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Thread: Anyone use their dust collection for a table top paint booth???

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
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    Albuquerque NM
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    500

    Anyone use their dust collection for a table top paint booth???

    I am building a 36"x36"x36" table top paint booth and will have two furnace filters in front of a box fan in the back of the booth to capture all the particulates, but would like to evacuate the fumes out of the shop using the DC system behind the box fan. Any thought???
    Do or do not, there is no try.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Pleasanton, CA
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    142
    Whatever gets through the furnace filter will end up coating the guts of your DC. If you're spraying flammable, high VOC stuff then it could go boom. I think I'd stick with a box fan out the window?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Beantown
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    2,831
    What Evan said….filters or not you'll get finish build-up in the guts of your collector. If you don't believe me feel free to come and take a look inside the fan and ducting on my spray booth

    Another thing to keep in mind is dust collectors move air differently than spray booth fans. I don't believe your going to get the same air movement that you would from a spray booth fan….or even a window fan for that matter.

    good luck,
    JeffD

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Albuquerque NM
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    500
    All good points. I have an over hood with a big fan in it behind the shop. That might be a better way to go. I could mount it on the bottom for down draft, and have it exit through the wall as it already has a 4" exit hose nipple.
    Do or do not, there is no try.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    SF Bay Area, CA
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    15,332
    Keep your DC and your paint booth isolated from each other. They simply do not mix...very dangerous as the requirements (and regulations) are vastly different when dealing with the potentially dangerous fumes from a paint booth. Dig into the literature a bit for paint booths and you'll see what I mean.
    Wood: a fickle medium....

    Did you know SMC is user supported? Please help.

  6. #6
    I thought of doing that too but when I found out how much of the particulates pass through the filters, I changed course. I ended up running some flex duct to the basement window. I ran 6" because I was connecting it to a ceiling tile register that I had on hand. (This is for an enclosed tent I built in the basement.) It clears out the fumes but it takes a while.

    One time, about 10 minutes after spraying, I decided to take a picture of my work, while still inside the tent. I was shocked when I saw the picture. The flash lit up all the particles still in the air and it looked like a dense fog. And all that would be falling on my work. I had succeeded in keeping the fumes from permeating the house but failed in evacuating the particulates from the spray tent. The 6" exhaust may have helped keep the fumes in the tent but it was woefully short of clearing the air. Warm weather is on the horizon so the next spray job will be outdoors.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Mnts.of Va.
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    615
    Two different "animals"....keep'm separate.And metal grinding dust is a third.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Nashville, TN
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    1,544
    Another vote for keeping them separate. The particulate will plug the DC filter and ruin it prematurely. Use disposable filters in the back of your booth, doubling them up helps too, and blow the air outside. It sounds like you have a small booth, but still be cautious with oil-base, volitiles, etc. On a larger scale, these usually require a spark resistant fan and XP motor if you are spraying volitiles (may require it regardless?).

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Bronx, NYC, NY
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    182
    I once (and only once!!!!!) set up a fan - an ordinary oscillating table-top fan (but not oscillating) - in the window to exhaust the "non-toxic" blue spray paint (in a can - not a sprayer of any sort) that I was using to resurface a toy-box for a friend. It had been pink, when his daughter used it, and his son sort of objected to the color...).

    I did the job very carefully - it was beautiful when I was done/

    THE FAN WAS "BEAUTIFUL" TOO: NICE EVEN COAT OF BLUE PAINT ON THE BLADES, MOTOR HOUSING, THE VISIBLE PARTS OF THE MOTOR, THE BASE, AND MUCH OF THE CORD.
    SO WAS THE SCREEN, PARTS OF THE WINDOW FRAME, AND THE CHAIR OUTSIDE THE WINDOW ON THE BALCONY. (We were living in an apartment at the time.)

    BE DULY WARNED! SPRAY PAINT WILL COVER EVERYTHING WITHIN RANGE, AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE THE RANGE!!!!!

    The only reason I didn't catch pluperfect HELL was that my wife had talked me into doing the job, and had suggested that I do it EXACTLY where I had done it.

  10. #10
    I think there are is a lot of overgeneralizing here. I have a spray wall with a 24" fan. After over 5 years of commercial sized jobs, my fan has the smallest amount of residue on it. If I was spraying oil based paint, I'm sure it would be well coated with paint by now. Finishes like pre catalyzed lacquers and conversion varnishes are going to turn into powder before they hit the floor or filters. In fact, I can vacuum the overspray out of my filters and sweep it off the floor. Further more, air speed, air volume, and filter type will affect what can or can't get through your filters. A larger filter area will equal slower evacuation speeds, which will allow greater filter efficiency. Explosive risk are more a problem caused by concentration of fumes, which is not going to be the case if your exhausting air and fumes (mostly air). Your DC spray booth will pose no more risk than a window fan clearing the air. Your filter set-up could easily be made to handle all the overspray. I spray literally gallons in a day, venting into a parking lot and have no issue with material slipping through.

  11. #11
    This is not a good idea. Your DC is not "explosion proof" nor is the exhaust path terribly direct, there is a lot of process between your gun and the outdoors if you go through your DC and adding volatiles to this airstream could be potentially disastrous.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Albuquerque NM
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    500
    I'll have to check for volatility of my paint. I am dying with House of Kolor intercoat Klear and top coating with catalyzed show Klear. I was sitting it the shop today and looking for extra space. It is a 24'x24' garage and it is full. However I do have a 8'x6' shelve that is full of unused stuff from my past. I am thinking about putting all that stuff in the basement, tearing out the shelves, and building in a small paint booth with the fan in back going right outside.
    Do or do not, there is no try.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    I'd love to have a spray booth,but do not have the room. I spray outside. But then,you have to be careful of BUGS landing on wet lacquer. And FORGET it when May flies are in season!! I try to keep upwind too. Already have enough COPD from doing this since the 50's.

  14. #14
    George, I do the same thing - life in the country. I do use a box fan behind me while I spray and leave it running as it seems to diminish the number of bug landings. I only use nitrocellulose on instruments, everything else I have switched to water base.

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