Tilswall Alien 500 paint sprayer review

REVIEW – I hate painting. Rollers, brushes, it doesn’t matter. Yet, my 50-year-old home badly needs some touch-ups that can’t wait any longer. When I saw this lightweight electric paint sprayer, I thought it would help motivate me to finish some household projects that I’ve been delaying for far too long.

What is it?

The Tilswall Alien 500 is a lightweight paint sprayer that has three spray modes, 4 nozzle options, and holds about 700 ml (3 cups) of paint, stain, primer or sealer at one time.

What’s in the box?

• Pain sprayer (you will need to attach suction tub and paint container)
• Three nozzles
• Instruction manual
• Filter paper (5 sheets)
• Cleaning brush and needle
• Runout cup

Hardware specs

• Item weight: 1.54 pounds
• Product dimensions: 4.1″w x 10.63″ h
• Color options: Blue or orange
• Rated voltage: 110-120V-60 Hz
• Rated power input: 500W
• Maximum viscosity: 100 DIN-S
• Nozzle size: 1mm; 1.5mm; 2 mm
• ASIN: BODCVW883M
• Country of origin: China

Design and features

Assembly

To assemble the paint sprayer, you first need to insert the suction tube in the paint cup.

Then insert the gun body into the main body. You can see where it fits together.

You rotate it 90 degrees to secure it in place.

There’s a spinning knob that lets you control the flow.

You also have three spray mode options: horizontal, vertical or round. You adjust this by turning the nozzle head.

You also have 1.2 mm, 1.5 m (2) and 2 mm nozzles to chose from.

Set up

I was a bit intimidated by all the warnings about properly thinning your coating material, runout times, and flashpoints. However, it wasn’t as scary as I first thought.

This paint sprayer is suitable for water and solvent-based paints, finishes, primers, 2-component paints, clear finishes, automotive finishes, staining sealers and wood sealer preservatives.  (I tested it with water-based acrylic paint.) It’s not suitable for alkali and acidic paints.

They provide a test cup where you can find the runout time in seconds.

They also provide a thinning chart to guide you.

I didn’t need to thin my paint.

You also need to filter the paint, so there’s no little pieces to gum up the nozzle. This requires some patience, but it’s not hard. The sprayer comes with five filters, and you can buy more on their website ($29.99 for 100; $59.99 for 250).

Then you just screw in the container, plug in the sprayer and pull the trigger. It’s easy!

Performance

It took me a while to find the nozzle and position that I liked the best and that felt comfortable for me, but I appreciated how easy it was to change them. In fact, I would often switch the spray mode while painting, using a tighter spray for edges and a wider spray to cover more surface area, easily turning the nozzle as I went.

It didn’t get hot or heavy or awkward. I did spray the cord once, but that’s my own fault! I also needed an extension cord for some hard-to-reach spots.

I did finish a garage wall that’s been needing a new coat for months. It’s shown here before drying or doing any touch-ups. I certainly missed a few spots and left a few streaks, but I enjoyed the process much more than traditional painting. Once I get my technique down, I’d image it’s faster than traditional painting.

It was also very easy to clean up.

For projects with a lot of surface area, like this, people might prefer a more heavy-duty sprayer with a wider nozzel and thicker layer of paint. However, our “big sprayer” causes a lot of overspray, while this one doesn’t, plus it’snmuch easier to manage, set up, control and use. So I call it a win. This paint sprayer would be ideal for smaller projects.

What I like about the Tilswall paint sprayer

• Easy to use
• Easy to clean

What needs to be improved?

• A longer cord or cordless option would be helpful but not required (I needed an extension cord for certain spots)

Final thoughts

This is a lightweight, easy-to-use paint sprayer, which also serves as a great motivator for overdue house projects.

Price: $59.99 (Amazon); $49.99 (Tilswell website)
Where to buy: Amazon or Tilswell website
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Tilswell. Tilswell did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.