Graco Thrucoat Pro?

[Limey556]

I am considering buy one of the Graco try-coat airless sprayers and need some feedback from current users.

I see there are 2 different models the Trucoat plus II selling for around $250 at the local big box store, and the Trucoat pro II selling for around $500

Can anyone explain the difffernce between these ? Obviously for twice the price there must be some significant difference I would think.

I have a project to paint / stain a large number of shutters I just finnished building. I have an Earlex 5500 with all the different nozzle sizes, my concern using this would be the need to thin the paint or stain on an outside project.

What are your experiences using either the Pro or the Plus II? can you really spray heavy paints without thinning? what about the amount of over-spray ?

Any feedback would be appreciated Thanks Terry

 

[Saskataper]

I have the graco proshot 2 cordless which from what I can tell is the same as the truecoat pro 2. I use it for spraying high hide latex primers and latex stainblock primers which are quite thick with no problems. I love it for small jobs where I only need to spray a gallon or so.
I think the difference between the plus and the pro is that the pro is rebuildable where the plus isn't and I believe the pumps are good for about 100 gallons before needing to be rebuilt.
I hope that helps.

 

[JPF Woodworking]

I recently purchased the Graco Pro Fine Finish Gun, cordless. Used it on a small cabinet to apply BM Cabinetcoat with no problem. I bought the kit from Sherman Williams when it went in sale ($100 rebate coupon). The kit came with two batteries, extra tip and a bunch of cup liners as well as cleaning fluids. Pretty complete setup. I believe Graco puts this gun on sale quite frequently. Like all spray equipment there is a learning curve but looking back on this project I am glad that I now have a good option for spraying paint and finishes for small projects. If I knew how to post pictures I would be happy to share a few pictures of this project so you could get an idea of how this gun worked....

 

[Limey556]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I think I will go with the Pro model and wait to see if it comes on sale

Terry

 

[Mark]

Got the Truecoat Plus II from Lowes and just shot some louvered doors and it was perfect. I'm not a pro but have used airless on my house before. Latex went on fine at about the middle setting. The low end model doesn't have any pressure dial so I'm glad I went with the step up model. The Pros models I assume are designed to used parts so that the tool can be rebuilt but the price is just too out of my ballpark.

My only beef is that its kind of bulky versus just having a gun and hose. And this is a really small nit... that industrial design of the tool is kind of ugly Though I'm spoiled by Festool.

Great tool, now I can catch up on a bunch of small jobs around the house.

 

[Limey556]

I did it !!!! went into the Sherwin William's store on my way home tonight and came out with the Pro Shot managed to get $100 off the $499 list price
Now I can't wait to try it out.

I have 20 new cedar shutters to stain just waiting for the customer to make her mind up on the color.

Maybe I will sell the Earlex 550 if this is as good as advertised

Thanks for all the feedback guys

Terry

 

[Mark]

Make sure you test the pressure out and also keep the nozzle clean with a rag. I reloaded the gun and reset the pressure a bit lower and it spat on me. Raised the pressure to "5" and it shot fine. Gladly this is my house and not a clients!

 

[Julian Tracy]

I have a Graco plug in Airless sprayer (same pump as their current model 390/395ultra units) and have used it for a few remodels and a full basement prime/ceilings/paint.  When it came to painting the doors and trim for the basement, I tried out my friend's Truecoat cordless sprayer.  He has the pro model sold at the Sherwin Williams stores for around $450-500, with the pressure control.

After the basement was painted and the floors installed, I masked off the walls and floor of one of the medium sized room's and lined up 7-8 doors at a time, leaned up against the wall.  Using the cordless sprayer, I was able to spray all of the doors in the project in that room, one side at a time.  I did learn that it was best to have the doors lean against the wall only by one corner as when they were flat against the wall (at the top edge), I got some runs on the back side due to paint built up along the top edge.  Had I leaned them by the corners only, that built up would have simply ran down the masked wall instead. 

In a small room like that with the doors spread around the entire perimeter, I could not have done that with my plug in airless unit with it's stiff hose whipping around.

For the trim, I lined up all of the trim on the floor of the main large area (drop cloth covering entire finished floor)  and sprayed it all in two setups; door case trim, base trim and quarter round.  Again - that could not have been done with an airless sprayer with plug and hose.

In general, I was quite impressed by the True Coat cordless, felt like in these situations, it seemed to put out a great spray of paint with seemingly less overspray than my corded larger unit.  Not too impressed with the batteries and charger though - they didn't last very long and took forever to charge.  It was easy to clean and ready for the next run and easy to clean and prep for storage.

Biggest problem I see with odd ball cordless devices is the batteries - certainly Graco doesn't make batteries and they've already changed systems once, how long will the current 20volt batts and chargers stay available?  And no info on Amp hour or other general battery quality related specs like established brands supply.

When using Makita or Dewalt, I know they won't abandon their current battery platforms any time soon, with Graco, wouldn't surprise me if they changed them next month.

JT

 

[Julian Tracy]

Here's the finished job.

JT

 

[Scott B.]

Julian

That's good feedback.

On the batteries, the good news is that each generation of batteries (so far) fits each new generation of handheld that comes out. In other words, the old 18v batteries, even the smaller profile Fine Finish unit batteries, will power the new 20v handhelds. That's been handy.