Anyone Have One Of These Spray Booths?

[BATMAN]

And if you do, how do you like it?

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/110v-touch-up-paint-spray-booth/A-p8729535e?fbclid=IwAR3Jj9VODcHgyvGps4eI1s21nfD8jC1zOUvU0Mt5HTIP0TyPt8f_AfvYDIU 

 

[SeeYou190]

I looked at lots of hobby paint booths, including the one in the link, and soon realized none of them would meet my needs, so I built my own using ideas from a couple of websites.

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I should have it completely finished by Thanksgiving.

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-Kevin

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[danno54]

I’ve been looking at these also. Just beware most of these inexpensive booths are for waterborne paints only. Which may not be an issue for most with all of the new waterbase paints today.

[Deane Johnson]

I do.  I think several others may also.  I have mine piped outside through my dryer vent.

I chose to increase it's venting by putting a section of duct with a fan in the exhaust line so that both the built in and the in-line fan run at the same time.  This was due to my allergy to solvents.  However, now that it's mostly arcrylics, that's not so necessary.

Spray booths get gunky with time.  I keep paper towels on the bottom so it's completely covered.  I also have used a paper towel on the turntable, but didn't care too much for that.  I discovered a paper plate upside down would just fit over the turntable which worked better than a paper towel.  Now, I have the turntable clear out and just use a paper plate upside down to hold the spray target.  I can turn the paper plate to rotate the spray target.

All and all, I believe the product pretty much does what it's supposed to.  I wish they stayed clean all the time, but they don't.

There are those who have posted negative reviews, but I've mostly found those to be individuals who weren't completely up to speed on what to expect.  One person was unhappy because he tried to use thinner to clean the paint off the booth and it melted the plastic.  Other's have been unhappy because they think the exhaust is not potent enough.  I happen to be happy with mine, you don't want so much air movement that it pulls the spray away from where you're aiming the air brush.

Because I'm sharing the exhaust with a clothes dryer, I didn't want the drying blowing back into the room through the booth, so I put a motorized damper in the booth line, normally in closed position.  This forces the dryer air to stick to it's orginal pathway to the outside.  When the booth is turned on, the damper opens and let's the booth exhaust head outside.  Things like this are specfic to my installation needs, I mention them to be of possilbe help to someone with the same issue to solve.

I would prefer it being a bit wider at times, but that's only wishful thinking and I don't have room for "wider".

Another thing I wonder about is if one is only spraying acrylics, does it need venting outside?  The filters are very effective.

[rrinker]

 I have one, but I haven't used it. Just getting my workbench set up (the train one). On the bench, it will be right in front of a window, so I can set the exhaust to blow right out the window. I've opened it up and set it up, seems like it should do the business. Definitely meant for acrylics, not solvent paint. 

                              --Randy

 

[doctorwayne]

I've not used the spray booth to which you've linked, Brent, but I've never understood the logic behind putting the exhaust (and the filter) directly behind the area you're most likely to use for placing the item to be painted.

I built my own spray booth using part of the plywood top of an old end-table as the base, then made the booth using 1/8" Masonite, pop-rivetted together using the wall-angle members used for suspended ceilings.  The exhaust fan, from an old air hockey game, is in a galvanised steel plenum intended for the floor output of a forced-air furnace, and is located in the top of the booth.  I use one-half of a standard fibreglass furnace filter, changing it as needed.
It's vented to the outdoors, and I've added an air intake to the room in which the spray booth is located - it was formerly in my workshop in the basement, but the tightness of my house made it difficult to get sufficient make-up air to allow full venting of the fumes...in those days lacquer-based paints were still the ones most used.
The paint shop is now in my detached garage (about 100' behind the house) and has a close-able vent (keeps the critters out) to allow a free flow of make-up air during painting. 
I use both lacquer-based and acrylic paints, but always wear a two-stage respirator when airbrushing.

Total cost of my spray booth was, I think, $2.50 for the plenum - everything else was stuff that was left-over from building my house, or simply lying around.  It's been in use now for about 45 years, including several years of painting for a local hobbyshop, now long gone.
In the photo below, it was still in the too-tight house.  When I moved it to the garage, I changed the vent duct to an all-metal one, mostly to ensure that the squirrels couldn't get in...

I included the turntable when I built the booth (visible under the newspaper), but have never used it, as most items are hand-held (gloved hand or suitable piece of scrap lumber) during painting.

In threads on spray booths, I always see comments on using fans which don't create sparks, ostensibly to prevent explosions, but if you have the exhaust fan running before you start airbrushing, it is unlikely (spelled like the word "impossible") that the concentration of any flammable solvent will be great enough to create any problem.  Over the time that my booth has been in use, there have been gallons of lacquer thinner fumes passing through that fan.  I'm sure that I could spray gasoline or barbecue starter through it, too, without issue....when the fan's running, the concentration of fumes is insufficient for combustion.  If we were spraying automobiles or appliances, the situation might be different.

Wayne

[Srwill2]

I got the Micromark version last year for Christmas to replace the cardboard box I was using.  Love it!  Great for the money. 

Steve

[schief]

I have one, if not that exact model it is very similar.  Mine came with LED light strips on the edges which really help to see what I am doing.  I am fairly new to airbrushing but as far as I can tell, it does the job well.  Size wise it may be difficult if you are trying to paint something large, but for railroad cars and most structures it should work fine.  

I run the hose out the basement window.  Now that it is cold out, that has become inconvenient.  I have a storage room downstairs that has a bathroom exhaust fan in the ceiling (it was originally built to be a darkroom for photography).  I am thinking of connecting the hose of this to that fan and making that a dedicated paint closet.  My theory is the fan in this is strong enough to get it to the ceiling and then that fan will take it the rest of the way as it was meant to for other fumes.

[rrinker]

 Check if that room fan actually exhausts to the outside. So often, bathroom fans don't/ They just vent into the cavity between floors, or in the case of mine, into the attic space. It was never a good idea for the original purpose - hot moist air exhausted from taking a shower = mold, but that's how they did it. Even worse trying to extract paint odor, the odor will just drift back into the room.

                            --Randy

[schief]

rrinker

 Check if that room fan actually exhausts to the outside. So often, bathroom fans don't/ They just vent into the cavity between floors, or in the case of mine, into the attic space. It was never a good idea for the original purpose - hot moist air exhausted from taking a shower = mold, but that's how they did it. Even worse trying to extract paint odor, the odor will just drift back into the room.

                            --Randy

 

 

Thanks for the tip.  I would not have guessed they would do a fan that way, for the reasons you mentioned, but better safe than sorry.

[mbinsewi]

What Randy said.  Another trick was to run the vent pipe into the soffit, where it would be wisked up into the attic through the soffit vents, along with using plastice flexble piping, which drapped over everything, causing low spots that would be full of water, from condensation.

I seen lots of different scenarios while inspecting homes.

I won't use the flexible dryer vent for any kind of venting purposes, beit a spray booth, a dryer, or just a vent fan. Use metal.

Mike.

[ricktrains4824]

I have one, and it works quite well.

Moves more air than I would have thought being so small.

I vent mine through the garage window, and have never had any issues. But I also use acrylic based only due to having asthma, and not wanting stronger solvents. 

I also take the extra precaution of wearing a pro style respirator mask, that I purchased at an auto parts shop. Again, only because of the asthma.