What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Spray booth?

G

Gerry in Oz

Member
Hi All,

I am concerned about the toxic nature of the primers we use on our RVs. :( To mitigate this problem I am pondering about how to make (or buy) a spray booth for my workshop. It would need to have a good exhaust fan which would then pass through some kind of filter so as to avoid poisoning my neighbours. (Always a good policy) The fan motor would need to be remote or designed for the purpose so as not to be an ignition threat for the (presumably) flammable primers.

I would be most appreciative of any ideas you may have, and or how you overcame this issue. Many thanks, Gerry.
 
It depends on what primer you are using, but <arguably> the worst part of most primers is the solvent. That's going to end up in the atmosphere regardless of what filters you use.

I suggest that unless you're close enough to worry about getting primer overspray on your neighbor's cars, you may not need to worry about a booth for priming. Most of it can be done outdoors in good weather. I did all of mine that way.
 
I made a booth using pvc tubing and clear plastic sheet. I purchased a high power dust collector at the local harbor frieght and installed several furnace filters at one end and the evacuation fan at the other. and sent the fumes outside. I purchased a professional full face paint mask, use gloves and cover all skin. I wet the floor before I paint so the dust goes into the water. It worked for me. I did this only for the primer. If I paint the entire plane I intend to expand the booth and add more ventilation. I also have a positive pressure full face paint mask, although I did not use it with the primer.
 
Spray Booth

I agree with Kyle, most of my primer spraying has been outdoors. I did build a little indoor spray booth for small parts, 36"wide x 48" high by 30" deep, just fits into a corner of my shop (some people think it's a family room). The front is open and the back has 4 cheap fiberglass furnace filters. I found a used house furnace blower and motor, this gets stuck out thru a sliding door and connected to the booth with an 8" flex hose. It works fairly well with an airbrush and an HVLP spray gun.

The biggest problem is the preparation of the parts. This is with Alumiprep and Alodine and this must be done outside with my setup, so the weather has to be well above freezing, and then as long as it isn't raining, you might as well paint outside. So the spray booth has been limited to parts about wing rib size when it is used.

I'm using epoxy primer which is not very toxic (but use a good mask), but check the MSDS sheets for the paint you intend using.
 
I built a booth in 1/2 of my 2 car garage, for the actual paint job. primered the internal emp parts outside like most. For the real paint (exterior) I used epoxy primer and was sprayed in the booth with in and out filtration 1" PVC, 4 mil clear and 2 4' lamps.
 
If you really want clean priming, build a spray bench. It's a box with a mesh top set against an exterior wall. The inside of the box is vented to outdoors, through a cheap furnace filter if you like. You blow air into the room, which pretty much eliminates explosion risk.

Same concept works for sanding and cutting composites...all the nasty dust is drawn away from the operator.

14oc3l1.jpg
 
DanH said:
If you really want clean priming, build a spray bench. It's a box with a mesh top set against an exterior wall. The inside of the box is vented to outdoors, through a cheap furnace filter if you like. You blow air into the room, which pretty much eliminates explosion risk.

Same concept works for sanding and cutting composites...all the nasty dust is drawn away from the operator.
Click to expand...

Dan - do you find you need to filter the air coming into the room via the fan? What do you do when it's cold outside?

Thanks,

Tom
 
Av8torTom said:
Dan - do you find you need to filter the air coming into the room via the fan? What do you do when it's cold outside?
Click to expand...

The OP's questions seem to be more about not poisoning himself and his neighbors while priming small parts, for which the box is quick, cheap, and effective. A few flyspecks in primer don't matter much inside the airplane structure.

However, you can get as fancy as you want. The blow-through concept works fine for finish-quality painting with the addition of a filter wall across the shop between fan and outlet. The filter wall catches the dirt and diffuses the air flow. A nice uniform flow across the paint area is better than a jet from the fan.

b49o4k.jpg


My own shop was designed with a choice of intake air source. If it's cold but sunny I bring air in through the full length of the attic so it picks up some warmth. Of course this is Alabama and we call 50F "cold".

Recirculating and cleaning heated air entirely inside a winter shop is more complicated.
 
Last edited:
Great feedback

Hey everybody,

Thanks for all the great input. Plenty of food for thought there. I get the feeling that I may be over doing the issue just a bit. Alumiprep and Alodine first then a BMS 10-11 which I can get here, is my thinking for all the internal surfaces.

