I have always wanted an electric spray gun to make my life easy in painting walls and fences around my home. The problem was what do I need as a DIY handyman. It would take too long with a brush and roller and the finish would be substandard. So the quest was on to find the best value electric paint sprayer around.

My task for this year was to paint the whole outside of my log cabin holiday home with a marine-grade polyurethane varnish. Now, these lacquers tend to be a lot thicker than your traditional internal acrylic paint. So I needed a powerful spray gun for polyurethane.

After a lot of research and actually visiting a paint shop to find what they use and recommend I decided on the Wagner Flexio 590. Value for money is the best around. These are HVLP (high-volume low-pressure) spray guns.

Wagner Flexio 570 vs 590

Best value HVLP Paint Sprayer Wagner Flexio 570 Wagner Flexio 590
High Power Electric Spray Gun for Polyurethane Wagner 570 wagner 590 airless paint sprayer
Suitable for DIY home handyman and renovators. Point and shoot with minimal setting options. Contractors and renovators who require more fine detail settings and options for their paint sprayer. Multiple tuning dials.
 Voltage  120v 120v
 Volume Per Hour  7.2 gal. per hour  7.2 gal depending on the thickness of the paint used.
Accessories High volume sprayer and a fine-volume sprayer. Comes with a 45 fl.oz tank and a 28 fl.oz tank. High volume sprayer and a fine volume sprayer. Comes with a 45 fl.oz tank and a 28 fl.oz tank.

Spare motor air filters, pain tin stirrer, and test poster.

Lock-n-Go system  Yes  Yes
Adjustable Pater Ring Yes, Horizontal, Verticle, and circle Yes, Horizontal, Verticle, and circle
Adjustable trigger Yes for fine detail Yes for extra fine detail
Adjustable speed setting Yes, 2 speeds high and low. Variable speed, for extra fine control of the paint pressure 0-9.
Painting Speed Covers an 8-inch x 10-inch surface in 2-6 minutes Up to 7.2 gallons per hour
Paints Supported Sprays unthinned latex (water-based), oil-based coatings, and polyurethane. Sprays unthinned, varnish, latex, water-based paint, oil-based coatings, and polyurethane.
Recommended for  Perfect for spraying all internal and external walls of a building. Fences and furniture are streak-free. Compatible with all water and oil-based paints.  Ideal for internal and external walls and ceilings. High power for fences and garden furniture. No need to dilute your paint, latex, oil-based paints, stains, or urethane products.
Manual Wagner 570 and 590 manual
Where to Buy

Wagner 570 vs 590 Flexio Paint Sprayer Review

High Power Electric Spray Gun for thick paint Wagner 590
Wagner 570 black alongside the 590 in safety yellow.

Wagner is the world leader in portable electric paint sprayers. They have a few different types depending on your job requirement and budget. The 570 and 590 are at the upper end of the range for a more powerful DIY paint sprayer.

The advantage of a quality electric paint prayer is that you won’t have to dilute the paint as much. Some of the cheaper units will require you to heavily dilute your paint by up to 10% or more.

The Wagner 570 Flexio has a quick change paint pot, so you can quickly refill your container and get back to the job. What I really like about both of these units is that they can be totally stripped down in a matter of seconds for a total flush and clean out.Wagner Flexio 590 Spitting Paint Fix

The 590 is a lot quieter than my old electric sprayer painter that used a piston and plunger for pressure. These new Flexio sprayers use a turbine motor that spins at extreme RPMs to deliver a high volume of low-pressure air, hence the name HVLP paint sprayer.

The main difference between these two electric paint sprayers is that the 570 has a 2-speed setting for paint (high and low). The 590 has a more advanced system to get the perfect setting for pressure at the nozzle. This means that you can achieve the perfect pressure for the thickness of the paint. If it’s thick paint, just dial up the setting to max. If it’s thinner polyurethane just dial it back down until it stops spluttering and over-spraying.

I like that the Wagner 590 came complete with a sturdy storage case and a second standard spray attachment for fine-finishing. Other nicknacks include some o-ring grease, spare motor filters, and a spare spray nozzle.

spray gun for polyurethane wagner 590

The only problem I found with the case was that the lid-locking tabs were a little fiddly to snap shut. This means the lid must be aligned up before the latches will lock. Apart from that, it’s a neat little all-in-one case.

What different types of paint can be used in a spray gun?

I have used this HVLP paint sprayer with water-based paints as well as oil-based paints. The only difference will be the cleaning process. Oil-based paints will need mineral spirits to clean out the sprayer parts. Don’t forget to flush it out with water afterward.

wagner 570 and 590 air settings for thick paint

My main purpose was to use it to spray paint a thick marine-grade polyurethane varnish. I ended up diluting it around 5% as it was a very thick product. I was quite surprised at how well it actually sprayed out.

It is a fairly bulky unit and with a full can of paint, it starts to get heavy but it’s surprisingly well balanced. Even my kids had a go and it was a fun afternoon taking in turns painting the side of the pinewood cabin. The trigger is a little forward so small children will have to use 2 hands.

What’s the difference between the Wagner 570 and the 590?

The main difference is the fine volume air adjustment on the Wagner 590 Flexio. This makes using different types of paint and stains more efficient with less overspray. It’s totally adjustable in fine increments.

wagner 590 HVLP air power dial for thick paint

For example, very thin stains and water-based paints may only require a setting of 3 or less whereas a thicker latex paint or polyurethane varnish will require a setting of 9 or max.

