Comparison Wagner ControlPro 250 R vs Sigma 851002

— Airbrush. General purpose spray guns — in other words, traditional spray guns that do not belong to any of the specialized categories described below. At the same time, the functionality of such devices can be quite diverse — from relatively small tools for hard-to-reach areas and small areas to quite powerful performant solutions that are already approaching paint stations.

— Airbrush. A miniature variety of spray guns, distinguished primarily by very small nozzle sizes — less than 1 mm, and more often up to 0.5 mm. Thanks to this, airbrushes are optimally suited for delicate work, where accuracy is most important; with the help of such a tool, you can even create full-fledged paintings (for example, those same “airbrushes” that adorn cars).

— Roller. An improved version of the conventional paint roller, supplemented by a paint supply system. Thanks to this, additional convenience is provided during work: there is no need to periodically dip the roller into a container with paint, and the coating itself is applied as accurately and evenly as possible.

— Plaster. A variety of spray guns used not for painting, but for plastering. One of the characteristic features of such tools is the large diameter of the nozzle: thanks to this, it is not clogged with mortar particles and is easily cleaned after work is complet...ed. In addition, plaster guns are usually equipped with rather large (about 5 – 7 liters) own tanks; such a reservoir is usually supplemented with a handle for the convenience of holding the tool with the second hand.

— Paint station. Units designed for large volumes of work, where high performance is of decisive importance. A mandatory feature of paint stations are remote compressors (see below) of high power and large size, usually mounted on a stand or even a trolley for ease of transportation. And often there is no own paint tank at all, and the working composition is supplied from an external container (for example, a bucket). Also note that painting stations often allow two guns to be connected to one compressor at once (see below).

The type is indicated by the energy source from which the spray gun operates. Nowadays, you can find pneumatic, electric( mains and battery), as well as mechanical and gasoline models. Here are their main features:

— Pneumatic. Spray guns powered by compressed air from an external compressor. In other words, only a spray gun (gun, airbrush, etc.) is included in the delivery package of such a tool; it requires a separate compressor to operate. At first glance, this creates certain inconveniences; however, such a configuration also has noticeable advantages. Firstly, you do not need to overpay for a compressor if it is already “on the farm” (a separate example of such a situation is a construction site where a powerful stationary compressor is used for several pneumatic tools). Secondly, the nozzle and compressor can be selected at your discretion, without relying on the equipment selected by the manufacturer. Thus, most modern spray guns are made precisely pneumatic. The unambiguous disadvantages of such devices include unsuitability for working with airless spray systems, however, such systems are used much less often than air ones, so this nuance is not key.

— Electric. In this case, spray guns powered by outlets are meant (battery models are placed in a separate category, see below). Dev...ices of this type consist of the nebulizer itself, as well as a compressor (built-in or remote). One of the advantages of this option is just the presence of a compressor, due to which, for the operation of such an airbrush, in fact, only an outlet is needed. In addition, both air and airless spray systems can be used in such units. The disadvantages of electric models include a higher cost than pneumatic ones, as well as the inability to select a working nozzle and a compressor separately — usually, spray guns of this type are sold as ready-made kits.

— Rechargeable. Spray guns equipped with electric compressors powered by their own batteries. The key advantage of such tools is battery life, the ability to work even if there are no outlets nearby. On the other hand, it is difficult to achieve high power and performance with a battery; the time of continuous operation of such atomizers is limited by the battery charge (and a source of electricity will still be required to replenish the charge); and the design itself turns out to be more complicated and more expensive than that of analogues powered by a socket. Therefore, battery spray guns nowadays have not received much distribution.

— Mechanical. Units in which the supply of paint is carried out due to the muscular strength of the user — in other words, for this you need to manually swing the pump lever. This scheme of operation is as simple and reliable as possible, but it is poorly suited for traditional sprayers. Therefore, "mechanics" nowadays is extremely rare, mainly among rollers (see "View").

— Petrol. Models with this type of power supply combine high power and independence from the power grid, but they are rather bulky, more difficult to operate and repair, more expensive (both in terms of their own cost and fuel price) and are generally designed for industrial outdoor use. . Therefore, they are poorly distributed and are used where, for one reason or another, electrical analogues are not applicable.

The power consumed by the operation of an electric tool (see "Type").

Most modern spray guns, even performant ones, have a rather low power: for example, models with more than 1 kW are extremely rare, and in most cases, power consumption does not exceed 500 W at all. So when connecting such equipment to sockets, there are usually no problems; only single units of high performance, requiring 3.5 kW or more, have to be connected according to special rules (directly to the shield). In other cases, data on power consumption is most often not needed for normal use and may be required only for specific tasks — for example, to calculate the load on an autonomous generator.

Nominal air pressure in the spray gun.

The general meaning of this parameter depends on the type of instrument (see above). So, in pneumatic models, nominal pressure data is required for connection to an external compressor. It is this pressure that this compressor must create at the inlet to the atomizer; too low values will lead to a decrease in efficiency, too high are fraught with breakdowns and even accidents with injury to others.

