We are having trouble getting the spray gun to pull the paint through. It will spray air but does not spray paint.

I've found over the years the least amount of times you can tear a spray gun completely apart the better. Usually a real good 'flushing' with lacquer thinner will suffice. I will take the air cap off and let it soak in thinner to dislodge any build up but other than that, I simply run thinner thru till it runs clear out the tip.

I also 'back flush' which involves having thinner in the cup and the air supply hose attached. the air pressure should be adjusted quite a bit lower than what you use for spraying paint.

Then you place a clean shop towel or rag over the air cap of the gun and pull the trigger. This forces air back into the paint cup 'back flushing' the gun. Then take the rag away from the cap and pull the trigger again to run thinner thru the gun the normal way.

IF you still want to tear the gun apart for cleaning you can hopefully get some idea with this video link;

Quick Easy Way to Clean HVLP Spray Gun

Hope this helps.

Most guns have a paint strainer inside (filter) if this is not cleaned regulary it will let through thinners but not paint

That depends on what type of paint you are using, surface to be painted, and air pressure for the gun.
Some type of paint needs different air pressure.
This is something you will learn by practicing. Try mixing a little of paint with some thinner
and spray using different distances from the surface to be painted.
If paint is not getting well distributed on the surface then try adding some more thinner.

I have the same gun, and had the same problem. Turns out the solution is the plastic airline between the gun and the paint cup (or in my case, the small hole in the upper fitting that this hose connects to). In this sprayer, because it isn't gravity feed, there is pressurized air fed from the gun into the paint cup. That pushes the paint from the cup into the gun. In other higher pressure systems that use a paint cup, the venturi pull of the air is sufficient to get the paint up the feed tube from the bottom of the cup and into the gun, but this gun specs a max air pressure of 10 PSI. In my case, I got a small amount of paint into the drip tube above the cup, and when it dried I had a clog there. To verify, pull the plastic hose from the top of your gun and also remove the paint cup. If you can't blow air through that tube, you won't be able to get any paint to the gun.

Depends on what you want to do with a spray gun realy.
Gravity is good for easy flowing paints which can be used on things which dont require the gun angle to change much.

SOLVENT BASED PAINTS:
Thin your paint to a bit thicker than milk, fully open the fluid needle travel and without air pull the trigger and see if the paint kind of falls gracefully out of the front, if it just dribbles and rund all over the gun, its either TOO THICK or the fluid tip IS TOO SMALL.

If that works OK try introducing some air gradually and spraying test patterns, even atomisation, (regular paint particles) and a pattern of about 1.5 inches by 6 - 9 inches with every thing set to full on should look like a cigar, if its all one ended your air cap hasa blocked hole, no paint in the middle too much air.

Good luck

You need a re-build kit for your gun.

The needle that pulls back when you squeeze the trigger is no longer making a seal when you release the trigger.
The problem is worse when you spray thin oil-based paints.

Depending on the gun, Sherwin Williams has kits for the Graco gun. That's where we bought ours for years up until I retired from painting.
Home Depot and Lowes may have parts.

It looks like you have a Devilbiss SRI.

Probaby the hole in the lid is blocked, The gun sprays, paint gets sucked out, no air can get back in through the little hole in the lid to replace so it stops spraying, pressures even up it sprays abit more, and so on.

Either that or you have a damaged fluid tip.


regards

there are several issues that can cause this problem.
I will assume you have used the sprayer before so that will eliminate an incorrect air cap. The only other issues are paint viscosity, worn parts and the number one cause improper cleaning.
Be prepared for a complete disassemble of your gun. Depending on what you spray any residue can become hard as cement and it only takes a small amount to cause problems.
Below is a link to the manual that gives an exploded view of your gun.
Hope this helps but if not please let me know and I will trouble shoot further.

http://www.cpocampbellhausfeld.com/static/manual/www.cpocampbellhausfeld.com-dh5300.pdf

how can i get the gun to spray it is just dribbling out

Hey paul its paul. I posted on here so hopefully you will give me some feedback. That is a very nice gun. One of my favorite. I'm guessing you know how to use a HVLP gun but if not here are a few tips. Make sure it is clean. Very clean. Your gun probably came with a manual, you should read it. It will help you greatly. First off, you want to have a regulator, about 40 psi is what i start with. You need a space you can practice some painting before laying down a new coat on the corvette. Haha. So next you will have a pressure adjustment knob, you want to start with this all the way closed and with the trigger pulled, just half way so just air is coming out adjust the air until it sounds even. Next you can try to spray. If it seems like the Fan, like the width is not enough you can adjust the fan, another knob, closer to the back of the gun, you ussually want about 5-6 inches of fan, if you are spraying at the normal 6-8 inches back from the piece. Last adjustment is the fluid adjustment, you want to put on a decent amount of paint, clear or primer, and not cause runs. This is going to take some practice because everyone moves at a different speed.

So you are going to have to play with your gun and figure out which knob does what. After that these instructions should get you a bit further, with some practice you will be laying down a nice paint job in no time.

Paul.