If you need an electric turbine paint gun with the option to use a whole range of paints and varnishes then get the 590 as it will do it all. Although if you just needed it to do normal water-based low-sheen internal paint the 570 will be fine.

The Flexio 570 only has two adjustments a high and low setting which has been calibrated for most paints and varnishes. So if you want to save some money then the Flexio 570 is a cheaper option.

Tips for a perfect paint finish

When painting with an electric spray gun you have to change the style of the way you paint. When using a turbine sprayer it’s important to have a graceful stroke action. When painting walls you will need to have a gap of 20cm to 30cm away from the wall. Any closer and you risk having a thicker paint application. Further away and you will have an uneven coat.

Always release the trigger at the end of a run. Many new painters will hold onto the trigger at a change of direction. This will waste paint either spraying into the air or it will lay down a double coat of paint in one spot. This can cause paint runs.

Always purge out the paint from your sprayer after completing a wall or paint job. Even if you are just filling up your paint tin just purge the line. To do this just press slightly on the trigger to run some low-volume air through the lines.

When painting the ceiling it’s important to turn the paint pickup tube to the back of the jar. This is so that when you tilt the paint gun towards the ceiling there won’t be an air gap. When I was painting my ceiling white in preparation for installing my kitchen downlights I found it best to have the spraypainter pointed at a 45-degree angle.

How to reduce spitting on an electric spray gun.

If your paint gun is spitting out large globs of paint you can try these 2 tips.

Too much paint flow will cause spitting, cut down on the fluid flow by spinning out the trigger dial to reduce spitting. You could also try increasing the pressure so that there is more air pressure and thus more airflow. The ratio between paint and air is a fine art.

For very large amounts of paint spitting, or if it’s not atomizing properly you could have an issue with your trigger. Check out this simple fix for Wagner 590 spitting paint.

How does an electric HVlP paint sprayer work?

A high-power electric motor powers an air turbine. This forces air at low pressure into the paint can and also out of the spray nozzle.

wagner electric air sprayer how it works HVLP

This causes a higher pressure inside the paint reservoir which pushes paint up the tube and out of the spray nozzle which atomizes it.

The excess air acts as a guide to shape the paint as it comes out of the sprayer. The higher the pressure inside of the paint tin the thicker the paint you can use.

How to clean the Wagner Flexio 570

Start by unscrewing the paint jar and cleaning out the old paint, pour any excess paint back into your original can. We can now fill the jar with fresh water and purge the whole can through the sprayer.

wagner 590 guick disconnect and cleaning

Remove the Lock and Go sprayer and remove the paint can. Unscrew the retaining nozzle jet ring and remove the paint nozzle. We can now rinse all of these parts in water. The clear plastic hose can now be removed and the blue one-way stop valve cleaned.

Once all of these pieces have been cleaned you can put them all back together again once dried. I always like to run the portable sprayer dry with only air for a few seconds just to make sure no moisture is left in the system.

The Flexio 590 sprayer comes with a hard carry case for storage so nothing gets lost.

Wagner 590 Flexio special features

  • A powerful X-Boost electric turbine is up to three times more powerful than traditional high-volume, low-pressure sprayers. This means it’s able to spray most coatings undiluted.
  • iSpray technology coupled with special air jet guide ports provides up to 60% more airflow to your project which provides a smooth, even coverage with less paint than a roller or brush.
  • Click & Paint also known as Lock-and Go design means you can easily change paint and colors at any time quickly.
  • X-Boost power dial adjusts air pressure for precise airflow control. Changes while you are painting lets you achieve the perfect result.
  • Horizontal, vertical, and circle nozzle adjustments.

wagner spray pattern sprayer nozzle

What is HVLP?

HVLP, or High-Volume/Low Pressure, uses a high volume of air usually between 15-26 CFM delivered at low pressure at around 10 psi or less. Thicker paints will require a higher PSI to achieve a constant atomization effect.

It’s very important to set up your HVLP spray gun to achieve the best results. This way less material is lost in overspray, bounce-back, and blowback. The Wagner 590 does this via the adjustable dial on the top of the paint sprayer. This is why HVLP delivers dramatically better transfer coats than other cheaper airless units.
These HVLP spray guns resemble a standard spray gun in shape and operation.

Most HVLP models, especially those using turbines to generate a high volume of air will purge air continuously through the front to minimize back-pressure against the airflow of the turbine. The benefit of this is that the purge holes are used to direct the paint into a confined space so overspray is minimized.

HVLP is growing in popularity due to its low cost and ease of use.
The Wagner 590 Flexio HVLP can be used with any low-to-medium paint materials that can such as two-part paints, urethanes, lacquers, acrylics, epoxies, enamels, stains, and varnishes.

Conclusion

I’m really glad that I have the Wagner 590 paint sprayer. It’s so much more powerful than my older 550 model which is about half the power. That extra power makes all the difference in the different types you can use undiluted.

This electric paint sprayer is a tool every man should have in his garage. It will make your life so much easy when doing painting jobs.

I also like the fact there is a fine sprayer and a volume sprayer. Makes choosing the right paint sprayer gun easy. The only problem with painting is the cleanup. Electric paint sprayers are no different. You must pull apart the spray gun and fully clean it so factor that into your decision. But trust me you will get excellent results with the Wagner power sprayer, especially on woodwork that has little crevices like garden furniture. All the best with your painting projects.

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