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Spray Booths


delticfan

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Apologies if this has been covered previously but I am interested in your opinions on spray booths. I am planning on using lacquers either MRP or Alclad or both, I will be using a mask but I want a spray booth to work indoors, (previously only out doors in the summer!!). I have seen the cheap booths on eBay approx £50 or a little more with led light but are they really up to the job. Others seem to be in the 200 to 300 pound region but do they really provide a massive improvement. It is my health and I want to take care of it but I don’t want to be put off lacquers, any advice welcomed.

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Just been looking at this myself. I need a recirculating one as it isn't possible to get an exhaust port out to the outdoors where I've got my spray shed. As a result I'm looking at spending close to £1000 (with spare filters included). I reckon that if the booth works for 5 years (with regular filter replacement - quarterly for particle filters and 6 monthly for carbon filter) it'll only cost £1 a day over that period. To me that's well worth the extra cost investment. I'll still wear my A2P3 half face respirator (a JLC Force 8 with twin replaceable filters). I'm going to go for the BenchVent BV200H which comes with a lifetime warranty. If you buy direct from them you can also get credit and pay monthly for the booth.

 

As your primary interest seems to be health, I'd say it's best to pay a bit more for something that will do the job.

 

If you've any further questions, please feel free to ask here in this thread or PM me anytime.

 

HTH

 

Kev

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If you are handy with wood tools or have a friend that is, why not build one yourself. eBay, oddly enough, has squirrel cage fans. These have external motors(or should have) which keep away from the potentially explosive fumes of lacquer/enamel paint. Having said that, when was the last/first time you heard about a hobby spray booth blowing up. I think the magic number for air exhaust is anything over 400cfm. You can also add lighting to suit your needs. Mine came from a papermill I used to work at and was used to dry pulp samples. The exhaust is so great that I could inflate the Hindenburg in about 45 seconds. I don't exhaust outside as I use acrylics. I've wired a spare pillow-case over the exhaust to catch paint over spray. (if the wife ever looks in...I did not wire a spare pillow-case over the exhaust to catch paint over spray) I still used a respirator though.

https://www.ebay.ca/b/Squirrel-Cage-Fan/53297/bn_55192917

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This isn't the correct forum for this question, you are more likely to get more replies if it's in something like the 'airbrushes' forum. @Mike or one of the other mods will be able to move it for you.

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I've moved this into "other tools" for you.  You'll doubtless get lots of differing opinions, but I have been using a DIY solution which involves a panel cooker hood upside down on my desk, round which I built a simple booth from furniture board, hung a daylight LED strip light in the top, and vented it to the exterior.  It sucks well, and despite what some scare-mongers will have you believe, you don't explode when you use it with lacquers or other flammable thinners.  It's designed to go over a hob, which can have gas whistling up the hole, so they'd be a bit silly not to protect their customers from exploding :shrug: I clean out the impeller every now-and-again, and off it goes.  10 years later and the bearings are a bit dry, but next time I dismantle it, I'll slap a bit of grease on :)  Cost me £30 for the hood and probably £20 for the wood and light fitting. :yes:

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1 hour ago, delticfan said:

Thanks for the advice I think a home made version is in order, damn cheaper too. 

Ee, our lad, spoken like a TRUE Yorkshireman......;)

 

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I have a homemade one myself. Industrial fan, some wood panels (I had some leftovers from when the furniture was made), overkill LED bulbs and it vents straight outside. I initially put a filter on, but it was just one more part to clean and since it's venting directly outside I think it was pretty much useless. I still use a mask but even at full blast I can't feel any smells anymore. And everybody else in the house is happy I'm not killing myself (or them) anymore lol

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1 minute ago, bmwh548 said:

You need to keep in mind that the airflow is dramatically reduced if you add an extraction tube with too many bends in it.

