WAGNER Universal Sprayer W 690 FLEXiO - Electric Paint Sprayer for dispersion/latex paints, varnishes & glazes - interior and exterior usage, 15m²-6 min, 1800 ml/800 ml capacity, 630 W, 3.5 m hose

This is a review for the Flexio 690 after ~2 years, I can't comment on the other products.First things first, any review that says this is a bad product doesn't know what they are talking about. Period.I had my 4 bed, 3 floor house renovation sprayed top-to-bottom by the pros (on fresh plaster skim) which cost nearly £8k. With the 690 I can now get as good a result as them, and in some cases better.However... and the however is a big one... the reason the pros cost so much is because spray painting well is *hard* and takes a ton of prep and loads of practice. If you aren't prepared to put in the time & effort to learn this, then do yourself a favour and don't buy this (or any similar) product. If you are prepared to make the effort, then the results can be spectacular and well well worth it.Below is pretty much everything I have learned from using this over the last 2 years from re-spraying rooms and kitchen cabinets to furniture and aluminium trim:Firstly, the 690 kit doesn't even come close to what you will need to do this properly, don't think you can just pull this out of the box and start painting the front room. Don't try and skimp on this, either invest in the kit or don't bother. I learned this the hard way.The Flexio 690 kit itself comes with:1x Compressor1x Hose2x spray heads (1 large, 1 standard)1x detachable handle1x large (1800ml) paint holder1x standard (800ml) paint holder1x stirring stickYou will also need the following:2x 800ml containers with lid (standard head): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000FFR4NG2x 1300ml container with lid (large head): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08JQBQY5W1x Viscosity jar: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J8D0LTA1x Pack Paint filters (don't buy the cheap rubbish): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B013NQDO1Y1x Pack Microfibre cloths: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TVDJVR91x Protective coveralls (you don't want be doing this in shorts & a t-shirt!): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008PQKR7C1x Respirator mask: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WG74YQK1x Shoe covers: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B086KYXX5G1x Tack cloths: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0048DYVCI1x Dust sheets: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IEAFZRG1x Some awesome masking tape: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084B8351C1x Brown paper for masking: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WQGWFWP1x Scalpel with sharp blade1x large bucket1x Bottle brush set: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086D7SX8K1x non-abrasive scouring padSome Amazon cardboard boxes in large sheetsWhether you are painting walls & ceilings or furniture etc there are 4 key phases to getting pro results - Prep, Dust Control, Painting, Clean-up1) The spray will land on *everything*, you must mask and/or seal anything you aren't painting. This includes around/under door frames and other voids.2) Dust control is absolutely critical, the turbine produces a large airflow that will kick up any dust left on any surface.3) Sweep and thoroughly vacuum the room/area, especially at wall/floor junctions and in between floorboards etc4) Get a damp (with water) microfibre cloth and wipe down *every* surface you will paint. Especially wall and ceiling junctions. Yes do the ceiling too, dust from decorating sticks to everything! It will all ruin the finish.Now to prep the paint. (Assuming this is water based)A quick note. Always, always mix around 1/3 to 1/2 more paint than you think you will need, for 2 reasons:Firstly, neither of these 2 guns spray well on the last dregs in the container, you will get splatter.Secondly, diluting paint can very subtly change the shade (especially dark shades), if you need to revisit and touch up you'll want exactly the same mix.You can just stir it back into the tin when you know you're completely finished.1) Fill your large bucket full of water2) Take one of the extra containers your purchased and fill it 2/3rds full of your paint3) You will need to dilute it to spray. The turbine is *not* powerful enough to spray paint directly from the can. The exception here is something like Polyvine Decorators Varnish which is almost like water.4) Start with about 10% volume of clean water, stir it in well5) Once mixed, take your viscosity jar (You did get one right?) and dunk in into the paint container to the top. Pull it out and start counting6) The paint will slowly flow out of the jar, the speed based on the viscosity. It should empty in 30-40s.7) If it takes longer, add more water and repeat.8) Eventually you want something like single cream.9) Once you are practised you can watch it run off the stirring stick and you will use this less.10) Now pick the spray/container you will paint with, place the paint filter in the container mouth and pour in your now diluted paint*Never ever* try and spray with unfiltered paint. Ever. Just don't. The smallest particles will clog the nozzles. Dilute/mix first then filter into final container.11) Immediately place both the stirring stick and the mixing container into the bucket of water.12) Place the lid *not* the spray gun on the final container with the paint.13) Fill your last container full to max with clean water. (this is why you want 3 containers, one for paint, one is dirty, one has clean water) and attach the gun.14) Now get suited up, coveralls, shoe covers and mask15) Transfer all your kit into the space you will paint in, along with one of the cardboard sheets and the damp clothPainting1) Turn the air up the compressor to Max. I only turn it down if I start to get overspray from a particularly runny/watery paint2) With the clean water in your gun, run some test spray on the cardboard. You want a super fine mist3) Now walk around the room/area and spray the floor, the floor should be damp4) Now spray into the air around you, and wait for it to settle (don't use all of it, we will need