Simple question, can those airbooth filters be washed? the ones for like the master airbrush booth and such. Or can you only pat them down to remove dust till its too clogged to work well?
Might get some off, but they aren't really intended to be washed out, just replaced when full of paint residue.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Rather than a washing with any kind of liquid solution you might be able to gain a little more life out of the filters if you take them outside and use a blow gun and vacuum cleaner to remove any solids. Blow and vacuum from the opposite direction of the usual air flow.
Otherwise, keep spares on hand and change them as needed. You might be able to get some inexpensive filters from a big-box store and use these as a "pre-filter" and dispose of them when they show signs of loading up.
Some places have large rolls of filter media that you can cut and fit as needed. This would be more economical than buying the $10. replacement filters.
Good luck, Ed
I had a neighbor that lived across the road that was an HVAC technician. He made me a cleanable static particle air filter element for my booth that could be washed and cleaned "easily" instead of replacing it.
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It was so much more work to clean than just replacing the pleated filters! Not worth it at all.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I made my own spray booth and designed it to use one half of a common size ordinary fibreglass furnace filter. The filters are cheap and easy to find, and apparently work well, as the booth has been in use for almost 40 years, including some commercial painting.
Wayne
while -most- filters are washable, the cost of the solvents needed to remove most of the dried on paint is exorbitant [and sometimes slightly toxic], it's just easier to replace them ... especially if they are a common size that can be duplicated by low cost furnace filters ..
My home built spray booth uses readily available 16" x 16" disposable furnace filters and it works great.
The filters do clog fairly quickly however. Although they may still appear to be fairly clean after a few uses, in fact the air flow will have been reduced considerably. The proof of how well the filters work is that, after several years of use, there is almost no paint on the fan blades.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thank you all for the replies. I suppose ill need to wait till I have some money to get some filters before I can paint again. I just didnt have any and was wondering if it was possible to wash so i can continue on a model ive been working on for almost 6 months and I cant continue working on it till i paint what i have put together right now.
Milkykou I suppose ill need to wait till I have some money to get some filters before I can paint again.
I suppose ill need to wait till I have some money to get some filters before I can paint again.
The furnace filters I found at my local Ace hardware are really cheap, a couple of bucks, even when I double them in thickness. Unless I am in a heavy painting mode I get months of service for less than $5 total expenditure. I can usually "tell" when they've become more clogged than I want.
Dave Nelson
Eh? Filter? What Filter !!!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLion Eh? Filter? What Filter !!! ROAR
LOL. No venting the vapors there. I didn't know there were resporators made to fit the hairy face of a lion!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983