DevilBiss SRiPro touch up spray gun

Reviewed 3 years ago (updated).

DeVilbiss - SRiPro Spot Repair Gun (Rating: 4)

The Lowdown:

Paid $293 (starter kit)
now (2/2020) $346 for the same kit (Amazon)

Pros:
Easy cleanup!
Works in any position.
Excellent adjustability, awesome atomization.
Low air requirements.

Cons:
Expensive(ish).
Accessories are expensive(ish).

4 stars because nothing is perfect and I didn't try more expensive/higher rated guns.

For decades (seems like a lifetime) I have been using a small el-cheapo touch up gun for those times I needed to finish a small object.

Purchased from "Pratco", the Harbor Freight of the 80's

 It always worked "ok" but the finish was never great and the paint cup often got in the way. Eventually it started spitting, indicating time to freshen up the seals.
Performance returned it to normal, but my heart began to wander for something prettier and younger.

Note that this now was almost five years ago. I don't like to review stuff if I haven't had plenty of time to use it and have something similar to compare it to.

I used to paint cars and I have a collection of spray guns. The "touch up" class are nice since they are light weight and with only a small fluid cup they are easy to get into tight spaces. If you are not spraying a huge area where you need massive fluid flow, they are great for almost all projects side-table sized and smaller.

My search basically began and ended with the recommendations of the GunMan An automobile painters recommendations for mini sprayers. No local sources to ask and see, so I go with the gut.

Since I could not test out each of the available candidates myself, I put a lot of faith in this test and chose what I considered affordable and of sufficient quality, no need for me to get the absolute best available as it comes at a high price $$$$$ for the bragging rights 8^)

Here is the SRiPro. I have added a A.N.I regulator/restrictor to allow tweaking the air without needing to mess with my wall mounted regulator.

Some would call this top-feed a gravity fed gun, but actually it is siphon fed since the flow is from siphon action (no pressure in the fluid cup)

 
This comes as a kit with the gun, cleaning kit, alternate spray head, and a sampling of the DeVilbiss "DeKups" system.

This is my first gun with the cup mounted on top. A big concern for me was the DeCups. Basically a disposable cup system. I wanted a traditional cup so I would not need to purchase accessories over the lifetime of this system.

A traditional "hard" aluminum cup can be found, but at over $50. I began to look into the possibility of modifying a Harbor Freight cup, but then decided to give the DeKups a serious try (and glad I did!).
These "systems" are common nowadays, but generally brand specific.

 

(Left column, top to bottom: 24 oz. outer cap, inner cap, bladder (both disposable), outer shell)
(Center: 9 oz. outer cap reservoir plug (orange), lid/bladder, outer shell with graduated mixing card installed, filter screen insert)
(Right: 3 oz. DeKups, HVLP spray head, SRiPro, wrench/cleaning brush)

The DeKups system has three sizes. 
24 oz.
9 oz. (my most used)
3 oz. (shown installed)

Good! No need to use a cup bigger than needed which allows for better spray gun access into all those corners 8^)

The DeKups consist of a hard plastic shell and cap into which a collapsible bladder and lid (the disposable parts) are installed. The cost of a lid/bladder runs about $1.25 for the 9 oz. and can be bought in quantity. 
Note the 3 oz. cup is rigid plastic.

The beauty over a ridgid cup (as I discovered) is you can use the sprayer in any position. With the cup on the bottom (everything upside down), the siphon suction  action will collapse the bladder until all the airspace is removed. At this point the gun will not care what position it is in.

A second benefit is the bladder and lid are easily removed and disposed of (no cleaning!). I use a small squeeze bottle with lacquer thinner for cleaning the spray head passage. I just squirt some thinner into the siphon hole while spraying. The passage is very short and easy to access for a thorough scrubbing if needed, but with my regime it has never had any finish build up.

A big savings in both cleanup time and thinner, I save significant amounts of $$ on thinner compared to flushing out the long passage and large cup of my traditional siphon guns.

If I'm going to be spraying the same finish over several days, I'll remove the DeKup from the gun, push up the bladder until the air is eliminated and install a supplied small plug (orange object in the picture). Basically the finish is now sealed in an airless environment. When needed again, the plug can be removed allowing the bladder to return to full size. Attach to the gun and give it a good shaking to remix, then spray.

The fan is adjustable from a fine (1") spot to a 6" width. I have sprayed a 24"x60" table top with this using 50% overlap passes and precat lacquer. Great flowout and blending, but this is about as big of a surface I'd dare to do with precat before going to a bigger gun.

The SRiPro comes with two spray heads, one is labeled "HVLP" and the other listed as high efficiency. I have not tried the HVLP head as the HE head works superbly.
My typical spraying air pressure is set to about 18 PSI. This provides excellent atomization and flowout without excessive overspray.

This pressure is noted when the trigger if fully depressed so essentially it translates into a flow rate. Change the fan size or the fluid flow and the airflow has to be adjusted to compensate.

As with all these upper end spray guns, there are plenty of cheap knock-offs on the market. The mechanics of the SRiPro are basically flawless, no idea of how well a knockoff would compare.

It could be considered expensive (20 times more expensive then the gun I replaced), but you all know the feeling of using a great tool where you only need to worry about your skills and not deal with grief caused by the tool.

A real pleasure to use compared to my old gun!

I have a Harbor Freight $9.99 gun (the purple one) that I still haven't used. I bought it for those finishes (paint, etc.) that I'd rather not push through my new gun. It'll be interesting to compare with!

I still use my Earlex 7000 series HVLP for big stuff, though I rarely make "big" stuff. Also keep an old Binks 2001 for traditional air use since the heat from the turbine can cause issues with lacquer.