Maybe a small spray booth for the smaller parts. I like Dans concept for simplicity. I have a lot of built in ventilation in my shop however due to the climate here so sucking out from the booth rather than blowing air in from the shop environment may work better???

Here it is more about cooling the workspace than heating it. 70 F is considered cold here and 100 + happens a lot in the summer in beautiful South East Queensland!! So we simlpy do not have furnace heaters in our houses so I am on the lookout for filters which are similar to what you describe.

I'll keep my thinking cap on guys. Please keep the thoughts coming.

Gerry.
 
Gerry in Oz said:
I have a lot of built in ventilation in my shop however due to the climate here so sucking out from the booth rather than blowing air in from the shop environment may work better???
Click to expand...

Gerry, mine is actually a pull-through, but with explosion proof fans....solvent vapor passes through them. A push system can use a cheaper fan.

Next shop I'll do a push-through and pressurize the room. The sucking system tries to pull the garage door inward, so it has to be clamped to the opening or the booth has bug leaks around the door perimeter. Same is true of doorjambs for walk doors and gaps anywhere.

Again, that's for a finish paint booth. A filter box with a chicken wire top is all you need to spray primer without breathing it, and catch the overspray.
 
Primer Box

Here's what I built to do all of my priming. I took these photos right after I finished building it (almost 5 years ago now). It has worked out very well. The last photo shows the typical cheap 20" fan strapped to the bottom to pull air down through the top of the table. If you look close, you can see the 20" furnace filter in its slide rails right above the fan. I was bit space limited in my shop so I built this with folding legs so I could get it out of the way when needed.


iRWAk41IAAyHvsio6JzJf6jfJNLIg1Dnr8CKxqfPuW8amlpj7LytycJ2xOr_Q6p2qiaHC94eOC-vKguD7M1KOP1bNzjxwB1k5mLxxyDai74DDyvNLtZzRZWtWncqFIk8UeicolJ0Ngn3bheEMrr2hcU2d1OujcREvFsscriEtBjQbiuei9HKWHjeefWtu_r96ntKO4why_KL05LordZt2ubuT222O-JOK6H8SORRMohO19Du9fmS0fUOXJ5ausBxEz1zeuN4W7KERcCvkj4bdCUFYRvEWrSztVPDlDkYKzP5jKJRLu2EW8PlFB8lXH8Aj8bXlu7K5g3tPs-prJcVTFWjcyIFBADCXz0o-fQfS8mmhzkmI4K_Uhv0-leLZdmaE69beH5ZSjpY6FClCxtpjr79kxVpEQJfzVgJHWDpHHrTyGHzVIdNUjGn6Esamlxgnf39EYXALEURcQ6nmJ-pu6wJHKRZjWf4YNnRq6E96iUNUve6RnxwUQ4LZUCnPGn1k25CoMDGhdqv_8y8nmr4chouXPhGFOfiDvJ6J80yZJiK_LXT3VyQ8xGBdzVomnxNic1JMAojeujcbmaA6j17qwKupkNpE2AuaTjXoUs4rm6kvsoHPKU-JINrD6ZGEwcbwbrlAouf-pHmQBw7KfehWbvvCXj-eZtz4wO56W06cgooxtdqpakR1CAGF5u2JpnfjdjKOAYgpKrw_m19NqiqAQNO5A=w500-h375


DWmZh48vm6TFMWs131uZ07wH0zLmDpw2qEhVEOXluZKO8uumNZ9Sqz9gtc6FKdrRhFA4rDt91LXNfnF8XCrwCYMbRH7f3UbEX-1rD1T0EnbA0q3rKZxLbB_yFf3bAkYZIbR6l1yUBXTLWxvTmeSEGdNOTYug3FCnfd1iQmNpqU8biuTjdNSMwNV80l_h9D6PCAVAMdaHEJh3sHzrZylX0rfuvHzXjg0OwW82J3lQjFGaX7qv3t0oxgXtcpee5pJ8Gveu2ssi3Lonkhd_-4-mcNWngOqgjktY-Xqwio_g6aCgO-1JQJzCIMOJIpWiFvVZcnQC9l3yoZvaWp-6XCeFqe-72R6mYof9bu53hdbJvwL7gz3LbNUVEiwcIn70dGCTUImpxH-QZxg17au9nfOKRQJ-EJqNpGOG0gBdH1E1vTeXCNp-BQy8sFOisEFrxATEWejxD7vl7MuzbF3TuP9yRgi5edi67P6JdqTgV0mxZBScON5ES-MYTganF6YYwR9o7FUhHtNVhC4GLBkqubUAz_JqU4IqlkW0M_Wd8Tb7DnMdQtYra_onaLx3Xh7iEf0bGSgrIcMo2mLYPS8t9n-qwHO_sULL3lWdTzyvq0rQ_gR1bbr1LKWsb32qr47e6eyJMs9jIxb1KHl688imafNQs44GEXDAcQBwCJekSDFfT6JBNUEcKMdp0p-5CF2U5JiKJJvRwRHsZ2DgDsoQCiwF-1Ud0A=w500-h375


