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Home / Airless Spray Tips Buying Guide

Industrial Coatings Airless Spray Tips Buying Guide

The right airless spray tip is an important tool decision dependent on the coating or paint you’ll be spraying.  We offer a top selection of Graco® spray tips, in a variety of orifice sizes sure to fit your project specifications.

Should you have any questions, reach out to our dedicated customer service team who are happy to help.

Name PSI (BAR) Range Best Scenarios Benefits Disadvantages
graco xhd rac spray tip painting contractor industrial GRACO XHD HEAVY DUTY RAC SPRAY TIP 7,250 (500 bar) psi rated
  • Use with industrial high solids and heavy-duty coatings
  • Includes value-add technology to remove or change the tip without removing tip guard or housing
  • Includes one seal one-piece gasket and seal
  • Incorporates locking tab which ensures tip stays securely in guard
  • Pressure rated to suit correct atomization of industrial coatings
  • Inferior finish quality compared to Graco RAC V and X series airless spray tips
Graco RAC X airless spray tip GRACO RAC X AIRLESS SPRAY TIP 4,050 psi (279 bar) rated
  • Direct replacement for RAC 5 and RAC V tips
  • Architectural and light industrial coatings
  • Reversible Tip to allow easy clearing of blockages
  • The newest generation of Graco RAC tips
  • Quality of finish
  • 50% longer fan life than previous generations of RAC tip
  • Pressure limited to 4050 (279 bar) psi, unable to spray heavy industrial coatings
Graco RAC 5 Airless Spray Tip GRACO RAC 5 AIRLESS SPRAY TIP 4,050 psi (279 bar) rated
  • Architectural and light industrial coatings
  • Reversible Tip to allow easy clearing of blockages
  • Original Graco RAC Airless tip design
  • Good fan pattern life
  • High-quality finish
  • Pressure limited to 4050 (279 bar) psi, unable to spray heavy industrial coatings
GRACO LINELAZER RAC 5 SPRAY TIP 4,050 psi (279 bar) rated
  • For use with the LineLazer line marking product range
  • Car parks, Roads, Warehouse Floors, Pedestrian crossings, Athletic Fields Line Striping
  • Sprays heavy water-based to thin traffic alkyd paints
  • Reversible Tip allows easy clearing of blockages
  • Specialised tip design produces lines with laser-sharp edges
  • Consistent paint thickness from edge to edge
  • None

  graco xhd rac spray tip painting contractor industrial Graco RAC X airless spray tip Graco RAC 5 Airless Spray Tip
GRACO XHD HEAVY DUTY RAC SPRAY TIP GRACO RAC X AIRLESS SPRAY TIP GRACO RAC 5 AIRLESS SPRAY TIP GRACO LINELAZER RAC 5 SPRAY TIP
PSI (BAR) Range 7,250 psi (500 bar) rated 4,050 psi (279 bar) rated 4,050 psi (279 bar) rated 4,050 psi (279 bar) rated
Best Scenarios
  • Use with industrial high solids and heavy-duty coatings
  • Direct replacement for RAC 5 and RAC V tips
  • Architectural and light industrial coatings
  • Architectural and light industrial coatings
  • For use with the LineLazer line marking product range
  • Car parks, Roads, Warehouse Floors, Pedestrian crossings, Athletic Fields Line Striping
  • Sprays heavy water-based to thin traffic alkyd paints
Benefits
  • Includes value-add technology to remove or change the tip without removing tip guard or housing
  • Includes one seal one-piece gasket and seal
  • Incorporates locking tab which ensures tip stays securely in guard
  • Pressure rated to suit correct atomization of industrial coatings
  • Reversible Tip to allow easy clearing of blockages
  • The newest generation of Graco RAC tips
  • Quality of finish
  • 50% longer fan life than previous generations of RAC tip
  • Reversible Tip to allow easy clearing of blockages
  • Original Graco RAC Airless tip design
  • Good fan pattern life
  • High-quality finish
  • Reversible Tip allows easy clearing of blockages
  • Specialised tip design produces lines with laser-sharp edges
  • Consistent paint thickness from edge to edge
Disadvantages
  • Inferior finish quality compared to Graco RAC V and X series airless spray tips
  • Pressure limited to 4050 (279 bar) psi, unable to spray heavy industrial coatings
  • Pressure limited to 4050 (279 bar) psi, unable to spray heavy industrial coatings
  • None

Spray Tip Videos

Insert Airless Spray Tip Into Holder

Cleaning airless spray gun tips

Final set-up of airless spray tips before spraying

Installing airless spray tip half moon seal

Strip down of Graco XTR airless spray gun needle

Removing needle from Graco XTR airless spray gun

Replacement of seals in the barrel of a Graco XTR airless spray gun needle

Replacement of Graco XTR spray gun needle and seat

Reassembly of Graco XTR airless spray gun needle

Common issues with airless spray tips

The biggest problem with airless spray tips is that they wear out! When you combine high pressure, high flow and abrasive materials something has to give. In this instance as the orifice of the tip wears, the spray pattern changes, deteriorating in finish quality. It starts as a stripe with parallel sides and rounded ends, changes to oval, becoming shorter and wider. Finally it turns into a round shape. On average a worn tip will spray 25% more paint and require 20% more labor. Worn tips cost time and money…

  • A worn tip uses more paint
  • Produces uneven coverage and inconsistent mil build
  • Reduces production — requires more passes
  • Results in a poor quality finish

Generally, airless spray tips are problem free, provided that they are replaced before becoming too worn. Very little negative feedback is reported by contractors using them.

