Kremlin Airmix Air and Fluid Pressure Settings

Everything you need to know to dial that equipment in. August 9, 2005

Question
I am wondering if anyone owns a Kremlin Airmix 10.14 system. I just ordered one and unfortunately I cannot reach the sales rep on the phone. I was wondering if there were any recommendations for the Fluid and Air pressure settings?

I have sprayed a few sample pieces, and it seemed like I had to slow way down with my stroke. By the time I had reached the end of my first pass, the lacquer at the beginning had started to dry resulting in what I call zebra stripes. I am quite sure that I will have to get used to it and this is just user error, but I was hoping someone could offer a few tips for best success.

Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor D:
It depends on the fluid viscosity and the tip size, but I would suggest that you try setting the air to 40 and the fluid to 15 and adjust from there.


From contributor S:
To contributor D: I think you meant to say the reverse on your recommendation. Shouldn't it be air at 15 and fluid at 40?

I have to say, when I purchased my 10-14 I don't know if I'd have ever made it through the learning curve without a rep on site to walk me through the basics. Like any other new equipment, once you get the basics down, it all seems pretty simple.

Kremlin documentation is pretty good at www.kremlin.com, but I couldn't find anything that recommends how to determine fluid and air settings for specific tips. There are some hints toward such that can be found in the troubleshooting section of the gun manual. There is a technique of determining these settings my rep showed me, but I couldn't begin to go through it here.

The good news is once you have your settings dialed in they stay the same, assuming your material is the same. I have no idea if this will work for you, but I'm shooting a somewhat thinned lacquer with an 09-11 tip and my settings are: Fluid-30 , Air 11. I'm big on buying spray equipment where I know I can get good support, which is why I don't mind paying a little more than the lowest available price.



From contributor J:
The air setting (on the left) should be kept as low as possible. I spray WB Sherwin William Kem aqua with a 09.11 tip. My air settings are usually between 10 and 20. The fluid pressure settings (on the right) are x10 .If your gauge is at 40, your setting is actually 400. I spray Kem aqua with a setting between 500 and 700 with only as much air as it takes to atomize the spray.

From Paul Snyder, forum technical advisor:
I feed the pump 80 PSI and set the gray knob (air) to 10 - 15 and the red knob (fluid) to 40 - 50. For thicker coatings, I'll use the higher settings (15/50). Set the air at the minimum needed to get rid of the tails on the spray pattern. Set the fluid (red) on the setting that atomizes well and gives you a fluid flow you like.




From the original questioner:
You all pretty much had the same advice so I went to the shop and tried the settings as described with good success. I will have to tweak them up or down depending on viscosity. Just one more question - I usually like to add retarder to my finish and a little bit of smoothie (fisheye eliminator) and am used to adding quite a bit of lacquer thinner.

My rep told me that most of his customers place the siphon tube directly in a 5 gallon can without thinning the finish, etc. I spray nitro, acrylics, Duravar, Nucoat, and pre-cat. I am interested to hear what everyone recommends mixing your finish with this system or if you need to at all. I am slightly skeptical of spraying directly out of the can just because it almost seems too easy. Could I be wrong?


From contributor B:
Nope, that's true. I don't reduce my coatings with the Kremlin. I add a leveler to my brand of coating for a smoother flow-out sometimes, but that's all.

From contributor R:
We usually set the fluid to just over thirty and the air to a little over 10 (with the trigger pulled).
We spray Duravar and Krystal and rarely put any retarder/flow enhancer in. If so, it's not because of the Kremlin.

My understanding is to use as little air as possible, only to remove the tails as I think someone mentioned above. I'm wondering why some use such high fluid pressure, to get more on? Is it for better atomization?

We use the 09.096 tip for small work like trim, and the 09.156 for general cabinet spraying. Then we have a 14/.156 tip for backs and other large surfaces. This has worked well for us.


From contributor J:
I haven’t tried regulating the air coming into my Kremlin from the compressor . I do have a regulator close by that I use for my conventional gun. I'm coming straight off my compressor that is set at 120 for door machining equipment. Is this a requirement? I haven’t read anything that recommends what pressure air to bring into the Kremlin. Maybe I missed it?

The comments below were added after this Forum discussion was archived as a Knowledge Base article (add your comment).

Comment from contributor T:
With the .096 tip and spraying Krystal, I refined my settings over the years to about 10-13 air and 30 for the fluid. I have about 60 psi coming to the pump via regulated air. This was the recommended setting as per the sales rep. Warm temps and high humidity are a real challenge since I don't use any retarder.

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