dry spray

Don't know about dry spray, never heard of it before...

But over spray is the paint that misses the target..!!

John.

Dry spray is usually caused by too much air, not enough paint. Finish is not smooth and glossy. Looks satiny and feels rough. Finish should look wet.

paint drying before contact to intended surface,

dry spray........as in spray drying

Exactly So! But the tiny droplet can also skin over before the next droplet can interact and bond to cause a smooth surface.

Usually this occurs because the "mist" rather than the "spray" dries super quickly.

But your answer is correct. For store bought spray cans it usually means your too far away from the surface.

Dry spray is not very common term , but may intend for spraying abbrassives on glass,stones , metals for itching , also for cleaning the surface primary and post painting for drying?? and finishing .Over spray of paint is waste of paint outside the paintable area and uneven spraying causing paint to droop down .....

Both dry spray and "droop" or runs are both a function of environmental temperature, humidity,thinner or reducer evaporation speed, spray gun adjustment and operator experience.

Thinner and reducer are each available in one of three drying speeds, slow, medium and fast. They are chosen depending on the drying conditions, ie. temperature and humidity. If the operator isn't familiar in choosing, the labeling on the container is of some help but a test panel (cardboard) is always a must.

Of course the adjustment of the spray gun has the greatest effect and practicing on scrap helps.

Operator experience is just that. But to get you a leg up to start, here goes:

1. Determine if your paint requires a lacquer or enamel or a special (like xylol, etc.) thinner or reducer. Read the label on the container to determine usage relative to temperature and humidity.
2. If you are a novice, MIX PAINT AND THINNER/REDUCER ACCORDING TO THE LABEL ON THE PAINT CAN. Don't guess or think "that looks about right". You are not good enough for that yet. And with paints that require a catalyst, it's all in the chemistry, mols and all that. Get a cheap set of stainless measuring cups. DON'T USE YOUR MOMS!!! The paint mix might require setting up time. READ THE LABEL. And a little "Fisheye" doesn't hurt. If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask your supplier. (It lowers the surface tension of the paint to prevent bubbles that create...you got it, fisheyes in the dried paint. It is not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper that repainting.
3. Get a large cardboard box, 2' X 2' X 2' at least. Cut it up in panels.
4. Find a clean, shiny ball bearing about 1/8" or so or be very careful and obtain the rattle ball from inside an EMPTY/DEPLEATED spray paint can. (Or a glass bead etc. No plastic of any kind.) Put this in the sprayer cup to agitate the paint pigment while you are spraying. This will eliminate one of the sources of "tiger stripping".
5. In a CLEAN coffee can or such (size relevant to the size of the project, within reason of course. Don't mix more catalyst type paint than you can use within its time limit. Read the label!), measure out the paint, solvent, catalyst and fisheye. Stir well. Wooden paddle OK if it doesn't have any old paint on it.
6. Your supplier should have thrown in (or tried to sell you) strainers. Fill the sprayer cup about 3/4 full by pouring the paint through the strainer. The strainer then makes a good cover for the paint mix can to keep out dust. Assemble the spray head onto the cup. You should have already screwed a cheap air filter onto the air inlet as well as a small cheap air valve with gauge. I am assuming the sprayer is CLEAN CLEAN.
7. There are three adjustment screws, air flow, paint flow and fan air flow. Unless you have already adjusted these, to start, adjust each 1/4 turn open. Pull the trigger lightly. If nothing happens, open the air and paint a little more until you get something. Then adjust air flow until the little air gauge reads a pressure that is appropriate for the paint and sprayer you are using. READ!
8. Pull the trigger all the way and paint should flow. Adjust the paint screw until it looks OK. Adjust the fan air screw until you get a fan spray of about 45 to 60 degrees.
9. Set up a cardboard panel. Starting from the left side (optional), pull the trigger and starting just off the edge,move across the panel, keeping away about 12' or so. Time to move across should be about 3-4 sec. for a 2' panel. Move completely off the edge and at that time let off on the trigger so only air flows. Reverse direction, move down about 1/3 to 1/2 a spray width and pull the trigger to release paint just before the edge of the panel and lay down another pass. Repeat once more. Look at what you have. Is there too much paint or too little? You can adjust paint flow or fan width or speed, although speed if about right.
10. Once you are comfortable with paint flow, fan width and speed and the panel is looking OK, now we can address the most important thing for a shiny paint job with no tiger stripping and hopefully no runs, FLASHOFF.
11. You need gooood lighting. As you make passes, watch about 8-10" behind the pass. If paint mixture, temperature, humidity, air pressure, paint flow, fan width and speed are proper, you will see the just laid down paint flashoff (turn from slightly dull to shiny. Adjust your speed to that. If your speed seems too fast or slow to keep up a good flash, make adjustments to paint flow or fan width. A comfortable speed makes for a happy painter. You will find it to be a zen thing during a long job. By watching the flashoff you can detect stripping, dry spray and sags before they become issues. The moment dry spray or stripping are detected, lengthen at least one pass to add a bit more paint before it starts to set up (within 5-8 sec.). Sags or the early stage of a run can be corrected but it is tricky. The way I handle it is add more paint, but very carefully, at the front edge of the buildup to allow the built up paint to level out into the paint below it before it rolls over like an ocean wave. You probably have one chance to fix it otherwise let it go and wet sand later.