in a bit)5) This will capture the last of the dust in the air and stick it to the floor6) Now swap the container with water for the container with the paint, put the lid on the water container.6b) If you are painting furniture/wood etc, use the tack cloths now to wipe down the surfaces to be sprayed. This is your final dust control chance.7) Make sure you point the suction hose in the container the right way. Eg. painting a ceiling point it towards you etc8) Start to test spray the cardboard from about 30cm away. Again you want a nice fine spray. Water will come first then the paint9) Never try to lay down too much paint. The turbine produces hot air so a thin spray dries quickly. It's much faster to spray less and add more paint then have to sand back runs after it is dry.10) I don't use more than setting 3 or 4 volume on the large head as I find it wont atomise it properly, similar to the standard head.11) Now start spraying in long smooth sweeping motions. Flex your arm not wrist you need a consistent distant from the surface12) Be logical where you start and finish. Think how spraying one part might over spray another vertical part and that might cause runs13) You want to cover about 50% of the previous spray pattern on your next run.14) If you need to touch up a section, don't just point and spray. Hold the cardboard in front of the surface, start spraying on that and move off in a smooth motion. This is so any initial splatter is on the cardboard not the surface15) Wipe down the nozzle frequently (every few mins) with your damp microfibre cloth this will keep it clean and spraying well.16) I find you can leave the paint in the gun for about an hour if you want to see what the finish looks like and how it dries. Longer than that and I would clean up and start again. Again wipe the nozzle if you stop.Clean up1) Once you have finished, unscrew the gun from the paint container and screw back into the previous water container. Place the lid on the paint container.2) Keep the lid tight on the paint container, this is your touch up paint if you need to revisit it.3) Now take yourself and the whole kit outside. Seal/close the room/area to allow to dry4) Spray the clean water through the gun until the spray is just clear water. Repeat this until it is.5) Next disassemble the gun entirely and place all the parts into the bucket of water.6) Now start cleaning with the bottle brushes and scouring pad. The gun should look like new when you are done7) Cleanup is critical, the condition of the gun will determine your results next time you use it.A few final tips:1) Don't ever stand on the compressor hose, if you do you'll end up with really bad splatter!2) The 1800ml paint container is heavy when it's full, you're going to be holding it for a while and need to be able to move it smoothly and consistently. I tend to use the 1300ml instead.3) If you are ever painting things like cupboard doors, buy a cheap clothes rail, then screw eye hooks into the door bottoms and hang vertically off cheap clothes hangers. Painting them vertically is much easier and massively reduces dust settling.4) Polyvine Decorators Varnish sprays really well undiluted: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01L4PQH7Y, but you need the lowest paint volume possible - basically a super fine mist. Anything more and you'll get runs (#2.5 on the large).5) The scalpel with sharp blade.. if you get dust or hair on the surface the blade will pluck this off. Use a light touchup spray with the cardboard technique.6) Enjoy it! This makes painting fun and it is incredibly satisfying to see the quality of the finish you can get....and all this is why some people give this product a low rating. Sure there are some flaws but they're easy enough to get around.The simple reality is spray painting well is *hard* and needs practice and a methodical process. But the results can and do speak for themselves.

About me - I started my career within the built-environment aged 15 as decorator. I then trained and worked as a Carpetner & Joiner, and nowadays work as a qualified Building Surveyor, developer and an all round DIY-enthusiast, and so I'd like to think I can offer a fair and balanced review here...Other peoples reviews - Never have I been so conflicted in whether to buy a product or not; a read through the reviews and you'll see conflicting positive and negative reviews from both DIYers and Pro's alike - I would however point out now that this product is not designed or intended for use in the professional trade, it just wouldn't stand up to such sustained use or the typical wear and tear tools are subjected to within a site environment. For DIYers who are likley to use it for shorter periods, and for occassional small projects, I think it is absolutely fantastic (I'm thinking decorating a house, extension, loft conversion, furniture, shed, fences and so forth). My justification for buying this machine was that for £200, if it only lives as long as it takes me to complete the projects I want it for, and it provides a superior finish to traditional methods, and it saves me a load of time in decorating (I actually hate decorating!), than it's money well spent. I also don't usually write reviews, but I felt strongly that the this unit, for the price, had been misrepresented and that based on the many conflicting reviews I had seen, others will have struggled to make the most informed decison, and hence I felt motivated to write this (lenthy) review.My projects - Initially I bought this product for 3 specific uses; first off, I am refurbishing a baby changing and drawer unit and wanted more of a professional spray finish than the hand-painted look, but also I wanted to use a more specialist water-based non-VOC paint (from Little Knights) and invariably such water-based paints are otherwise tricky to acheve flat finishes with via traditional methods, and also spray cans and oil based paints werent an option for me. I also wanted to spray our converted garage room, and next year I intend to spray an extension and loft conversion we are planning build.Set-up - There's not a lot of options to setting up and its all quite intuituve; however, I will stress the importance of following the instructions step-by-step