Very true.  Mine goes straight out the wall, which is nice ^_^

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And even if you go down the Graphic air extractor don't buy their rip off filters at £18 a piece, have a look online for spraybooth ectraction filter rolls.I purhased a 20meter roll which allows me to make 100 replacement filters which work out at .40p each

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Graphicair A300s-d all the way. Best piece of kit I ever bought, you'll wonder how you ever managed without one. All paints no smell at all, just a clean pleasant work environment. Would recommend it 100%. 

Agree with the comment above about the filters. I bought two rolls of material from eBay. A glass fibre one which fits at the front and a thicker white layer that goes behind. Traps all the nasties and stuff and as stated a fraction of the cost of genuine filters, which are very pricey..

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On 10/6/2018 at 4:15 PM, Mike said:

I've moved this into "other tools" for you.  You'll doubtless get lots of differing opinions, but I have been using a DIY solution which involves a panel cooker hood upside down on my desk, round which I built a simple booth from furniture board, hung a daylight LED strip light in the top, and vented it to the exterior.  It sucks well, and despite what some scare-mongers will have you believe, you don't explode when you use it with lacquers or other flammable thinners.  It's designed to go over a hob, which can have gas whistling up the hole, so they'd be a bit silly not to protect their customers from exploding :shrug: I clean out the impeller every now-and-again, and off it goes.  10 years later and the bearings are a bit dry, but next time I dismantle it, I'll slap a bit of grease on :)  Cost me £30 for the hood and probably £20 for the wood and light fitting. :yes:

Interestingly I swung for the £300 graphicair and have to concur with @Mike, a local pals's homemade one using a cooker hood works is nearly as good for what I do (spray mr Color/cellulose thinners). He's modded his cooker hood to use the same filter material as mine. That said its down to DIY skills and time but in retrospect I would done what Mike has instead of buying this brute: In its favour, these are used in industrial settings every day and are certified to ridiculously high standards for safety and extraction so you can be sure they work.

 

roomb1.jpg

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On 10/6/2018 at 9:02 AM, fubar57 said:

If you are handy with wood tools or have a friend that is, why not build one yourself. eBay, oddly enough, has squirrel cage fans. These have external motors(or should have) which keep away from the potentially explosive fumes of lacquer/enamel paint. Having said that, when was the last/first time you heard about a hobby spray booth blowing up. I think the magic number for air exhaust is anything over 400cfm. You can also add lighting to suit your needs. Mine came from a papermill I used to work at and was used to dry pulp samples. The exhaust is so great that I could inflate the Hindenburg in about 45 seconds. I don't exhaust outside as I use acrylics. I've wired a spare pillow-case over the exhaust to catch paint over spray. (if the wife ever looks in...I did not wire a spare pillow-case over the exhaust to catch paint over spray) I still used a respirator though.

https://www.ebay.ca/b/Squirrel-Cage-Fan/53297/bn_55192917

Interestingly enough been debating the same thing myself. Buy or build. l thought of using a bathroom extraction fan but the high end ones. They have great suction and the more expensive one run quieter . l am not adverse to doing it DIY but then again sometime l feel like  just buy one already done and get it over with. The Url for the fans is a good starting point at sorting it out. My thing is when making it would be how can l do it and make it compact enough so it will not eat up a lot of space when built

Hacker

Edited by hacker
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My booth measures 29"L x 20"H x 16"W with an opening of 19" x 16". This is plenty big enough for all of my 1:48 builds though my B-17, -24, -29 and AC-130 may be a bit of a challenge.  My bedroom is directly above my model room and the missus says she can't hear a thing when I run my booth and air compressor

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/10/2018 at 12:43, hacker said:

l am not adverse to doing it DIY but then again sometime l feel like  just buy one already done and get it over with.

I dont think you'll beat a ready made unit. I bought a Graphicair A300sd many years ago and have never regretted the purchase...

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On 12/4/2018 at 5:37 PM, cocky05d said:

In another thread ,i posted about taking my spray booth apart ,this is the fan out of it ,is this powerful enough ,i plan to put it in the wall of my shed.PPmSsPk.jpg

Not sure if it will be up to the job, but by the looks of the impellor and surround the filters on the spray booth aren't catching much

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