*Portable Spray Booth*

[Zippi]

Nice looking Brian.  Now I'm taking a look at the corner of the garage next to my computer desk.  I could move the cabinet and tool boxes.  I have 32" from the desk to the wall and I could run the vent up the corner of the wall threw the ceiling.  I need to think about this.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Zippi

[Bainford]

I'm not sure I can subscribe to the wisdom of a paint booth design that pulls all of the air born dust in the room past the model while painting it. It may be effective for fume control, but would seem to exacerbate dust issues. The model is on the wrong side of the filter. The logic is flawed. Has anyone experienced this problem?

[Matt Bacon]

29 minutes ago, Bainford said:

I'm not sure I can subscribe to the wisdom of a paint booth design that pulls all of the air born dust in the room past the model while painting it. It may be effective for fume control, but would seem to exacerbate dust issues. The model is on the wrong side of the filter. The logic is flawed. Has anyone experienced this problem?

I think pretty much every paint booth I’ve ever seen has that “problem”, including mine. It’s never caused me issues. I have a big plastic box upside down on a nearby table that the model goes under immediately it’s painted…

best,

M.

[John1955]

In the early 1990's, I built a spray booth in my basement. Where I worked then (before retiring recently), sheets of material arrived supported by 2 X 4's and plywood. That lumber was usually thrown away, so they let me take some home and I built a large spray booth. Ignoring the high priced vents we're told to use, I bought a cheap $15 vent/fan that exhausts the paint fumes and mist to the outside. I placed an old metal kitchen cabinet a few feet away.

I gently use a tack cloth on the model body (to remove any dust), then spray, wait a few minutes, then move it to the cabinet and gently close the cabinet door. Then I can spray more models. A standard 4 foot long two tube  fluorescent light fixture is taped on the top (duct tape). Over 25 years later and it still does the job. 
 

[stinkybritches]

2 hours ago, Bainford said:

I'm not sure I can subscribe to the wisdom of a paint booth design that pulls all of the air born dust in the room past the model while painting it. It may be effective for fume control, but would seem to exacerbate dust issues. The model is on the wrong side of the filter. The logic is flawed. Has anyone experienced this problem?

Two things help with this. 1) If at all possible, have the booth set up in a place that isn't very dusty. 2) Turn the booth on and let it run for a little while before painting. Hopefully any dust that is floating around gets sucked into the booth filter. 

This is how I do it since I bought my booth that is similar to the one from Micro Mark. I haven't had a dust issue, but my painting skills are so bad that dust would be the least of my problems.

[John1955]

1 minute ago, stinkybritches said:

Two things help with this. 1) If at all possible, have the booth set up in a place that isn't very dusty. 2) Turn the booth on and let it run for a little while before painting. Hopefully any dust that is floating around gets sucked into the booth filter. 

This is how I do it since I bought my booth that is similar to the one from Micro Mark. I haven't had a dust issue, but my painting skills are so bad that dust would be the least of my problems.

Yes, I agree, turn the fan on and let it run a few minutes before you start painting. 

[Zippi]

Thanks for all the ideas fellows.  

[Straightliner59]

On 4/29/2021 at 8:24 AM, Zippi said:

Thanks for the reply's fellows.  I saw this one and was thinking about "You get what you pay for" but they are all just plastic with a metal box, fan, and cheap LED lights.  Correct me if I wrong guys.  

https://www.wish.com/product/5f0ffb5df186e3467498733c?hide_login_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=US&_force_currency_code=USD&pid=googleadwords_int&c={campaignId}&ad_cid=5f0ffb5df186e3467498733c&ad_cc=US&ad_lang=EN&ad_curr=USD&ad_price=58.46&campaign_id=7203534630&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsqmEBhDiARIsANV8H3af8rl2hRDotmxP5ZeGakeMM_EAp7kOxyXC1biSp9020wlI5K6XBbgaAu-0EALw_wcB&share=web

That's pretty much the same unit I have. It's probably the same manufacturer as all of them, of that design,  no matter the seller. I have it ducted out the shop window. Since I rent, the installation is "temporary", although it's been installed, as it is for about four years, now. I say it's temporary ,  because I can put it all back to normal in about five minutes.

[Straightliner59]

On 4/29/2021 at 8:33 AM, youpey said:

I am not speaking from direct experience but only what i have researched. these booths, which are also available on Amazon, do not have a sealed motor. If i remember correctly, they have a brushed motor, which can and does spark. 

From what i have read, the sparks can cause the paint to ignite if its flammable paint. 

 

Again I have not direct experience  just previously seen research 

My experience has been that it works fine. I spray Krylon through mine, all the time! I have shot Testors and Tamiya lacquers through it, as well.

[peteski]

Most (if not all) household air-moving fans use AC induction (brushless) motors.  I suspect those are also the motors  used in those paint booths.  Motors with brushes are usually used in AC-powered power tools (drills, saws, routers, etc.)

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

9 hours ago, Zippi said:

Nice RRR.  Looks like the higher end cardboard box ☺  I like it.  Where are all the lids to your rattle cans dude?

When I open a can, I throw the lid away. Is that a bad thing to do? I've always done that, they just get in the way. -RRR

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

7 hours ago, Bainford said:

I'm not sure I can subscribe to the wisdom of a paint booth design that pulls all of the air born dust in the room past the model while painting it. It may be effective for fume control, but would seem to exacerbate dust issues. The model is on the wrong side of the filter. The logic is flawed. Has anyone experienced this problem?

yes, I get tons of dust in my paint jobs with my setup.... -RRR

[Straightliner59]

On 4/29/2021 at 10:06 AM, ewetwo said:

I have one. It's ok. It does take the paint mist out. But of course you're always going to get that spay paint smell as the model dies. I've never use acrylics so I don't know if they smell. And the filters are kind of difficult to find. I do soak the filters in purple power so I can reuse them. 

