Spray Cans With Pace Spray Booth?

[Tom Geiger]

I read through the couple of threads on Pace spray booths and it seems everyone was using them for airbrushing.  I use spray cans, and mainly auto sprays like Duplicolor.

My birthday is coming up and I’ve put off buying a spray booth a long time. I’m thinking of their better of the two 24” booths, the one with the built in lights. The base of the two models is different. The cheaper one has more of a full side to it, while the more expensive one has an open side.  I’m looking for advise from anyone who uses one of either model.

Currently  I’m using a booth I built in a plastic tub that’s served me well for over 20 years. It has its own set of issues so I’d love to replace it.

Thanks!

 

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Tom, I cannot imagine there being any issues with spray cans. 

[stitchdup]

I use spray cans in my booth regularly. No issues other than sometimes forgetting to put the hose out the window

[Glen Powers]

Tom I believe the only issue would be a shorter filter life.

Glen

 

[R. Thorne]

I got the one without lighting and added my own.  Use mostly Tamiya spray cans and have no problems.  Quality piece of merchandise.  You won’t regret it.

[espo]

I tend to agree with everyone else on the use of a Spray Booth. In many ways it is a necessity to cut down on overspray and odors. I suggest focusing on the exhaust or pulling power of any  unit. Filters, and how hard they are to change and their makeup as far as filtration is concerned.  Lighting is another part of a booth to consider. You may already have a lamp of some sort that would provide the light you will want. There are many different free standing lights that you can put together or maybe the booth with the built in lighting may work better for you. Back to your basic question about spray cans & airbrushes,  it really makes no difference which you're using. The main thing is to contain the overspray that is going to happen and get the fumes out of your living area. I will tell you this, it's a far cry from the old cardboard box I used to use with no exhaust.     

[Curt]

Tom, I've been using my Pace booth for years and I am very happy with it.  I have the smaller one and it uses readily available 12 x 24" furnace filters.  It draws the air real well and I have a well-lit work area so have never felt the need to add additional lighting.  I do use spray cans when possible because I'm lazy and hate cleaning my airbrush, and have never had an issue.  PM me if you need further details.

[Tom Geiger]

Thanks guys! Based on your advice I just ordered the Mini Plus, the cheaper of the two units without the light. I wasn’t really sure of the box design on the better Super Mini, see it below with the open sides.. I could see myself spraying out the side of it.  
This is the cheaper Mini Plus, I like it has sides and I can reuse the two lights I have on my current home made unit for the $117 price difference.

[Spruslayer]

6 hours ago, Glen Powers said:

Tom I believe the only issue would be a shorter filter life.

Glen

 

I have the 24" super mini and the smells and fumes area thing of the past.I do line the paint area with wax paper held by magnets to help keep things clean.Short filter life is what im experiencing when i use spray cans but otherwise this peforms perfect.

 

[Skip]

Tom, like everyone else has said the filters will not last as long.  I have a Paasche booth, pretty similar to the Pace booths, I spray a mix of airbrush and canned paints depending on the part or desired finish.  

Not entirely sure about the Pace booths filter system but the Paasche booth has a three stage filter, one coarse pad, followed by two finer filter pads the coarse pad always loads up first with fine dusty paint pigment particles which are completely dry and easily shake loose.  So I take the filter outside and lightly beat it like a rug until it isn’t giving off a dust cloud, then I take it to the shop vacuum (outside) and clean it up, then reinstall the filter stack and paint on!   I’d do this level of cleaning about every 5 or 6 spray can paint jobs without  a prefilter.

The other “Clean” thing I do is line the entire inside of the booth with either heavy Kraft or Freezer Paper, which I dry wipe before and after I paint with a poof can or airbrush.  This and keeping clean filters will cut down on contamination in your paint.  I think it’s more important to do so with spray can painting because you generate more dust (pigment) particles.

Prefiltration - My good buddy David Monnig at Coast Airbrush turned me on to this trick, get a cheap furnace filter slightly larger than your filter intake opening, (the cardboard framed kind).  Next use duct tape to tape it over the spray booths intake, you now have a very cheap readily available, easy to change prefilter that when it gets clogged you just toss, the inner filters will be almost clean at that point.

When  I bought my spray booth, over fifteen years ago the prices on the Pace and the Paasche spray booths were pretty similar, I haven’t checked prices since then.  Besides price if that’s an important factor, you also want to look at the CFM or volume of air that the booth will suck/push out of the area you are painting.  Especially with various spray paint types because the air pulled out of the work area is what is also going to pull the odor out of the work area.   I think spray paint no matter if it’s acrylic, lacquer, enamel, acrylic lacquer or... stinks worse than if the same paint were sprayed through an airbrush or paint gun, not sure why but to me it does.  So pulling the odor out quickly is a big plus to me, no complaints from my wife because “that paint stinks”!  Which I used to get that complaint with my old homemade setup, not no more!

Once you begin working with a well designed sheet metal housed spray booth, you’ll wonder why you even fooled around making a plastic tote based booth, especially when you’re painting in the winter when static electricity is at its worst.  I used one that I made with plastic totes, I had static electricity problems all the time with it, air moving across plastic generates static electricity.  So if you’re looking at a spray booth with plastic parts, static electricity is a given.  Even with a sheet metal housing, I’ve run a ground wire from the booth to the electrical ground at the outlet, you could even run a ground wire to the floor for added insurance, I’ve had zero static issues since doing this with my (Paasche ) booth.  (I never had them with this metal booth It was an installation recommendation.)

Safety - A spray booth is not an excuse not to wear a good filtration mask.  A guy I worked with in the “Model Shop” (Prototype Shop) at Boeing Aircraft, who was (and still is I hope) a modeler who turned out some amazing paint work and contest quality model cars.  Long story short he was using a paint booth in his shop without a mask.  Without using a filtration mask, over time with the same common spray type paints almost all of us use screwed up his lungs to the point he could no longer be around painting at work, probably at home too.  

Sorry  for the long answer, I wish someone would have told me some of this stuff before I began searching for a good spray booth while I was looking.  Hope some of it helps.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Skip
Correct what Autocorrect Overcorrected!

[Misha]

That’s great advice Skip, thanks for posting it. I would add two other hints, I usually run my hood for 15-20 minutes before spraying to clean out the room, followed by 20 minutes at the end of the job to eliminate all the odour. Before spraying I mist the booth with water to settle any tiny particles floating around.
Tom congrats on choosing the Pace booth, I got mine earlier this year and it’s a great shop addition. Enjoy! 
Cheers Misha 

 

[Tom Geiger]

Thank you Misha and Skip for your time and information. I did christen the Pace last weekend. Pretty much just sprayed small parts. I’ve already noticed the absence of odor, much better than my old plastic tub booth!  
 

The filter is just a simple 24x12x1 furnace filter and you can already see it will get dirty! I’m figuring I’ll have to change it between each project. I did line my booth. I extended my reach forward with a piece of poster board as a base that extends further than the sheet metal. The sides are brown paper this round. 
 

As Misha mentioned, about running the booth pre and after use, I pretty much run it my entire build session like a lab fume hood just to pull glue and paint smells out of the room. The wife factor!