In house spray booth

[Mr. Metallic]

Yes, I work for a carbon filter company, so I tried one myself. While it will remove most solvents, some fumes still get through (I found primers and black paint). The water does nothing at all but provide back pressure for the fan. I still use mine, but being in the garage, I just leave the door open, and in about 1.5 hours even the worst fumes are gone. I would still vent outside.

That's what I was afraid of while reading the article. So, in theory, using this setup, but running an exhuast from the bucket outside might be the ultimate setup? This way you aren't introducing solvents into the outside air, just fumes?

[mikelo]

That would be correct. To be very technical, in order to remove the solvents from the carbon, you need to put it in temperatures higher than the flash point of the chemicals you are trying to remove. There are several solvents that flash at room temperature, so in effect, if you leave the fan on when it is warm, it will slowly release some of the solvents back out, but at a small level.

[ScottVS]

Why not just cut a board that will fit your window put a vent in it and when your going to paint put it in the window blow the exhuast out and when your done just take it back out of the window and close it ..

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

Why not just cut a board that will fit your window put a vent in it and when your going to paint put it in the window blow the exhuast out and when your done just take it back out of the window and close it ..

That's how I vented my Pace paint booth.

[Olle F]

I live in a townhouse complex which has restrictions about mechanical vents or such through the outside walls.

I agree: It would be easy to cut a piece of plywood with an attached duct that you can put in the window only while you're using the booth. Open the window, put the plywood in there and pull down the window to hold it in place. Would anyone really be concerned if it's not a permanent vent? And if someone has an opinion, just paint in the middle of the night.

[drnitrus]

My setup is pretty much what everyone has mentioned. I went on ebay and bought a squirrel motor. I bought a plastic storage bin and mounted the motor on the back. I used flexible duct from the motor to a piece of cardboard that is cut to fit my window. I also use kitchen fan filters and attached a small lamp to give it some light. Not the best LOOKING, but is sure gets all the overspray and fumes out pretty quick.

[Moon Pie]

m408 (I would use your real name if it was posted ):

Here is a photo of my set-up:

And here is the layout for 2 booths cut from one 4x8 sheet of plywood:

I used an 80cfm bathroom fan for the down draft exhaust. The booth itself is made out of 1x2 pine furring strips and 1/4" underlayment plywood for use under vinyl flooring. The 1/4 ply helps keep the weight down. After I made the layout plans and built the booth, I added a cut-out at the top for an aquarium light. I covered the hole with thin Lexan.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me!

Russ

Your plans worked great! I bought the lumber and my buddy cut everything and assembled them. I have to hook up the light and vent fan this weekend on mine and it'll be ready to go! Thanks for posting the plans.

[mr moto]

This is really a great thread! I've been in need of a paint booth and considering the Pace "Peacekeeper" but when I found out that, on top of it's already high cost, the shipping alone is $135 - that was too much! Looks like I'll be building my own and after studying this thread, that's probably not such a bad thing. I realized that I already have an old but perfectly good bathroom exhaust fan and an old aquarium light. Besides, the Pace booth is updraft.

[mr moto]

Well, I did it. Built my own spray booth. The fan was in our bathroom until about two years ago so that was free. I used an old aquarium light that I already had. It's built on top of a cabinet from Home Depot (about $75). The plywood is scrap that I had on hand. Electrical bits and pieces plus the filter, hose and vent add up to about $45. Here it is!

[ronr]

Here is some plans I picked up off the net somewhere.

[CAL]

Here is mine, I just completed.

[mr moto]

Wow, CAL! That is one professional looking rig!

BTW, they want everybody to put their real name in the signature line on this board. There's not many other rules! Welcome aboard.

[CAL]

Hey, thanks.

It's not that hard to build; just a little thought going in to it.

If people are interested I will layout the basic plans.

[Shawn Tillotson]

This is really a great thread! I've been in need of a paint booth and considering the Pace "Peacekeeper" but when I found out that, on top of it's already high cost, the shipping alone is $135 - that was too much! Looks like I'll be building my own and after studying this thread, that's probably not such a bad thing. I realized that I already have an old but perfectly good bathroom exhaust fan and an old aquarium light. Besides, the Pace booth is updraft.

