Using an airless painter requires different tips.
If you plan to use an airless paint gun to paint the interior of your house, you will need to use several different tips to complete the task. Latex paint, stain and varnish each have different viscosity. Each one requires a different size tip to ensure proper application.
Acrylic/Latex Paints
When painting a typical wall or room with acrylic or latex paints, a tip with a wide-diameter orifice is used. Wide-diameter tips spray wide paint patterns and allows thick acrylic paint to spray evenly and in thicker coats. The result is being able to paint faster and with fewer applications. A 515 to 517 tip is recommended.
The three numbers used to label a tip size refers to the fan width and the orifice size. For example, a tip that is labeled "515" has a fan width of 10 inches and an orifice size of 0.15 inches. The first number denotes half the fan size. So, the 5 equates to 10 inches of fan spray. The second and third number measure the orifice size in thousandths of an inch. So, the 15 equates to an orifice size of 0.15 of an inch.
Wiping Stains
An airless spray gun can be used to spray wiping stains onto wood trim. The tip is small in order to limit overspray. This takes stress off the sprayer motor. Wiping stain has the consistency of alcohol and is not thick. Using a 509 to 511 tip will keep the spray pattern narrow and allow a smooth flow of stain onto the wood. If overspray is an issue, use a 209 tip.
Varnish
Spraying varnish onto stained molding requires a tip between wiping stain and latex. Using a 211 to 213 tip keeps the flow of varnish narrow to reduce overspray. The tip is large enough to prevent thicker varnish from clogging the orifice. If you use hand-mixed varnish or shellac mixed with flakes, a 413 tip or larger is recommended to prevent orifice clogging.
