Why Is My Wagner Paint Sprayer Spitting Paint (5 Reasons)

Wagner Sprayer / By

Last Updated on June 28, 2022

You are ready with your Wagner Spray gun for spray painting, and when you pressure the trigger, you see paint spitting from it. Nothing can be more frustrating than this spitting sprayer paint to ruin your hard work. 

Also, many people are shell-shocked when they see their expensive Wagner spray gun spitting or leaking the paint. Thus, they ask, “Why is my Wagner sprayer spitting paint?” Unatomized paint will create droplets or spits mainly because of a fluid nozzle allowing air to enter inside the spray gun and, secondly, low fluid pressure. 

When you see spits from the sprayer, you may need to tighten the nozzle tip to prevent air entrance and might even need to replace the nozzle tip if it gets damaged. 

Why Is My Wagner Paint Sprayer Spitting Paint?: The Reasons Explained 

Wagner gun is a pretty expensive investment for most homeowners. Thus, they want premium performance from the sprayer gun. However, at times, you might not get satisfactory spray paint performance from the sprayer. 

One of the fundamental reasons for the sprayer’s performance drop is spitting or dropping paint particles from the spray tip. It can happen due to many reasons. The list includes:

1. A loose fluid nozzle:

Whenever you see a Wagner sprayer spitting paint, you must immediately check its fluid nozzle and structure properly. If the fluid nozzle has a loose connection, it will create a gap between the nozzle and the tip of the sprayer gun. 

So, air will enter through the gap right to the liquid paint material. And the air entering through the gap is the primary reason for spitting paint. 

2. Weight and viscosity of the paint material:

At times the paint material could be too heavy for the sprayer gun to handle. When the paint material has too much weight or viscosity (thickness), the fluid nozzle and the sprayer gun will not handle the high viscosity. 

Hence, you will see spitting paint from the sprayer. It happens especially with the suction cup-fed Wagner spray guns. Thus, look at the spray gun design and how it operates to spray the desired paint to avoid such inconveniences. 

3. A loosely fitted air cap:

An air cap is used on the fluid nozzle to prevent air entrance from the outside into the sprayer gun tip. The air cap may have a loose connection when you don’t tighten it properly. So, the loose air cap will allow air to enter the suction cup, causing the sprayer to spit paint. 

Also, at times you might choose the wrong air cap for the sprayer. For instance, you may apply a pressure-fed air cap mistakenly with the Wagner suction cap-fed sprayer models. If it happens, the connection will be loose and create paint droplets. 

4. Low pressure of the paint fluid:

You need to maintain adequate fluid pressure if you are using a pressure-fed Wagner sprayer gun. If the fluid pressure is below the optimal or recommended level, the sprayer gun will spit vigorously. The same thing goes for high pressure for the paint fluid.

Hence, the sprayer gun must maintain optimal pressure and fluid flow for a spit-free painting. 

5. Fluid passage getting clogged:

When you don’t clean the fluid passage of the sprayer gun properly, and after paint projects are finished, it will eventually get clogged. Paint particles and impurities will slowly but gradually block the fluid passage.

When the passage gets blocked, the paint fluid won’t find its way to pass through it. As it tries hard to pass through the fluid passage, it comes with spitting. Also, the air cap gets clogged and causes the spray to spit the paint particles. 

electric spray gun spitting

How to Stop Spitting Of a Sprayer Gun?

Since we now know the causes of a spitting Wagner spray gun, we should look into the solutions to these problems. Thankfully, the solutions are quite easy, even for a beginner or DIY worker. It includes:

  1. If the fluid nozzle gets damaged, you would need to replace it with a new one. Also, if the fluid nozzle connection seems loose, you should tighten it. You can tighten it with hands only, so, it should be an easy hack. 
  2. If you use a suction-fed spray gun, you must ensure that its nozzle is wide enough to allow the high viscosity paint to pass through the sprayer. 
  3. At times loose fluid connection might cause spitting paint. Immediately tighten the fluid connection to stop the paint from dropping out of the sprayer gun if it happens. 
  4. When using a pressure-fed model for the Wagner spray guns, make sure it has adequate pressure. You can look into the user manual for the sprayer gun pressure rating for different paint particles. It will also help in maintaining the fluid flow for a beautiful paint finish. 
  5. When the nozzle tip or the fluid passage gets blocked, it causes the spitting of the paint. Thus, you must clean off the debris and deposits from the sprayer gun. Also, you may use a filter to block the debris and air pass through the fluid passage. It helps in maintaining the sprayer gun’s fluid passage without debris for an extended period. 
  6. Finally, inspect the packaging nut of the sprayer gun. If it gets loose, the sprayer will surely split the paint. You need to tighten the gun from time to time as it tends to get loose with regular uses of the sprayer gun. 

Final Words 

Wagner sprayers are the true workhorse of the painting industry. There’s hardly any painting job that these powerful sprayers can’t perform. However, when the prayer starts spitting paint particles, it just feels frustrating. 

Hence this guideline on why my Wagner paint sprayer was spitting paint is designed to identify and solve the reasons for sprayer gun spitting issues. You should, therefore, maintain the sprayer properly.

When you clean the sprayer gun and its parts properly after each project and maintain its parts regularly, you should get rid of the frustrating sprayer dropping paint particles at ease. 

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