Airless tips are a fundamental component whatever type of job you need to carry out with your airless pump. Choosing the right ones for the application will therefore allow you to achieve optimal results and, of course, to make sound investments from an economic standpoint too.
Before listing the types of airless tips available for your pump, however, let’s take a step back and explain exactly what these small but hugely important “allies” of your work are.
What airless tips are and what they do
Airless tips are small but essential components of the airless pump. They are elements specifically designed to regulate the intensity of the sprayer’s operation so that it maintains the pressure required by the application. At the same time, the airless tip also allows specific adjustment of the flow rate of the material being sprayed and the size of the atomisation pattern – the so-called “fan width”.
Structurally, airless tips – sometimes informally called “butterflies” (guards) – consist of three main elements:
- A shaped plastic handle bearing the tip size.
- A steel cylinder.
- A tungsten carbide insert, which is effectively the tip itself.
Choosing the right airless tips is essential for getting maximum performance from the pump and for having the best possible control over spraying or painting operations: quality of work, smoothness of execution, cost containment, minimising material waste and working times are the main advantages the user is guaranteed.
The applications for which airless tips and pumps are recommended are broad and varied. Among the most common, it is worth listing painting on wood or metal, decorating interior or exterior environments, filler application, laying waterproofing membranes, intumescent paints and coatings.
As for the materials that can be sprayed through an airless tip, we are once again looking at a very rich list, including standard and finishing paints, stains, oil-based, acrylic and silicate paints, latex, enamels, silicone, fillers, fireproof insulating materials, airless fillers, elastomers, epoxy resins and even waterproofing membranes, including bituminous ones.
Airless tips: the various types available for different applications
Depending on the application, the material to be used or the surfaces to be treated (wood, metal, concrete, etc.), you can choose different, specific airless tips. Each of these tips has particular technical characteristics that set it apart from all the others.
Among these, the first and most immediately visible is colour.
In Tecnover’s case, airless tips are available in three different colours: red for the Standard series; white for the Fine Finish series; and green for the Low Pressure range. Each stands out for particular technical characteristics and is suited to specific applications, which we will look at in more detail in the next section of this article.
Airless tips can also be distinguished and chosen according to the first digit stamped on them, which indicates the fan width – the tip’s spray angle.
The last two digits are also important and should be noted carefully, since they indicate the size of the spray orifice: a higher number corresponds to a greater flow rate of material the tip is able to spray.
Common sense will of course always be essential in working out which of the many airless tips on the market is best suited to your application: for example, when using more viscous materials or those with larger particles, you will need tips with more generous orifice sizes.
Similarly, it is important to recognise the signs of tip wear so that the results of your work are not compromised. The wear process shows itself in less uniform spraying, both in pressure and in the amount of material delivered, in faster material consumption and in smaller, more irregular spray areas, indicating that the spray fan has shrunk. Worn airless tips also produce squarer-shaped spray patterns, caused by the orifice walls being clogged or deformed.
When you encounter these “symptoms”, it means the time has come to replace the tip!
Tecnover airless tips: the excellence you’re looking for in spray painting
Let’s now look in more detail at the range of airless tips in the Tecnover catalogue, called Paintip:
- Airless Tip – Standard Series: this product is a self-cleaning tip with simple, tool-free mounting. It is the ideal solution for applications demanding maximum productivity on large surfaces where there is no risk of over-atomisation. Its guard is red.
- Airless Tip – Fine Finish Series: a self-cleaning tip that is very easy to mount and requires no tools. It is particularly suited to premium finishes, and integrates a pre-atomiser that reduces particle size by over 25% compared with a standard tip, while working at lower pressures. Its guard is white.
- Airless Tip – Low Pressure Series: a self-cleaning tip that delivers optimal atomisation of the material at pressures up to 50% lower than other tips on the market. It reduces the risk of bounce-back atomisation and is very easy to mount, requiring no tools. Its guard is green.
Would you like assistance or more information to buy with confidence? Take a look at our guide to choosing the perfect tip for your airless system, or get in touch with our specialists.