In turn, for electric models, the nominal pressure is the air pressure created by the unit's own compressor; the complete atomizer was originally designed for the same pressure. So in this case, this parameter is more of a reference than practically significant; it may be useful only for connecting replacement nozzles to the compressor (or vice versa, for using an existing nozzle with a third-party compressor).

As for specific pressure values, they are primarily determined by the spray system (see below). The diversity here is quite high: the most modest units give out less than 2 bar, 2-5 bar compressors are quite popular , 5-10 bar models are relatively rare, and some powerful performance solutions provide a pressure of 100 bar or more.

Consumption of paint or other material (for example, mortar for plaster) when the spray gun is operating in normal mode.

The higher the flow rate, the more material the tool can apply per unit of time, the better it is suitable for processing large areas and for applying thick coatings. On the other hand, not all types of work require high productivity, and sometimes relatively low consumption is optimal. Detailed recommendations on this subject for different situations can be found in special sources.

The diameter of the nozzle at the outlet of the spray gun.

It is from this nozzle that paint or other working material comes out. And the productivity and spot size at the exit depend on the diameter. Accordingly, larger nozzles are better suited for processing large surfaces, while smaller nozzles provide greater precision and accuracy. Thus, this parameter is directly related to the type of device (see above). There are also spray guns with a replaceable nozzle, when more than one nozzle is provided in the kit, which expands the possibilities of using the device.

Spray method used by the spray gun.

— Pneumatic. Pneumatic (air) spray tools work on the principle of a spray gun: paint particles are captured by the air stream flowing from the nozzle and transferred to the surface to be painted. This method is standard for pneumatic tools, but it is also common in other types (see above). The advantages of pneumatics are the excellent uniformity of application and the aesthetic appearance of the resulting coating, as well as its versatility — it can be used both for small jobs and for large surfaces, for objects of any complexity and with almost any type of paint and varnish materials. And the equipment is relatively simple and inexpensive. The main disadvantages of this method are high fogging (which requires good ventilation and protective equipment, and also increases material consumption) and the need to dilute the material to a working consistency (which, in turn, affects the consumption of solvents).

— Airless. Airless spraying is based on forcing the paint material with a special high pressure pump; roughly speaking, the spray gun "spits out" the paint through a nozzle, spraying it into a stream of the desired shape. The key advantages of this method over the pneumatic one are, firstly, high productivity (including due to higher efficiency and lower material losses), and secondly, the absolute minimum of fogging. It is also worth noting the low consumption of solvents and a clear...border of the edges of the treated area. At the same time, the uniformity and appearance of the coating during such work is much worse than with air spraying, the uniformity is lower, and the equipment turns out to be expensive and difficult both in itself and in maintenance. Therefore, airless spray is recommended for large areas where productivity is more important than high quality. In addition, this option is indicated for rollers (see "View"): in them the technology is somewhat different from that described, but it also does not imply a supply of compressed air.

The location of the paint reservoir relative to the regular working position of the spray gun. Note that there are models without a tank, and this indicator does not affect the quality of painting, the differences lie in other points:

— Lower. The lower arrangement allows the use of fairly large containers, while maintaining the ability to work with one hand. In addition, many models allow you to put the gun directly on the tank.

— Upper. The top position of the tank provides a fairly comfortable balance; and due to the fact that the paint enters the gun under its own weight, it becomes possible to work with more viscous materials than with the lower location. However the volume of the tank is usually less; the exception is plaster spray guns (see "View"), in which the tank is supplemented with a handle to hold the tool in two hands.

— Lateral (swivel). At first glance, such models look like overhead spray guns; however, in them, the reservoir is not connected directly from above, but from the side, through an L-shaped tube. The attachment of this tube allows you to rotate the tank, so that the spray gun can be used with equal convenience for both vertical surfaces (such as walls) and horizontal surfaces (such as the ceiling).

— Detached. Reservoirs located separately f...rom the spray gun and connected to it by a hose for supplying paint. This option is considered optimal for large volumes of work. There are several reasons for this: firstly, the user has to hold only a relatively light pistol in his hands, which reduces fatigue; secondly, the tank can be made quite roomy — up to several liters. Among the shortcomings, one can note the general bulkiness and increased cost of such spray guns.

The material from which the complete reservoir of the spray gun is made.

— Plastic. Plastic is characterized by a combination of low cost with lightness and reliability. It is somewhat inferior to metal in strength, however, in the case of tanks for spray guns, this is not critical; in addition, the plastic tank can be made transparent, which makes it easier to keep track of the paint level. Thanks to all this, plastic is found in devices of all types and price categories. Among its shortcomings, sensitivity to certain types of solvents can be noted; however, there are resistant varieties of plastic that are practically devoid of this feature.

— Metal. The main advantage of metal tanks is high strength and reliability. On the other hand, they are noticeably more expensive and heavier than plastic ones, and besides, they are not transparent (at best, a built-in indicator in the form of a window can be provided). Because of this, the metal is less common.

— Glass. The glass reservoirs are transparent and allow you to easily control the amount of remaining paint. In addition, this material is chemically inert and compatible with almost any working substance. However, glass has a serious drawback — fragility, which is why it has not received much distribution and is found only in some models of airbrushes (see "View").