How to choose the correct tip size for an airless sprayer

Using airless sprayers for larger painting jobs has become much more common in the past few years. The traditional method of painting a room with a brush and roller is still necessary for most painting jobs but if the job is very large then using an airless sprayer will save you time and money. The benefits of an airless sprayer is speed, efficiency and uniform application. Selecting the correct tip size for your airless sprayer is essential. What do the numbers on the tip mean? The numbers on the tips have two components the fan size and the orifice size. The first number is half the length of fan size when spraying the sprayer from 12″ away. The second two numbers are the orifice size, the orifice size depicts how many gallons per minute of material will be passed through the tip. For example if the tip you are about to use has the numbers .515 that means that the fan size that your tip produces will be 10″ we know this because 5 times 2 is 10. The second two numbers are .015 this means that the orifice of your tip has a .015 (fifteen-thousandths) opening for the paint to go through. If you are painting a narrow surface such as door jambs, baseboards, stair spindles etc. you are going to want the first number on your tip size to be smaller. Using a tip size that start with the numbers 2 or 3 are ideal for that kind of job. If you are spraying a large surface you will want your tip size to start with a higher number such as 5. The larger the orifice size the more paint travels through the sprayer per minute and the thicker the material can be. For example varnishes, lacquers and stains should be sprayed out of a tip ending in .009 to .013 Thicker material such as latex primers, oil primers and heavy latex should be sprayed with a tip size ranging between .017 to .025.

http://www.portlandcompressor.com/airless/tip-sizing.aspx