All the above applies to a finish coat of one stage paints (base coat/clear coat paints differ somewhat and are not discussed here). Good enough for doing one coat refrigerators, railings, lawn furniture, bird houses etc. For good stuff, cars and things that will get a lot of scrutiny, I do this:

1. After the object has been fully surface prepped to primer, I lay down a dust coat, misting the paint by reducing paint flow but with all other settings and speed as described above. This allows the paint to adhere well to the primer and provides a tacky and very slightly lumpy surface for a medium wet coat, done within 5 min., to adhere to. Little chance of runs and sags at this stage and the minute lumpiness is dissolved by the solvents.
2. The medium wet coat is just that. About half the paint flow to completely cover the surface. It will not look good but it should be laid down to not look good evenly. It should not look lumpy but about halfway between dry and shiny.
3. Next the full wet coat as describe in the first section. The result is a paint job that without wet sanding and just a buffing is good enough for a daily driver. Wet sanding would bring it up to a really nice daily driver.
4. If you are looking for something close to show quality (show quality requires multiple medium to wet coats with wet sanding between each and a super buffing), a double wet coat is needed. It is necessary to be very aware of temperature and speed of solvent to prevent sags. Drying time from the last coat is critical and experience is the best teacher. Just lay it down heavy, watching the flashoff intently. It should look like the surface of a still lake. If done correctly, NO WET SANDING NEEDED (except for maybe a fly).

Hello Guest, and for all other guests, hope you will be registering one of these day...

First let me give you some real definitions on these very common problem in the paint business:

Dry spray: sprayed paint which loses too much solvent in the air that it becomes too dry to flow out over the surface. Dry spray has a lower gloss than the normally sprayed surface.

Overspray: spayed paint which misses the area being painted and falls upon the surronding surface. Also call dry spray sometimes, Cause: particules reaching surfaces not wet enough to level because of too rapid solvent, gun too far from surface or paint falling outside spray pattern.

Remedy: Before cure: remove by dry brushing followed by solvent wiping. After cured: sand and apply another coat...

Hope this clarify the terms...

In paint spraying, dry spray can be taken to mean that the paint has dried before it hits the surface to be painted. The paint finish can take on the effect similar to the surface of orange peel. One of the symptoms is that the spray nozzle is too far away from the surface being painted and the other is that there is too much air and not enough paint as it leaves the nozzle. It can also be generated by using a thinner that is not appropriate to the paint being sprayed.

Over-spray can be when the nozzle is too close, and the impinging jet causes runs in the paint that is already on the surface.

With practice to find the correct technique, both can be avoided.