Review: Devilbiss DKups System

I haven't seen a lot of info about painting tools on the forum, so I thought I would add my 2 cents.

While I haven't painted the whole plane yet, I have painted the interior and done a lot of priming on the fiberglass to prep for paint.

I purchased the Devilbiss Dekups system in preparation for painting the bottom of the plane. I have used it (unnecessarily) during the priming to get used to the system before topcoat.

Pros:
*It works painting inverted or any other angle with a gravity feed gun!
*Cheaper than the 3M PPS System (especially the adapters)
*Pretty easy to use

Cons:
*The measuring insert is not marked for mix ratios, so you have to do the math for your 4:1:1, 2:1...etc. mix
*Since I am a hobbyist and don't have a production gun-cleaning machine, I found it made gun cleaning more difficult and messy than a standard paint cup.

*My normal method for prep and cleaning is: Use ratio cup to mix paint, pour into gun cup, apply paint, pour excess paint back into ratio cup, pour solvent into gun cup and swish, pour solvent into ratio cup, more solvent into gun cup and spray-through, Disassemble gun and put air cap and fluid tip into a small cup with solvent. Clean parts and reassemble.

With the DKups system, you can't spray solvent through the gun without using a second liner or cleaning the first liner (which defeats the purpose of making it disposable) so you are left with a filthy gun (internally) and use a lot more solvent cleaning the gun.

All that said, I bought the system so I can paint the bottom of the plane and it should work great for that. I would buy the system again, but I'll stick to a standard cup for most of the paint work.

Colin, I've painted a number of airplanes using the DeKups system and I really like it. To help with cleaning the gun I keep a squeeze bottle full of laquer thinner and just squirt it into the top of the gun while squeezing the gun trigger without air attached. It does a really good job of cleaning out the gun, and once most of the paint is gone I reattach the air line and keep squirting thinner into the top of the gun while squeezing the trigger. Then I disassemble the gun for final cleaning. NO need to use an extra cup.

Vic

I use the this cleaning method and it has worked well for me, very little reducer required to clean the gun.

What he said

+1 use the same method.

vic syracuse said:

Colin, I've painted a number of airplanes using the DeKups system and I really like it. To help with cleaning the gun I keep a squeeze bottle full of laquer thinner and just squirt it into the top of the gun while squeezing the gun trigger without air attached. It does a really good job of cleaning out the gun, and once most of the paint is gone I reattach the air line and keep squirting thinner into the top of the gun while squeezing the trigger. Then I disassemble the gun for final cleaning. NO need to use an extra cup.

Vic

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dpansier said:

I use the this cleaning method and it has worked well for me, very little reducer required to clean the gun.

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I use a vented version of this. If you leave this one sitting around for very long, it will empty itself.

"I use a vented version of this. If you leave this one sitting around for very long, it will empty itself."

Had the same problem, punched a small hole near the top and place my finger over the hole when I squeeze.

Cleaning

vic syracuse said:

Colin, I've painted a number of airplanes using the DeKups system and I really like it. To help with cleaning the gun I keep a squeeze bottle full of laquer thinner and just squirt it into the top of the gun while squeezing the gun trigger without air attached. It does a really good job of cleaning out the gun, and once most of the paint is gone I reattach the air line and keep squirting thinner into the top of the gun while squeezing the trigger. Then I disassemble the gun for final cleaning. NO need to use an extra cup.

Vic

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Same here. I also mix in the cup to eliminate another clean up but I measure with rubberless syringes so they have to be cleaned.

All very good advice posted here. I had been meaning to get one of those squirt bottles anyway. I can see how that would help with the DeKups especially. Right now I probably go through 6-8oz of solvent with each cleaning. I could probably cut that in half using the DeKups. Lately I have been using acetone for cleaning since it is much cheaper than reducer and seems to work quite well.

I would still like to have ratio markings on the measuring insert. Maybe I will print my own on some card stock. Just makes life a little easier. I don't think the Dekups setup will save me any real $, but being able to spray at any angle is well worth the cost.

For anyone interested in trying out the system like me, I found the demo kit for $23.35. That includes everything you need (including the gun adapter) and 6 lids/liners.

https://www.jbtoolsales.com/devilbiss-dpc654-dekups-demo-kit/

**Note: I am not affiliated with this company in any way, just a very satisfied repeat customer. They have the best price I have found for paint guns and most (not all) supplies. So far they have shipped fast.

Yes, the squeeze bottles in the pictures above is what I use. I couldn't think of what to call them.

Vic

I just received my demo kit. I bought mine from CPO $20.99 plus shipping. This was the best deal I could find.

http://www.cpooutlets.com/devilbiss-dpc654-dekups-demo-kit/devndpc654,default,pd.html?ref=pla&zmam=31282435&zmas=47&zmac=722&zmap=devndpc654&gclid=CjwKEAjwltC9BRDRvMfD2N66nlISJACq85916lkXECoSX7qIn3HwJjFDflL-V-4mcLNKEkSSgI8N0BoCn5rw_wcB

Unfortunately the adapter that came with the demo kit doesn't fit my newly purchased Astro Eurohv107 gun. I had to call Devilbiss to figure out the correct adapter. We'll see how it fits when I get it.

My plan is to use the Dekups with the Jetflex WR that I'm planning to use for my interior.

I use the 3M PPS system, same deal as the Dkups, they are pretty cheap on eBay and the measuring insert has all the ratios printed on them. Love the stuff! Don't think you can go wrong with either system.

I used Dkups for the bottom of the fuselage - worked great upside down. Wish I would have read this thread on clean up before I used them.

Devilbiss Dkups

Hi gang, just wanted to give a heads up on the 3M disposable cups.

Don't buy them, I had nothing but trouble with the ones I bought.

I painted my plane a piece at a time with two main colours and two different coloured stripes. As a result I was mixing small amounts of paint which did not work well in the large sized metal paint cup. I wanted a smaller cup to cut down on the waste and my DuPont dealer suggested the small sized disposable 3M cups. The first five or six worked great and I thought I had found the answer. Then they started to leak, at first it was every third or fourth one. It deteriated from there until just about everyone leaked. I tried everything I could think of to solve the problem but could not. Two weeks ago I had one leak all over the part I was painting and the garage floor until I could get it contained. I took the remaining cups back to the dealer and told him to get me a small metal cup that I asked for in the first place.

The one up side was that they worked well to paint the bottom of my fuselage up side down. I mixed and filled two of the cups in preparation to paint the bottom. I used the first one and reloaded, guess what the second one leaked.

Terry

I love my DKup system and find it makes cleaning the gun a snap. When done painting, I invert the gun setting the DKup upside down on the bench, then pull and hold the trigger draining most of the paint in the gun back into the DKup, then twist the gun off and clean the gun. I prefer to mix the paint in marked paint mixing containers instead of the DKup.

Terry, make certain that if you take the gun apart to clean it that you really torque the nozzle back in very tightly. If not, it will pressurize the cup and it will leak. You can notice this by pulling the trigger on the gun and you will see tiny bubbles in the paint cup, just like blowing through a straw into a drink.

Vic

9GT said:

I love my DKup system and find it makes cleaning the gun a snap. When done painting, I invert the gun setting the DKup upside down on the bench, then pull and hold the trigger draining most of the paint in the gun back into the DKup, then twist the gun off and clean the gun. I prefer to mix the paint in marked paint mixing containers instead of the DKup.

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that's what I did. worked great.