and I suspect those who have said the machine failed early, paint pouring out everywhere, may not have followed the instructions and set it up incorrectly. I can't stress enough how important this is.Preparation - The machine is an air compessor, it effectively blows air out at quite a rate continuously and then trigger controls the flow of paint. For the reason that it continously blows out paint, you are going to want to make every best effort to remove any dust from the envionment and this can be tricky, but otherwise, there will be the tendancy for the air to kick up any dust built up in corners or rooms, or from below skirtings etc. With either attachements, there is an incredible amount of paint mist created and so you are going to want to be exceptionally careful if you are spraying in furnished rooms or around windows and doors etc - lots of plastic covers and masking tape required - Good and thorough preparation is absolutely key here.Bottle fed gun - So first up is the baby changing unit with the hand held bottle gun; having thoroughly prepped the unit and set up for spraying I went straight for it with no practice run - I have to say that it was not at all that bad for a first attempt. With the set-up of the bottle, you have to mindful as to which way you angle the straw feeder, because if you are spraying mostly upwards for example, and you start to run low on paint, the paint will naturally build-up towards the rear and this is where you'll get a bit of splatter occurring. After a light key and second coat, finished with a light rub down with wet & dry to flatten off the finish, I was really pleased with the results I'd achieved. I did however put a third coat over it just because I was being fussy, and there were a few areas wihtin the drawers where it had blown dust out of the crevices that slight tarnished my finish (but this is my own fault having not preppred thoroughly enough!). All in all, each coat took about about 5mins to apply (rapid!) and I used approx 1.5litres for 3 coats of Little Knights water based paint liberally applied. I would also just say, that for a water based paint, it provided a really nice flat finish but slightly rough finish which was simply improved and flattened off with a wet and dry sandpaper finish - To manage expectations; with the gun and a water-based paint, you will get a better finish than with rollers & brushes, but you would be hard pressed to achieve that absolutely perfect factory-type finish.Next up is the spraying of the conveted garage with the lance - directly fed into a well mixed tin of dulux emulsion, only very slightly diluted, and I absolutely flew around the room within 30mins and the finish is great. What I will say is that in this room, there is no final floor finish, one small window, and only one door and so prep for me was minimial and I didnt need to be too worried about the mess from the overspray. If however you are spraying within a furnished room, with lots of light fittings, windows and other tricky features, you'll need to spend the majority of your time prepping over painting.Cleaning up - This is equally as important as prep, many have commented that the unit worked fine on first use but on further use they have had issues with splatter spoiling their finish and again, I fear they may not have been following the instructions on clean-up and that dried paint in the machine will likley have caused this issue - Follow the instructions, clean up every component after use, use the clean setting of the lance, flush through a lot of clean water several times only and not only is it still quicker than cleaning up trays, brushes and rollers, but you'll be good to go when you set it up the next time around.Build-Quality - I cannot believe some have commented that it feel's cheap and plastic, take a look at comparable professional equipment, take a look at the cost of air compressors and spray guns, and I think you'll find that for £200 you are actually getting a lot of equipment for you money here. So what it's made of plastic, just be careful with it. Again, I doubt very much it would stand up to being used on a daily basis for pro-use, carted from site to site, and being packed in and out of a van, its just not designed for that sort of use - it's £200, you get more than what you pay for.Summary - Excellent value and all round excellent piece of kit. I think it would be onerous to buy it to redecorate a fully furnished house due to the amount of paint mist it creates, but for clean and clear rooms which are not liable to being trafficked, new extensions, fences, and small items of furniture, I think it is an absolutely superb piece of kit and well worth the money - I almost enjoyed decorating again...almost.Best of luck, read the instructions, prep well, clean it well and you'll be golden!

Based on the Wagner advert I decided to invest in this item to paint my Kitchen Cabinets. I used Little Green Intelligent Satin and the result was good - not a mirror quality finish but better and much quicker than a paint brush/roller - with no no brush marks ect.Pro.Instructions are easy to follow and the equipment is easy to useYou can different sprayers for different jobs - sprayers not expensive -Cleaning is very easy - with water-based paint - this isi critical to ensure good paint finishesCompressor is separate from Sprayer making it lighter and more flexible to useCON's:Contrary what Wagner says you will have to dilute the latex paint to get good atomisation 10 - 15% at minIF you new to using sprayers definitely practice using the sprayer - use a sheet of cardboard or brown paperUse good quality paint that self levels - let it it do the work for youI sprayed all my cupboard doors flat which allows for paint levelingIf you are not cautious you can end with huge runs in your paintNozzle junks up quickly especially in hot weather (20+C) as such if you do not wipe nozzle often it will screw up your finish with blushing and orange peelBecause this is not a professional sprayer your jobs can be hit and missI found huge amount of over spray dust as such make sure you protect other surfacesOverall for the money -I got a good finish on my cabinets. paint fences and shed will be a doddle with this kit