WAGNER FLEXiO W 690 Universal Electric Paint Sprayer

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 Compressor 1x Hose 2x spray heads (1 large, 1 standard) 1x detachable handle 1x large (1800ml) paint holder 1x standard (800ml) paint holder 1x stirring stick You will also need the following: 2x 800ml containers with lid (standard head): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000FFR4NG 2x 1300ml container with lid (large head): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08JQBQY5W 1x Viscosity jar: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J8D0LTA 1x Pack Paint filters (don't buy the cheap rubbish): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B013NQDO1Y 1x Pack Microfibre cloths: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TVDJVR9 1x Protective coveralls (you don't want be doing this in shorts & a t-shirt!): https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008PQKR7C 1x Respirator mask: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WG74YQK 1x Shoe covers: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B086KYXX5G 1x Tack cloths: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0048DYVCI 1x Dust sheets: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IEAFZRG 1x Some awesome masking tape: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084B8351C 1x Brown paper for masking: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07WQGWFWP 1x Scalpel with sharp blade 1x large bucket 1x Bottle brush set: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086D7SX8K 1x non-abrasive scouring pad Some Amazon cardboard boxes in large sheets Whether you are painting walls & ceilings or furniture etc there are 4 key phases to getting pro results - Prep, Dust Control, Painting, Clean-up 1) 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 etc 4) 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 water 2) Take one of the extra containers your purchased and fill it 2/3rds full of your paint 3) 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 well 5) 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 counting 6) 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 mask 15) Transfer all your kit into the space you will paint in, along with one of the cardboard sheets and the damp cloth Painting 1) Turn the air up the compressor to Max. I only turn it down if I start to get overspray from a particularly runny/watery paint 2) With the clean water in your gun, run some test spray on the cardboard. You want a super fine mist 3) Now walk around the room/area and spray the floor, the floor should be damp 4) 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 floor 6) 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 etc 8) Start to test spray the cardboard from about 30cm away. Again you want a nice fine spray. Water will come first then the paint 9) 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 surface 12) Be logical where you start and finish. Think how spraying one part might over spray another vertical part and that might cause runs 13) 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 surface 15) 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 up 1) 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 dry 4) 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 done 7) 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!

This is a good product but beware some of the claims. Whilst it can cope with emulsion straight out of the tin, it struggles a bit. You definitely need to dilute by 10% as it suggests. Beware going more than that though as it gets very active and sprays everywhere. Its not as clean as it wants you to believe. The ‘no cutting in’ claim is pure fantasy. Its about as messy as a roller but faster…but not by much. Coverage looks blotchy to start with but dries evenly. Its not a pro product for sure but I’ve used it a fair bit and for large rooms which are empty and no carpet it would be a godsend. If youve got a small room, I wouldnt use it and if youre painting around furniture in a single room, be careful where you point it. Finally, if you fill the emulsions canister its heavy to wield. Fine at the start but as youre coming to the end the muscles are tightening even if your a big person. A great addition would be being able to rotate the collector spout from outside the canister

Since I've had this sprayer I've sprayed about 90 fence panels and this makes the job so much easier and quicker and makes a better job that painting by hand. I have found a couple of ways to make using this easier, filling the small container with fence stain is tricky I use a soup ladle and a funnel with the bottom cut off to just smaller than the top of the container, no drips or mess! When you don't want spray on say the wall of the house or over the fence to your neighbours I use a large piece of hardboard to stop the over spray. Cleaning the equipment afterwards I use a nail brush and toothbrush to removed the paint. Lastly when everything is clean put some water in the container and spray the water out to fully clean the internal pipes. A great bit of kit and would would recommend it.

