Graco Magnum 262805 X7 Cart Airless Paint Sprayer, Gray

The Grayco X7 was easy to set up and prime. Like all pieces of equipment read the manual. I also found it helpful to watch a few video's on operation. Especially be sure to get the correct "rhythm" down, moving gun, engaging trigger, make your pass on object being painted, disengaging trigger while keeping gun moving finishing your pass. If you don't follow this procedure you will get globs and runs of paint. Once you get the procedure mastered on some cardboard you can paint very quickly. The only downside is cleanup. You MUST be thorough or paint will be left in pump, gun or hose, possibly ruining the sprayers operation. However you can sit during clean up and enjoy your favorite beverage while cleaning. I would buy this sprayer again in a heartbeat!My son sprayed our cabin with solid color stain. We probably spent more time moving and adjusting ladders and taping windows/door than spraying. Twenty years ago I used a friends sprayer, which was not a Grayco, to spray same cabin and I was amazed at how fast I could spray. This Grayco works much better with less overspray.

Item one - this is the first airless sprayer I have used (or owned)Item two - I had a week to paint the inside and outside of a house. (mission accomplished)Overall: This did the job with relative ease. The prep work is key (painted a few floors by accident until I taped everything down). Do watch the video if you are a new user. It does a great job of explaining how to set up and use this machine. I sprayed both interior latex and a stucco paint with little to no issues. I mixed the paints but did not run them through a strainer and rarely encountered any issues (which are easily fixed by reversing the spray tip and blowing it out). Generally clean up is easy if you have buckets and a garden hose. The machine itself is not that heavy so I didn't mind carrying it outside. And if you spray the discharge into the a bucket it doesn't make a big mess.Lessons Learned:**When spraying latex paint there is significant pressure (wind) that blows light drop cloths away from the area they are protecting. I found using the blue masking tape to fix edges prevented this from happening.**Between coats I had a handy bucket of water and dropped the spray head to submerge it in the water. Pick it up, let it drip for a few seconds. Reverse the tip and blow out any residue and I was ready to go for round two. I also did this for some overnights when I was spraying the same color over a lot of rooms.**There are times when the sprayer was the best way to go and others when a roller and brush were better suited for the job. Basically the two areas where the sprayer excelled was in covering a large room that is well masked and the second was painting the outside stucco were it met the grass/garden beds (a roller or brush just picks up dirt and it's all over). So for the big rooms I spent a couple of hours masking them and painting them in minutes. The smaller areas I could put down a few drop cloths and go paint.**This unit is ideal for 5 gallon paint buckets. I'd buy the paint and have them put it in the shaker. I'd take it home and open the little cap, drop in the strainer hose, and get painting. In the evening I could put some clear wrap around the hoses and mouth of the paint and leave it overnight (with the spray head in a bucket of water).**I had a bunch of plastic shopping bags. When I had to move the machine after painting (to a new room or for clean up) I'd put the strainer and primer tubes into a bag and loop the handles over the primer valve. This catches any drips during the move.**Get an old toothbrush for clean up. It really helps clean the small parts and screens.**Not so much as a tip but a confirmation. When I ordered the machine I considered getting more hose but I choose not to based on a review. I can confirm that the hose that comes with the machine reaches pretty far. Unless you're painting a three story high foyer, the hose will reach an entire room (18 ft x 12 ft with 9 foot ceilings) with ease when set up in the center. Sure I had to move it to paint the house, but I figured out a way to move the sprayer and a five gallon bucket (with the strainer hose in the paint) around the house.Conclusion: I was spraying heavy latex paints. Thus to get a good pattern I had the pressure setting up pretty high. The created a lot of over spray so if it wasn't masked, it got paint on it. (FYI there is a product that comes in a "wipes" form that does a good job removing dried paint). I like this sprayer and I think it was a good investment for me as I can share it with my brother for his house. It would be overkill unless you are intending to cover a lot of area. I also cannot offer any perspective on durability as I will only use this every few years or so. I don't know how it would hold up to regular use. A contractor friend of mine has a few of the pro models and he speaks very highly of them. Overall it is a great machine for my use. It really got easier to use with each additional room. I highly recommend it for a homeowner with a lot of area to paint.

Ok so I'm a professional painter, who is just starting out on his own. I bought one of these because there's just no way around not having a sprayer.I figured this should last a year or two and then if I'm doing well I can always upgrade to a professional grade sprayer. Not that this sprayer isn't great, it's just not rated for pro use.So it turns out that this sprayer is actually really good. It sprays latex real nice and heavy, and then of course 9 times out of 10 you go back and roll over it. There is no need for thinning down paints, I use sherwin williams for almost everything I do, though I have been known to use Conco brand paint from menards on cheap rental jobs where they literally just want you to slap paint down. They will not pay for good paint or even good work so you really just have to give them what they want at a reasonable price, but I digress.The only thing I dislike about this sprayer, is that the hook for the 5 gallon bucket, doesn't hold the bucket all the time. When the sprayer is just sitting flat and the bucket is there the handle on the bucket is too high to sit in the hook and so the bucket just sits on the ground. I imagine this is a design decision so that there isn't constantly 75lbs (or however much a 5 gal bucket of paint weighs) hanging from the sprayer at all times. But it's frustrating because that means any time you want to move you have to bend over and tilt the sprayer back and make sure the hook catches the bucket handle, then tilt it back more to pick up the bucket. It's just a pain. I'd much rather the bucket hung nonstop.Besides that little frustration, as well as the pain it is to clean up afterwards, this sprayer is fantastic. The cleanup isn't an issue with the sprayer either, it's just the normal 'ton' of paint everywhere that you have to clean. Overspray isn't as bad as I thought it would be to be honest. Though it will get anywhere, in the immediate spray area that isn't securely masked. You really have to make sure when you mask that your tape is on really well and that if you have paper or plastic that it isn't loose. This sprayer has some force so it will fling plastic and paper all over the place and rip it right off if the tape job wasn't done well.Besides that I guess the only other thing I would have asked for would have been a 50 foot hose instead of the 25ft that came with it. It's just not enough for exterior projects where you are two stories up on a ladder. I will just have to purchase a 50ft hose later, which isn't a big deal besides it being $50 for the hose. Lol, that's where they get you.As for my experience with this sprayer, I waited until I really put it through it's paces before giving this review. I've painted a few interiors and I'm on my third or fourth exterior with it now. Still with the same tip that came with the sprayer, same hose, etc. I tend to be anal about cleaning it, though you just cannot keep paint off of the hoses. It's just not possible. But cleaning everything as well as a I can I think this sprayer should last another year or so hopefully. I'm guessing I'll need a new tip or gun at some point and I will get the 50 ft hose in the next day or two because I'm painting a huge house right now so I just need it, but I hope this helps somebody.