GRACO TIP CHART

ORIFICE SIZE

FAN WIDTH

 IN MM .007 .009 .011 .013 .015 .017 .019 .021 .023 .025 .027 .029 .031 .033 .035 .037 .039 .041 .043 .045 .047 .049
2-4(51-102) 107 109 111 113 115 117 119 121
4-6(102-152) 209 211 213 215 217 219 221 225 227 229 231 235 239
6-8 (152-203) 307 309 311 313 315 317 319 321 323 325 327 329 331 333 335 337 339 341 343 345 347
8-10 (203-254) 409 411 413 415 417 419 421 423 425 427 429 431 433 435 437 439 441 443 445 447 449
10-12 (254-305) 509 511 513 515 517 519 521 523 525 527 529 531 533 535 537 539 541 543 545 547 549
12-14 (305-356) 609 611 613 615 617 619 621 623 625 627 629 631 633 635 637 639 641 643 645 647 649
14-16 (356-406) 711 713 715 717 719 721 723 725 727 729 731 733 735 737 739 741 743 745 747 749
16-18 (406-457) 813 815 817 819 821 823 825 827 829 831 833 835 837 839 841 843 847
18-20 (457-508) 923 927 931 933 935 937 939
FLOW RATE (GPM) .05 .09 .12 .18 .24 .31 .38 .47 .57 .67 .77 .90 1.03 1.17 1.31 1.47 1.63 1.8 1.98 2.17 2.37 2.58
FLOW RATE (LPM) .20 .33 .49 .69 .91 1.17 1.47 1.79 2.15 2.54 2.96 3.42 3.90 4.42 4.98 5.56 6.18 6.83 7.51 8.23 8.98 9.76
ORIFICE SIZE

FAN WIDTH

 IN MM .051 .053 .055 .057 .059 .061 .063 .065 .067 .069 .071 .075 .081
2-4(51-102)
4-6(102-152)
6-8 (152-203) 351 355
8-10 (203-254) 451 455 459 461 463 465 467 471 475 481
10-12 (254-305) 551 553 555 557 561 567 571 575
12-14 (305-356) 651 655 657 659 661 663 665 667 669 671 675
14-16 (356-406) 751 753 755 761 767 771 729
16-18 (406-457) 851 855 861 863 867
18-20 (457-508)
FLOW RATE (GPM) 2.79 3.05 3.25 3.49 3.74 4.0 4.26 4.53 4.82 5.11 5.41 6.04 7.04
FLOW RATE (LPM) 10.57 11.41 12.29 13.20 14.14 15.12 16.13 17.17 18.24 19.34 20.48 22.85 26.66

Important considerations when choosing the right airless spray tips

The most important consideration when choosing an airless tip is matching tip to paint specification. The paint manufacturer will make a recommendation for orifice size and usually fan size as well. Generally speaking architectural coatings can be applied with a 4050 psi (279 bar) rated tip and heavy industrial coatings applied with a 7500 psi (517 bar) tip.

Another important consideration is ensuring that 4050 psi (279 bar) rated tip isn’t used on a 7500 psi (517 bar) rated pump. Maximum pressure specification have a safety factor built in to protect the operator against an injection injury. While it may be tempting to use a 4050 psi (279 bar) rated tip on a 7500 psi (517 bar) rated pump for cost or finish reasons, there is a substantial injury risk in doing so.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What does the 3 digit number on the side of the tip mean? Mine says 517

    The three digits represent tip size (fan and orifice) and indicate the amount of paint that flows through the tip. The first digit is half of the fan width (#5 x 2 = 10 inch fan width). The last two digits are the size of the tip orifice in thousandths of an inch. Your actual flow rate will depend on your spraying pressure and the material you are using (high pressure equals more flow; heavier paints equals less flow).

  • I understand the RAC X range has some task specific tips. What are they?

    • RAC X Low Pressure – Allows spraying at lower pressure for less over-spray and longest tip life. Produces softer edges for perfect airless finish.
    • RAC X Fine Finish – Dual orifice for fine finish applications with thin materials.
    • RAC X Wide RAC – Produces a 24″ (610 mm) fan pattern to finish the job in half the time.
    • RAC X Linelazer – Creates a laser-sharp line with no fuzzy edges for line striping.

  • Are replacement seal kits available?

    Yes, they are

    Click here for the XHD OneSeal

  • What sizes of airless tips are available?

    Graco RAC X series tips range from No.2 (102mm) to No.18 (914mm) fan and .18mm to 1.8mm orifice. Graco RAC XHD series tips range from .18mm to 1.2mm orifice and No.2 (102mm) to No.20 (1016mm) fan. Keep in mind that, within these ranges, not every size and fan combination is available.

  • What sort of life can I expect to get out of my airless tip?

    It very difficult to give an exact life on an airless tip due to the vast variety of different coatings that could be flowing through it. What can be said about airless tip life is, that if the coating is known to have abrasive components in it, a RAC XHD will have a longer life than a RAC X.

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