tQ9nf6jEAEecy5hx1DiDlxH9JzW_ycE-3q_BdCC72MS7KwvxDFFGN3EWEbnBvbO0gw5mEWmjj_6pMzPApYSF0AYjmPcDBBo-jfcZ_ukZn7Esgx-aQUEBsLCqlL0wOB0Kg3rIo6IIyNd4eHT1WDEfaCSaochT5pMWLyRqcZ4pzsbAH-eedZ8ArCGSWDhpTjeJ1lFWdSq8xLy1MIt6p54GsDLG42xfVWDZnD2RhpuEzZ3ac4tpz5yFbSxiV44FN-NXnekl9Pow8tqf_FHoCCaEEYlT5si4_hKgXottq02IitAojrBUhm7U5sAGVhMQQpaqPuL378lhQjukgbvS5jSjvXDw3I4q2jiZzV9Wfhe6DI2YJErhazXJIYDgsSDyv6T5mFQzcTtlzFy_xFtin2cySI1RgD5gEqYmbWZk3jemXJqU0gHJ4zzwt7wL819THqyeCLZT2nn6A9r65x-1NxcuPyxXhuHN4QpQ7NYBcRV_m6lIgwS8kF7Y1dfE03KX7umTcerWPHsI873rNVqEgqrHK5lHPPz1HXTjIIFc6Q3KuNflLbV-Z1i64yDb_9I-gMLRsTfsaYUuqHOIt2NFXEXFWERGHzvoGg7ZMRwwtmVXVa23cG2NfMxH5HLXuHwWPl92FdTp_maabWhgTp6UOCBYKD-bsIhNjtfGz5d37YZKR_4MN_WjmswE3QDWS7JFpYLLqfZ13f7BwFoG17EgK0hUpWidaQ=w500-h375
 
Last edited:
Think about the paint

I also built a pvc and plastic paint booth. I did this primarily to control dust and dog hairs. I used Stewart Systems water bourn two part paint. It is much less toxic than pretty much anything else I could find. Have a look at that as it will vastly reduce your toxic fume issue.

Regards,

Michael Wynn
RV8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA
 
I use a 10x10

Portable shed I purchased from tractor supply ($169). I have it set up in the hanger which I use for sanding and priming primarily to keep the dust and overspray confined. I also taped resin paper to the floor to keep it clean. Works well.
 
Garage-in-a-Box seems like the perfect way to set up an outdoor booth for doing a paint job in the warmer months. The local Rural King store has the 12x20 for $329.
 
RE: Like This Plus ?????

rocketbob said:
Garage-in-a-Box seems like the perfect way to set up an outdoor booth for doing a paint job in the warmer months. The local Rural King store has the 12x20 for $329.
Click to expand...


Like this Bob.....

98g6ds.jpg


Plus

the more home made .....

dz9jwo.jpg


Painting is a WHOLE BUNCH OF WORK ......:eek:
 
Last edited:
Another sray booth data point

Here's a link to a Tour
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qkoc_327lnM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Here's some KitLog
http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displ...r&project=224&category=5986&log=108536&row=34

I had the luxury of a lot of space.

Re dust control: one critical issue is getting in and out with the fans on. If you open the door with the fan on, you get a plume of dust over your work. You want to be able to turn the fans off and on from the inside and the outside. Putting a 3 way switch in was worth the work.

Re: primer & final paint - treat them as completely separate tasks. Any setup will give you acceptable primer results... No setup will give you perfect final paint results. In retrospect, I would have done minimal priming and still want to redo the final paint.

Before the tail kit, I had decided on never doing paint except perhaps for some prime. In the end, the paint was the most satisfying part of the build... And the most challenging. Go figure
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top