What fan did you use? Is it a bathroom fan? I still am having a little trouble trusting a bathroom fan even though they state the motors are sealed. Would the caustic fumes eat away at the widing covers? I need to vent mine about 12ft to a window so I can just leave my hotrods in without having to pull them all out of the garage. They are all protected with car covers so all I care about is the particulates and not the fumes. I am about ready to give up on venting my paint booth and just by one with a fan and toss mine in the can. I have looked at the Paasche booth on the 'bay and think thats the way I will go since Pace will not return my emails.

[mikemodeler]

What fan did you use? Is it a bathroom fan? I still am having a little trouble trusting a bathroom fan even though they state the motors are sealed. Would the caustic fumes eat away at the widing covers? I need to vent mine about 12ft to a window so I can just leave my hotrods in without having to pull them all out of the garage. They are all protected with car covers so all I care about is the particulates and not the fumes. I am about ready to give up on venting my paint booth and just by one with a fan and toss mine in the can. I have looked at the Paasche booth on the 'bay and think thats the way I will go since Pace will not return my emails.

While I haven't built mine yet, there was an article awhile back in Scale Auto or Fine Scale Modeler (can't remember which) that showed how to build a booth using a sealed Dayton blower motor from WW Grainger. IIRC the motor went for about $80 but it is designed for this type of application and I think is listed as "explosion proof", which would make it better than a bathroom fan or computer fan.

The beauty of building your own booth is that you can decide what size to make it and add features possibly not found on the ones commercially available.

My holiday project is to finally build my booth and the plans on this thread are most helpful!

HTH,

Mike

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

I have looked at the Paasche booth on the 'bay and think thats the way I will go since Pace will not return my emails.

The best way to contact Pace Paint Booths is by phone. The number is listed on the website, 877.872.4780.

Pace is better in the long run since you can use ordinary household filters that can be purchased at any hardware store. Try getting filters for your Paasche booth locally.

[mr moto]

What fan did you use? Is it a bathroom fan? I still am having a little trouble trusting a bathroom fan even though they state the motors are sealed. Would the caustic fumes eat away at the widing covers? I need to vent mine about 12ft to a window so I can just leave my hotrods in without having to pull them all out of the garage. They are all protected with car covers so all I care about is the particulates and not the fumes. I am about ready to give up on venting my paint booth and just by one with a fan and toss mine in the can. I have looked at the Paasche booth on the 'bay and think thats the way I will go since Pace will not return my emails.

Shawn, I did use a regular old Nutone bathroom fan. In fact it had been installed in our bathroom until a minor remodeling a couple of years ago. So I can't say for sure that it's the best choice but it was free and it's working great so far!

[Bluzboy66]

You really do have to vent outside. Get a laundry vent kit and mount it on a board that fits in a window and just put it in the window while painting.

Excellent idea. The laundry vent can be mounted to a piece of thin plywood (sized to fit in a partially opened window) and combined with a flexible vent hose. The whole unit will collapse down small enough to stash in a hall closet for when the neighborhood homeowner's nazi.....uh, I mean 'association' shows up to check things out. Your portable booth will have to have some sort of filtration built in so that only the fumes are vented to the outside through your window mounted vent.

Me?......I've dealt with the make-shift units long enough. I think I'm going to order one of the Pace Enterprises units. Their booths look very well-built and efficient. The 'Peace Keeper Deluxe' looks like one mean motorscooter!

Mike

Edited February 6, 2008 by Bluzboy66

[Clay]

Well, I did it. Built my own spray booth. The fan was in our bathroom until about two years ago so that was free. I used an old aquarium light that I already had. It's built on top of a cabinet from Home Depot (about $75). The plywood is scrap that I had on hand. Electrical bits and pieces plus the filter, hose and vent add up to about $45. Here it is!

Would you mind posting the measurements of your booth? I am getting many different ideas from people but I really like yours.