I just cut up cheap furnace filters. If I am spraying pretty heavily, I might need to replace them weekly. It works fine, and sounds like it would be a lot less messy than trying to clean them. I might mess with that, if I was buying commercial spray booth electrostatic filters, because those ain't cheap!

[Straightliner59]

On 4/29/2021 at 12:07 PM, David G. said:

It looks like the same one offered by Micro Mark but be careful. Wish.com had a spotty reputation at best and outright fraudulent at worst.

I recommend researching them before buying anything from them.

David G. 

You can find the same  ones on Ebay. That's where I got mine.

[Dave G.]

Speaking of household fans that Pete mentioned, I've done that too ( not saying Pete has but I have). They make a double fan accordion setup for instance, you just open the window install that and close the window on it. It has to face out, then you spray right in front of it. Bigger diameter single fans probably do better but you really should put up temp baffles on each side for it to be most effective. If you paint near the fan it will get everything out of the room pretty quickly. Just sayin, I've done it and it works. Granted it's not a permanent booth but one can make due nicely this  way. I did this when first married and renting many many moons ago now shooting enamels for cars and Floquil for railroad equipment.

And really that's all any old time paint room ever had in 1/1. Don Yost still does this in his basement paint room painting his award winning finishes almost always in enamel,uses an extraction fan. We simply back in the day called them exhaust fans around these parts. The key is to baffle or shroud it in a housing of sorts even if makeshift.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Dave G.

[ewetwo]

8 hours ago, Straightliner59 said:

I just cut up cheap furnace filters. If I am spraying pretty heavily, I might need to replace them weekly. It works fine, and sounds like it would be a lot less messy than trying to clean them. I might mess with that, if I was buying commercial spray booth electrostatic filters, because those ain't cheap!

I just fold the filter in half. Paint side out. And put them in a gallon size baggie. Pour the cleaner in. Seal it and let it soak for a few days. Take the filter out and rinse it. press it so the water comes out and let it dry. And yesterday. I was vacuuming the room and the used filter was laying there. I vacuumed the filter and a lot of the paint sucked off. 

[Kromolly]

I built my own down draft spray booth using a Jenn-Air range exhaust fan that I removed when I remodeled my kitchen.  It's very quiet and powerful.  I can rattle can or air brush enamels 8 feet away from my wife in our hobby room and she doesn't smell the paint.  Therefore I'm always able to spray at room temperature.  But as has been pointed out in prior posts, these things are nothing more than an exhaust fan, so they are always going to pull air out of the room and along with that, dust and hair.  Running the fan for a while first, a quick spray, and then covering with a plastic tub seems to do a lot to mitigate dust, but I still get it sometimes.  Sand and re-shoot, it's a pain but I think it's inevitable that it's going to happen sometimes.

[yh70]

i got this spray booth off ebay 3-4 years ago for $70 (they like $83 with free shipping now) i am very happy with it . it vents out my window. some of yall say dont buy its gonna blow up cause the motor is not sealed. well im still alive and as u can see in the first picture its inside and vented outside. i love it . just keep the filter clean and once in a while u will have to replace it..good part about this booth if its not wide enough for u buy two and they will snap together. another good thing they fold up and u can carry them on that road trip with u..  

[Dave G.]

1 hour ago, yh70 said:

i got this spray booth off ebay 3-4 years ago for $70 (they like $83 with free shipping now) i am very happy with it . it vents out my window. some of yall say dont buy its gonna blow up cause the motor is not sealed. well im still alive and as u can see in the first picture its inside and vented outside. i love it . just keep the filter clean and once in a while u will have to replace it..good part about this booth if its not wide enough for u buy two and they will snap together. another good thing they fold up and u can carry them on that road trip with u..  

Will that booth evacuate enamel spray paints like Rustoleum 2x Ultra ? No sweat if it won't, just curious is all.

[ewetwo]

I've used the Rustoleum 2X with mine. But that paint takes a long time to air out so you will still smell the paint until it fully dries. I've left some in the booth for hours but once I turn it off. You can start to smell it. At least that is my experience. 

 

[Dave G.]

29 minutes ago, ewetwo said:

I've used the Rustoleum 2X with mine. But that paint takes a long time to air out so you will still smell the paint until it fully dries. I've left some in the booth for hours but once I turn it off. You can start to smell it. At least that is my experience. 

 

I've shot it too and pop it in the dehydrator for an hour or two and not much odor after that. Not around the house anyway,you can smell it some if you stick your nose near it.. I was just curious if that style booth could move the heavy enamel over spray out ok.

[yh70]

10 hours ago, Dave G. said:

Will that booth evacuate enamel spray paints like Rustoleum 2x Ultra ? No sweat if it won't, just curious is all.

i use it all the time

[Deuces ll]

Yep! I bought myself one of those a while back.. can't wait to try it out... 🙂

I keep a fire extinguisher close by just in case something happens... 🤨

[Dave G.]

2 hours ago, Deuces ll said:

Yep! I bought myself one of those a while back.. can't wait to try it out... 🙂

I keep a fire extinguisher close by just in case something happens... 🤨

 I doubt the motors in these have an open spark anyway. They may not be sealed but that shouldn't matter much if the filters are sufficient to keep the solids from plugging up the works.

[Zippi]

Maybe it's just me but I'm thinking if there was any problem with the motors catching the paint on fire or anything else I would have read something online about it with all the research I've done on these little spray booths.  Just like any other products, accendents can happen.  Guess that's why they call them accendents.