Hello,

I intend to start the body work and paint on my old truck when the weather warms up. I have the equipment and know basically how to use it all.

From reading on another forum (paint pros), they say I have to use a supplied air system when I spray the base/clear (iso...somthing in the newer stuff). The problem is these are very expensive and I am only doing one truck.

The cheapest one I can find online is $325+ shipping. E-bay had some for less slightly less, but......its ebay and no name stuff. It has been close to 10 years since I last painted a vehicle, so buying a system seems ridiculous.

I know what pros use and they are required to by law, but are there any alternatives I can use at home that are safe and effective?

Thanks,
Brian

 

The charcoal type filter mask works for a short time, but they quit being effective without you being able to tell. Until it's too late, that is. I went through half a dozen filter cartriges for a paint job once, since I didn't have an air supply. I just changed the filter frequently. I made a paint booth outdoors out of PVC pipe, clear plastic, duct tape, and a couple of fans.

 

You don't have to use the verathane...there are other options- i'm in the same position.

 

Bumpity bump of a old post of mine ,

Not telling you what to do here sir, I am just posting this for the many others getting the notion to paint their own vehicle.. ..


I own and used the fresh air system for painting my truck, the Hobby Air ll, purchased from Len S . It works great, I sat the pump OUT of the painting atmosphere, used the hood with the full tyvek suit/nitrile gloves. I breathed fresh air ALL the time, and had no exposed skin. The very least breathing protection mask I would use would be a charcoal mask with prefilters, if the filters are changed daily and if the proper face seal is used. ..

The problem with charcoal filtered masks is this, once a diyer gets to painting, it consumes every thought just to do that job. They can lose their facial seal, or even have filters on the mask stopping up and be sucking in air around the facial seals, and will not notice it. That is because of the hectic job of painting, and the smelling senses get desensitized once in the paint room after a while and one will not pick up on the leak in their mask.....

. We see the painters on Overhaul, Rides, etc use these a lot. That is because they also are using professional cross/down draft booths while painting. The saturation of iso's in the air is diminished because of the amount of air exchanges per minute. The diyer guy is his garage with a home made positive pressure/exhaust system like that I put in my garage, will not have that luxury, so the overspay mist is a lot more consentrated ! ...

When dealing with iso products, one needs to remember the iso's will attached themselves to skin also, especially the wet moist eye tissue. This is just my opinion guys but think about it, is a paint job on a truck that you may only have around for a year or two in your life, worth the risk of damaging your health for the rest of your life ???? ...<!-- / message --><!-- no sigs except when logged in --><!-- sig -->

 

I agree with what you are saying. No doubts there. What paints specifically have these iso (whatever) in them? Will we be safe enough doing out own epoxy and high build?

I have shot base/clear many times in the past, but its been years. Did they change the formulas or something? They were not considered dangerous then. The masks/filters I used were supposed to be safe at the time.

Are there different kinds and some do not have these? I had never heard of them until I started doing research for this truck.


The above quote price is from Len for the Neoterik MC-1. The least ex*****ve (filters the word---cheapest) hobby air II is $100 higher. What do isos do specifially? Everyone says they are bad news, but no one says what they do.

With that being said, do the one stage paints have this junk in them too? Acrylic enamels? I have no clue how many vehicles I have painted with those. I admit that I only pained one with laquer though. I don't like that stuff (probably because I don't know what I am doing).

Sorry for all the questions, but I hope you can answer some of them. I am not the only one who is painting his/her old truck. We have the whole section on paint and body work.

Brian

 

A couple of words about the hazards of inhaling paint "fumes & vapors": the components of modern multi-stage coating systems [urethanes, isocyanates, tetrahydrofuran, etc.] are designed to be mixed properly and react completely with each other to yield a finished [and innocuous]product, i.e., the paint job. When these paint products are sprayed and BEFORE the component chemicals finish reacting with each other, they are able TO REACT WITH ALL OTHER NEARBY ORGANIC MATERIALS, INCLUDING OUR BODIES, CLOTHING, RESPIRATOR FILTERS, MASK COMPONENTS, ETC., and cause the same kind of chemical reaction [dried paint!] in the lungs, the blood stream, your liver & kidneys, etc. Once this damage occurs and your "body" paint cures & hardens, it's there for life. Painted lungs do a poor job of breathing; painted kidneys have a hard time eliminating the waste too! The older paint formulations like acrylic enamels & lacquers didn't use these components although some of the earlier epoxy-based transition systems did. Lacquers and enamels relied on solvent evaporation to leave behind a finished surface; modern day paints generate no solvent vapors and rely on an internal chemical reaction to "set" the paint.

Now because of the ever-evolving Federal & State air pollution regulations - designed to protect our health and well being - most of the older, common paint formulations have been legislated out of existence. Depending on where you live in the US or Canada, the solvents and thinners necessary for those easy-to-apply enamels & lacquers may no longer be legal for sale, especially to diyer's without the licensed & permitted spray booths that are designed to capture & contain the solvent vapors while the paint cures. And, of course, our garage paint booths do neither!

 

Any of the paints you use nowadays that use a cataylst (hardener) will have isocynates in them. The hardeners is what has the iso's in them. Type in isocyanates in your search bar and you will get a lot of hits with the chemical explanation/hazard /precautions for the use of iso based paint products. ...


Basically the iso's can cause all kinds of respiratory , skin , and nervous system problems. Good stuff for the paints to make them harden, but bad for the body. People have different reactions to exposure to iso's in paint . Some have instant reactionary problems , some take years of small doses to show reactions to exposure. ...

When I was painting the floorboards in my truck, I noticed my fresh air hood was deflating. A quick look around , and I found I had torn my fresh air hose to my hood , by dragging it over the edge of the rocker panels. I instantly held my breath, yet by the time I got my spray gun laid in its stand, and exited the paint room, I knew I had inhaled some of the paint fumes. ....

I fixed my ruptured fresh air supply hose and finished painting, but the whole next day my throat and lungs felt like I had been burned inside. Like I said , not all people react this way, I am just real sensitive to anything toxic to my lungs. For a one time paint job, I still say use a FRESH AIR SUPPLY, because it is worn while mixing all those products too. But if that is not possible, at least use good filtered air being brought in and using filtered exhaust, along with the proper use of the charcoal mask along with skin and eye protection, ( paint suit, solvent resistance gloves, wrap around goggles) it should be o.k. ...

It is when the paint room gets so heavy of a fog of overspray in it that the person can barely see thru, that is when the iso exposure risk is REAL high. Because the iso's are heavily staurated in the paint atomization droplets, once they hit the metal the paint droplets start curing to hardness. And at that , it is still best to not re-enter the paint room unprotected until at least 24 hours later, whenever using iso based paint products .


Would I spend the money on all these tools/safety equipment and make a mess of my garage to paint my truck, if I had to do it again ? no, jmo

on edit : great post Zooom!, yours hit just as clicked mine in.

 

should use systems designed for this- but the principle is to keep positive -fresh air pressure to your breathing space- so that any possible leaks would result in fresh air loss that will not allow chemicals to enter rather than the opposite. Damaged lungs is about the worst experience there is.