There are three main options for a Wagner SPRINT manual all-in-one powder coating system. Wagner offers a box feed version and two hopper versions: 3 liters, 25 liters and 60 liters.

We get a lot of people asking us what powder coating system is right for them. The answer depends on a few variables:

1. What are you spraying?
2. How much are you spraying?
3. What quality of fluidization do you need?

The Wagner SPRINT XE Box Feed Unit is the most common type of powder coating system due to its speed and ease of use. Users feed the powder to the system using the box the powder comes in (there are even ridges designed to hold the box in place) which eliminates the process of loading powder into hoppers. It features a fluidizing bed in the base that vibrates when in use, thus fluidizing the powder as it is pumped from the box. This is a great unit for all types of applications.

The Wagner SPRINT XE Hopper Feed unit is the next most common type of powder coating system. The powder gets fluidized in the hopper itself as opposed to using the vibrating base system in the box-feed unit. The standard system comes with a 60-liter hopper which is preferable for larger scale operations. There is also a 25 liter and a 3-liter hopper available which allows the system to scale to your needs.

Main Difference

The main difference between the box fed and hopper unit is the base the material rests on. On the box feed unit, the box on a vibrating slanted base. One advantage of the box feed version is it allows the unit to get almost all the material, reducing waste.

A second advantage of the box feed version is the ease of switching color via a suction tube on a swivel arm. On set ups that require frequent color changes, the box feed version is far and away the best choice.

For users that are going to be spraying a significant amount of material, mostly the same color, the hopper units are the best option. Another advantage of the hopper version is how the fluidizing works.

The box feed system fluidizes material simply by vibrating. The hopper version, on the other hand, fluidizes material via an air intake. This allows for much better fluidization over the box feed unit. Fluidizing is the process of turning powder into a fluid like state. The better the fluidization, the better the application by increasing how even the application is and how well the powder flows through the gun.

Whatever unit you do get, you could always switch to the opposite with a little bit of effort. Look for an article on that sometime in the future.

The next article on our site will go through the setup of these units.