I've used a few sprayers before although never really used a "true DIY" product so I thought I knew what I was in for. The kit looks simple enough even if the instructions in both German and English are terrible. The attachments need a redesign to make them simpler to use. The hoses attach with small plastic knobs and a series of twists and pushed. The plastic knobs will break in a matter of months at which point you'll have to DIY a way to keep the hoses attached. I guess it is a DIY product after all ... I knew what to expect about sprayers and the mess that they create etc. but this sprayer is above and beyond any mess I've seen before. The precision control is abysmal and it really puzzled me because the only problem I could see is that the air keeps going nonstop. Anyway I think I know what the issues is and that's the use of a fully plastic nozzle and Wagner going very cheap. In the manual, there's a mention of you having to clean the nozzle when you stop. It's not very clear what they are talking about but what it is is that Wagner had complaints about uneven spray so they added a "disclaimer" rather than redesigning the head. After about 10 mins of use, the nozzle cannot provide a consistent paint amount. That's mainly due to the cheap plastic components used. The constant air stream can actually slide the valve open though regular use meaning that your fine mist (if you can call it that) is now the sprayer spitting paint at the wall. At that point your only option is to get the roller out but now you've got a dirty £200 door stop that you need to clean. It's a real shame that Wagner didn't keep a metal nozzle and bump the price up by another £10. The spray bottle may be better but I didn't buy the unit for the bottle. The auto clean system is ok but you need buckets that are not too high. I tried using a pair of 5 gallon ones and those are too high causing the dirty water to spray all over the place. Also, in terms of speed, sprayers require a complete wrap of the room that you are working in. Don't underestimate the time it takes. If the quality of spray is good, then the time is well worth it and after a few sprays you also start to see savings from equipment cost, time etc. But none of this applies to this Wagner unit. The mess that it creates means added time to clean after the spray and you may still need to come back for a 2nd coat. Oh also, while Wagner suggests that you can use many paint types with the unit, I can guarantee you that it's not true. Vinyl paint is way too thick for this unit so you are really just locking at emulsion and contact paint for the lance. What I don't understand is if this is a DIY product, how come it takes lots of trial and error to get it right? Is Wagner assuming that DIY painters don't expect high quality of work?

I have found myself looking after a garden with about 70 panels all 6 feet high that need paint protection from the elements. I am a reluctant DIY kinda guy most at home indoors at a keyboard rather than doing out-doors macho stuff. It is however a heck of a lot cheaper me painting fence panels than paying some other dogs body to do it. It should also save me money in the long term by extending the life of 70 expensive panels that will one day crumble away and need replacing. Painting panels looks a doddle but is time consuming and it is wearing on the body when painting above waist height. I bought the 'Wagner Universal Sprayer W 690 FLEXiO' with no prior experience of paint spraying to save time and reduce the physical fatigue of doing it. I was a little reluctant to get a sprayer as it filled my mind with embarrassing images of me covered from head toe in paint. Think Laurel and Hardy in ‘Dirty Work’ ( type it in to google and you’ll get the idea ). I carefully experimented beforehand with water and then fence paint discretely away from my neighbors twitching net curtains. The ‘Wagner Universal Sprayer W 690 FLEXiO’ has attachments for indoors and outdoors. On reflection it’s unlikely I will use it indoors but I like to get the most bang for my buck so the flexibility of both indoor and outdoor spraying appealed to me. After reading the instructions and assembling I was ready to go – sort of. If you are painting with a brush or a sprayer you need to prepare the area first. It seems as if you can never have enough cardboard to protect the ground. I have collected a heap of big boxes in preparation and flattened them to protect the pavement and white fence supports at the foot of the fence panels. I also used masking tape to protect the white fence posts and I filled in the gaps with a combination of old rags and bin liners ripped open to cover everything else. In fact it takes quite a while to set all this up but this is necessary regardless of whether you are spraying or brushing. I now tend to set up the masking tape in advance before ‘spray day’. The tape you can prepare any day it’s not raining but on ‘spray day’ you need it not only to be dry but also without any wind. The smiling slim early 30’ brunettes in jeans and a shirt that appear in the marketing pictures for this product I am pretty confident never actually did any painting. You need to be kitted up. With proper 'brand spanking new out of the cellophane' painting overalls on, an old pair of glasses, the provided face mask and a cap to protect my saloon shy hair it was time to blast away. When switched it on it sounds a bit like a modest hoover. Spraying about 20cm away and moving very slowly gets the best results. My first instinct was to wave my arm back and forth like a paint brush but that just increases fatigue. Better to remain static on target until an area is done and move slowly to the next bit. I didn’t get much spray blowback. It goes where you point it. The nozzle can be adjusted for side to side or up and down painting. I did find it quicker and less taxing than using a brush. However I would recommend a few things to get the most out of it. 1) It takes a while to clean the thing afterwards so it’s better to do lots of panels in one session. If you are just doing one a day you probably are not saving much time when the cleaning of the equipment is added to the job. Doing 4 or more panels at a time and you are going to be in time credit. 2) Make sure you have a BIG funnel. Pouring a bucket sized tub of Ronseal ‘Dark Oak’ Fence Paint into a small container does get very messy. I bought an 'Extra Large 200mm Orange Funnel' from Amazon and it does the job well. 3) Buy an additional 1400ml container add-on attachment. It’s annoying to be in the flow of painting and then have to stop to carefully fill the paint container again – even with a big funnel. On my spray days I fill up the 800Ml standard container that comes with the unit and two 1400ml containers I bought separately before I start spraying. When I get going I can then do a fast reload by replacing the empty container with the ready to go and already full containers. Search for ‘Wagner 417921 Container with Cover, 1400 ml Paint sprayers’ on Amazon and you will find the one I bought. 4) Wear a hat. 5) Watch the weather forecast and plan the preparation day and the spray day. 6) Consider the neighbors. Where there are windows, washing lines, patio furniture or sunbathers on the other side of the fence; play safe and use a brush. At least do not spray the top part of the fence so there is no chance of spraying something that could get you a mouthful of abuse and a knuckle sandwich. 7) Wear ear protectors. I did 12 panels in one go and my ears were ringing afterwards. With all that in mind it seems to the job quite well. It’s not cheap but it seems sturdy and it is effective. I’m happy with it and now I can get through a load of panels in less time without feeling the aches and pains of a wrestling match after just one panel.

