difficult to use in closed surfaces, like bookcases, and the inside of cabinets and closets. There’s too much back spray right in your face, and the angles can make it difficult.

Spraying round objects can be more difficult as well.

8. SHORT LIFETIME OF USE

Cheap sprayers rely on mainly plastic parts both inside and out — rather than stainless steel. Plastic tends to crack in time.

Once a cheap sprayer part breaks, the entire sprayer becomes useless — another item for the landfill.

6 reasons that fuji spray systems are a better investment

Overall, then, better spray systems are a better investment in:

• Your satisfaction and pride in the excellence of your work.

• Your finances — because of the durability, replacement parts, and repairability — and needing to buy only one system, not several cheap sprayers for different projects.

• Your time — less prep and cleanup time, faster spraying.

• Your health and that of your family and neighbors.

• Your comfort and convenience.

• The environment — less waste for landfills, less air pollution and less contribution to climate change and the natural disasters increasing from climate change.

Some of these reasons may mean more to you and others. We’re all unique people sharing a unique planet.

Concerns about the price and value of a fuji spray system?

I offer payment plans that can help spread your investment over time.

Consider using Fuji Spray equipment to start a home and mobile business.

If you already have a business, consider how the increased excellent and efficiency of a Fuji Spray system will bring you more business and profit.

i’m here to help you.

Feel free to ask me for personalized advice on the best sprayer for your specific projects, plans, and budget.

My expertise is based on decades of experience as a cabinet refinisher and as a Fuji Spray distributor.

My aim is to sell you exactly what you need — no more, no less — keeping your budget in mind.

Call me, Roger Phelps, owner of Phelps Refinishing, at 800-377-5662 — Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM Central Time.