Hydrolock risk is real. Short ram is safer for daily driving.

Is this really saving 2 hours or just 20 minutes the first time?

That Graco you got probably isn't the "budget" unit people think it is. Most of those consumer-level airless sprayers actually use a simple turbine pump, not the pro-grade hydraulic pumps the YouTube guys are running. The real kicker is you gotta thin the paint A LOT more than the manual says - I learned that the hard way on a fence job. If you're spraying anything thicker than a light varnish, those $300 units just can't push the material through without sputtering and leaving drips. Try cutting your paint with Floetrol or even just a bit of water and see if it smooths out.

That "cold spots on the X-ray" thing gets me. It's like when you skip letting a pan heat up before you cook, and your food just sticks to the cold metal. The old way seems like a hassle until you see exactly why it works.

My friend got a jacket with those strips and people kept asking if he was on the clock.