My initial review would be 5 stars but........ As a more mature person with a new building extension, I purchased this sprayer to make the painting etc easier for me and my husband. It all came in one piece and after reviewing guidance on line, set about ‘spraying’. It all looked easy, and yes I was excited (sad as that sounds). Brilliant.. ceilings were hard, walls were great. I did think about the extension for the sprayer but several reviews mentioned how heavy it made the equipment, so I did not purchase one. With hindsight, if I had to do the same again, I probably would purchase one. Cleaning the sprayer between each room was a necessary chore, and took me ages, particularly when you have to either clean in the bathroom or sit outside with the external tap! I successfully completed 5 rooms including ceilings, much to my satisfaction, but then on the 6th room the paint kept ‘almost pouring out of the nozzle’ even when the sprayer was turned off. As this was a colour match paint, it was expensive, so I was very frustrated and annoyed at the waste of paint. This totally marred my experience and all the positivity of this sprayer vanished as I completed the room with a roller and brush, with the assistance of my daughter. It has been relegated to its box until this is sorted, and yes I do have more rooms to paint so would like help with this issue. I have looked quickly on the internet and it talks about problems with the ‘fluid needle or fluid nozzle’, so I have looked online for UK help, but so far have only found German contacts. So if anyone has a UK contact or any other suggestions, please can you let me know. Had I not had problems with this ‘dribbling’ so soon after purchase, then I would have been so impressed and recommended to friends.

I'm really happy that I bought this. I'm awful at painting, I can't seem to use a brush without getting thick brush marks (tried paint conditioner and laying off with a paint wet tip of the brush). I wanted something to give me good results without having to pay a decorator. What I would say is, this machine has a learning curve and ultimately my advice is to use as low material and air pressure settings that gives you good coverage, don't try to cover perfectly in one pass. Too high a material setting means too much product leading to splatters or orange peel effect, too high air pressure then the paint is almost drying as it's atomised into the air. Ensure you're not using the i-Wall attachment if you're trying to do trim like door frames and skirting, that attachment has too high a material flow. Practice on a piece of card and have patience to dial in the right settings (there's three, paint dilution, material amount and airflow/pressure). I've just sprayed the trim in a room with water based satin and the finish is glass smooth!