I have a room in an old barn that I want to make into a paint booth. I have read somewhere about venting it by using a box fan blowing out, and a couple of home a/c filters allowing fresh clean air in. I s this a good way to do it? I am a little concerned about a box fan sparking with all the fumes in the air. This will not nessesarily be a permanent set up, so a ton of money is not ideal for me. Also this is a small room for painting parts only Approx 15'x15'. Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks.

 

Have you considered using a belt-driven fan?

Bob

 

No I hadn't, but that is a good idea, and I actaully have the parts to put one together. Thanks!

 

Make sure you use an explosion proof motor and all electrical connections should be in liquid tite type fittings. and run all grounds to earth ground you don't want static electricity

What kind of floor is in this room? dirt, concrete.

please becareful ,no open flame heat sources
AAAAAAND WEAR a respirator!!!!!!

Rich

 

its a concrete floor. How worried do i need to be if the motor is mounted VERY remotely? I was thinking about taking the door to the outside off, and using an old swamp cooler for the fan by sealing it into the doorway with plastic (2doors in/out), but taking the motor out of the cooler itself, and mounting it on the wall say 3-4 feet away from where the fumes are venting,outside, and rigging a gigantic belt to drive the fan. That way the motor would be a good distance from the fumes, and outside in the fresh air.

Still too risky?
The rest I've got under control, respirator, no sparks from lighting, heat sources etc. Its just the vent I'm trying to get just right.

 

<cr>
Another thing to consider....

You can increase you dust control by designing your booth as a positive pressure system. In other words, you push the paint fumes out of the booth rather than suck the fumes out. You can do that by placing your blow in the fresh air and allowing it to push fresh air into the booth. The fumes would exit an exhaust opening. Any excess air pushes out through cracks in the booth, helping dust control. Of course, by sitting the blower in the fresh air, you don't have to worry about fumes igniting.

In a negative pressure system, the fumes are sucked out while the fresh air comes in from the outside. As a result, air comes in from the outside anywhere there is an opening. Dust can be sucked through any crack. Also, the fumes are sucked through the blower.

Why would anyone use a negative pressure system? The biggest reason I can think of is, if I was painting in an attached garage. It would help keep the fumes out of the residence while a positive pressure system would be trying to push fumes into the residence.

 

That sounds like a good way to go, but how should I filter the incoming air? It will be fresh air being pulled in, and around here thats anything but clean. The a/c filter trick again? Just this time covering the fan causing it to suck its fresh air through the filter?

 

<cr>
The clean air issue is overstressed I believe. I've painted cars in the open air, in a stable, and in garages. Sure it's nice to have a dust free work area but no matter now clean things are, there is going to be that bug, lint from your shirt, or hair from your head that is going to drop into that last coat of clear you applied. No matter now careful you are, that buddy of yours is going to walk up, stick his finger into the paint, and say,"Is it dry yet?"

With that said...

I paint in an old barn with concrete floors. It use to be a living area 30 years ago so the walls have drywall on them. The 14 dual 4' lights came from a church being remodelled. My air is supplied from a blower that came from an old forced-air electric furance. The blower is attached to an outside wall and the air is filtered by a couple furance filter attached to the inside wall.

The filter keeps out bugs and big lint but when the grass fields are filled with pollen, there is no way I can keep it out. I just pick a different time to paint.

Personally, I don't worry about the dust anymore. My complaint is the light. Even with 14 lights, there's still not enough light. Maybe I should go back to painting outside.

 

Sounds good, I think I'm on the right track. Thank you for your input. I'll calm down about he dust issue to I suppose. I am right next to an alfalfa field, so dust is pretty much a way of life.

 

<cr>
Grass seed fields on 3 sides and pasture on one. Lets not forget about the field burning that is allowed on my state.

Did I forget about telling you about the flies pooping in the paint when I painted in the stable. How about the repaint I had to do when the pollen added its special affect to the clear I had applied.

Just about any defect can be corrected. Just buy a little extra color, especially if your're just beginning. You might check on prices. In my part of the country, the 4th quart of paint is about 1/2 price of the first 3 quarts.

 

Thanks for all the great input. I think i've got it all straight now. By the way, don't even get me started on the subject of fly crap. I probably forgot to mention, the alfalfa is on two sides, and the other two are heifer corrals. Its like fly haven in this old milk barn. Oh yeah, pigeons too. (some days I wonder why I chose such a wonderful spot to try and paint.) At least I can shoot the pigeons and make myself feel better.

Thanks again

 

<cr>
No pigeons here. Just barn swallows. Darn things dive bomb ya.

 

Couldn't help but chuckle at your comments regarding outdoor painting.

Since you fellows are barnyard savy, you've probably noticed all those millions of little midges that mysteriously appear seconds after a fresh horse or cow plop. With our horses away on summer pasture, first frost killing all the bugs and a perfect fall day to paint, I set about repainting our battered horse trailer.

Within seconds of laying down the first few passes, out came those dang midges. You'd think all the chemicals would be instant death, but no....... 20 minutes later they are still squirming and wiggling along, making an even bigger mess.

I know I'm not the greatest painter but mistaking my efforts for manure just plain hurts my pride! Next time, I'm using insecticide for thinner.

 

I SEEN A ARTICLE ABOUT A HOMEMADE PAINT BOOTH.
THEY USED PLASTIC ALL AROUND THE VEHICLE,WET THE FLOOR DOWN AND USED A COUPLE OF BOX FANS. THEY SAID IT WORKED REAL NICE

 

I put an fan from a outside AC unit, (the type that sits on top of the outside coils and compressor) it’s about a 20 " diameter 220v fan, into the gable of my shop wall and then built a filter box around it and down the wall on the inside of the shop. It holds two 20x25 and one 20x20 AC filter.

I can use it to vent directly out of the hot roof of the shop in the summer or when painting, insert the filters then swap two wires, reversing the motor, to pull in filtered outside air for a positive pressure affect.

It really moves a lot of air and the best part is it’s free. Most a/c repair shops have them in the scrap piles after replacing with new units.