Plastic toy
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this unit because if was CH’s top end unit with qualified high-end spray gun. I read the information carefully and practiced taking it apart for cleaning. The Manual says “Extreme Duty”, “Built to last”

The Material Adjustment Knob which is used to control the amount of paint that is sprayed must be removed each time you clean the spray gun. To re-install the knob you must use it to compress the needle spring, this takes about 20 lbs of pressure. Then you must carefully thread the soft plastic knob into the brass female thread while maintaining 20lbs pressure to compress the spring. It is pretty much impossible to do with out cross threading the plastic knob. Replacements are $16.49. I called tech support and waited 45 minutes on hold before hanging up. I tried their parts department to question if they had a metal version of this knob. They said they did not know and could not help me. They insisted I talk to tech support. I tried again and gave up after 30 minutes on hold. I tried again later and got through in 15 minutes. They first said their top end spray gun had no plastic parts, but after some investigation (and argument) they agreed it was plastic and they could not offer any other options. I shipped the whole unit back. In additon, the spray cup had a 3 inch dent in it, but there was no hurt to the box. The cup must have been dented before it was place in the box and shipped to me.

hvlp review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
this hvlp works fantastic with nitocellulose laquer. with water based laquer i get runs but it is my 1st try with water based laquer so my technique of spraying may need to be changed, overall it arrived quikly after my order and works wonderfully.

Campbell Hausfeld HV3500 Fine End HVLP Paint Sprayer
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
It does a excellent job of covering the surface with paint after appropriate thinning, but the low capacity of the container forces you to refill often. You must cover All when using this to paint a room. It makes a fine dry powder overspray that will land in places you didn’t reckon about covering. Overall, I would have been better off with a roller and brushes.

plastic flow control know substitution
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
after using my 3500 on two tubs and tons of trim, the plastic material control knob is not an issue at all. works fine. the gun works fine. i have no issues at all. i would never spray anything huge, like a deck or fence as that is the incorrect tool for that job. Sprayers of any type don’t work well on decks and fences anyway.

I spoke with Jason at the tech support line. For $16 you can order the aluminum substitution flow control knob, and depending if its new stock or ancient, there is a metal trigger pivot that might also be required to improve the gun.

here’s the number. 888-900-4857, ext 201.

I like this gun a lot, but lot of practice is required to get the job done right. It seems that distance of the gun, speed at which you go the gun, how well your paint is thinned, and how much flow you are spraying all have to be resigned to get the best results. It takes a bit of practice to zero in on it.

Unusable until they make the flow control Knob out of brass or Aluminum
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought the sprayer in Sept 2006. I read some other reviews stating that the material volume control knob was made out of nylon and was hard to screw in into the gun. When I received the gun, this was the first thing I tried. And not to my surprise, it was nearly impossible to screw it in straight since it pushes on a very firmm spring that pushes on the needle valve. I talked with customer service and they said they’ve been asking their commerce dept. to upgrade the knob from nylon to brass but they keep saying it’s ok being nylon. I don’t agree and believe the gun is really useless with a nylon knob. Because I’m also a machinist, I finished up making my own brass material control knob to fix the problem. (it seemed simpler to fix the problem rather then packing it up and sending it back to Amazon) With my own brass, hand-made knob, the gun now works nicely. If you have your own machine shop, then you can make a very nice HVLP setup. Without a lathe, forget about this sprayer.

CH HV3500 Review
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Sprayer worked very well spraying urethane. Did project finishing several

wood doors and their frames. Tried using a Wagner sprayer formerly,

it’s a joke in evaluation.

The only problem was the spray gun was missing a small internal

part. It took a week to get the part. Seems like CH should

have overnighted the part to me… They were nice about it, it just

took too long in my opinion.

Brilliant product for the price.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Do not take most of the others advice. Do not worry to much about the plastic parts. I bought this unit as a disposable unit. I needed something to paint fire sprinkler pipes that were installed in an ancient school. It was an low-priced 3 stage unit. I used it hard and cleaned it dozens of times. NOT ONCE DID I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE PLASTIC PARTS. It really does not take a special sort of man to push in the spring while simultaneously turning the screw. I feel terrible for these others guys women. As for overspray, all sprayers have some degree of overspray. This gun is not meant for spraying rooms as one reviewer suggested. Square sprayers (piston pump style) typically have a 50% overspray. With the HVLP units the overspray is greatly reduced. It is a excellent unit, especially for the money. I have had mine over a year, use it all the time, not once have I needed to modify or replace parts. You need to relax, use your tools appropriately, and mostly, take care with your tools guys.

A “Best Buy”
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Brilliant outfit with a 5 yr warranty at a price you can’t beat. Down side a poor manual and some plastic parts on the gun, which is with a few exceptions an Apollo 5000 series. The plastic parts can be replaced with Apollo parts, I ordered an alloy flow adjuster and stainless trigger pin with screws from Advanced Machinery for much less than the plastic parts from CH. They also have a manual to download that is much better than the CH one. I also needed a larger tip/needle and air cap, the best deal I found was at McFeely’s, .75mm, 2.0mm and larger air cap in a case. For an brilliant evaluation test of this unit with 4 major brands check out “Tools of the trade” tool tests under pneumatic tools. I would have place URL’s in but that’s against the rules,so Google them!

It takes some learning
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
While I really delight in having this machine, it has really taken some learning to get it where it was painting without problems. What it came down to was getting the paint at the right thickness. To thick and it sprayed globs, to thin and it ran the world over. Now that I have got that down, things I am spraying are starting to look very nice.

Outstanding Product
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Bought this sprayer for an upcoming project and couldn’t resist trying it on the inside of a double garage door. I finished in 20 minutes. Even if you take into account the hour it took to clean the unit it’s much quicker than brushing a door of that size.

I had no problems with the controls (air and material flow). I shot a half gallon of S-W Superpaint cut with 4 ounces of Floetrol and 2 of water, stired with a drill mounted paddle. The end was like glass. When operating this unit wear a ventilator and ear safeguard. The three stage turbine noise could be mistaken for a jumbo jet awaiting takeoff.

This sprayer is worth every nickel.

problems with flow control knob
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I’ve used this unit for several months and dozens of times and have had excellent results with the exception of the material adjustment knob. Like other reviewers I too have had distress threading it after cleaning, and once attached, there have been times I’ve been unable to turn it without the use of pliers. Given how often you use this knob it is really frustrating and a pain in the neck…I would not buy this gun again.

Spraying shellac == fantastic
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve never sprayed a end before buying this sprayer. I spent about an hour involved with it and spraying a 2lb cut of shellac. After that, I finished the parts for five book cases in two days and it came out perfect (garnet shellac on walnut hardwood/plywood). It beyond doubt takes a small practice but if you keep your speed, and distance from the wood, and wrist angle regular it works perfectly. Much, much quicker than brushing and is more even. Fantastic item!