Poor man's paint booth

[rjspitz]

I built a paint booth in my garage to paint some motorcycle bodywork. Thought some of you might enjoy some pics.

I used 2"x2" lumber for the frame and some 1.5 mil plastic sheeting for the walls and ceiling. I ran a couple of beams accross the top to hang the parts from with safety wire too. Ended up working pretty well. One wall is on hinges so that I can get in and out and easily move in large parts without dinging them up.
I had 2 20" box fans lying around so I used them to filter the exhaust air. There is a filter on each side of the fans (4 total). It works pretty well. For intake air, I just cut some slits in the ceiling and taped the ends to make sure they don't get bigger. Seems to be enough ventilation.

cheers,
bob

 

[DynoDave]

Nice job!

We did this in a pole barn once, to paint a toyota and a Firebird. Worked pretty well, but it was constructed quite as nice as yours. As a result of leaks, we got a nice coat of blue urethane on all of our tool boxes. Doh!

 

[dodgecharger-fan]

I've been thinking about doing something similar.

I looked at these www.zipwall.com. Great idea, but I don't think I can justify the cost at about $120 per pair.

So, I may end up doing something like you did but I want to use plastic pipe to make it easy to assemble and disassemble.

I'm no expert but I understand that using fans like that can be dangerous. Drawing fumes across a motor that isn't explosion proof is a no-no. No?

 

[C_F]

I'm no expert but I understand that using fans like that can be dangerous. Drawing fumes across a motor that isn't explosion proof is a no-no. No?

Hmmm...that could ****.



























Get it? ****?


Or blow...depending which way the fan's pointed.

 

[byrdman]

For every post I've seen about someone getting by with it, I've seen another saying don't do it. My two cents: I'm on the "don't do it" side.

Another way to do the poor man's booth is to use a squirrel cage fan driven by a belt and pulley. That way the motor is not in the path of the fumes.

 

[rjspitz]

I've been thinking about doing something similar.

I looked at these www.zipwall.com. Great idea, but I don't think I can justify the cost at about $120 per pair.

So, I may end up doing something like you did but I want to use plastic pipe to make it easy to assemble and disassemble.

I'm no expert but I understand that using fans like that can be dangerous. Drawing fumes across a motor that isn't explosion proof is a no-no. No?

I was in the garage painting and decided to take a break. Then I read your post and ran into the garage as fast as I could and turned the fans off.
Don't know why, but I didn't think of the exposed motor/fumes scenario.
Guess I'll have to rethink the exhaust.

OK. So now I'm in the market for a sealed-motor fan. Any ideas where to buy one?

Thanks to all for potentially saving my life.

cheers,
bob

 

[OI812]

Not sure if the fans and fumes would be a problem. To be safe I wouldn't do it.

But............................

I give you and A+, ah necessity is the mother of all inventions!

 

[yamaha]

Try a positive pressure fan set up, with the fan blowing air from outside into the
paint booth. Have an exit for the fumes on the oposite side of the booth for
venting . Not sure if this will eliminate any concerns of igniting of fumes?
Just my 2 cents. I'm a volunteer fire fighter and this is one method for removing
smoke from a structure.

 

[gb387]

Its less of a serious issue as the motors but the electrical cords should be ran out side as well.

I like the idea! Just have to fine tune it and make it a little safer and your set!

 

[moparfreak]

Aside from that one safety issue, that really looks awesome. Is it easily collapsible? Down the road I plan on creating a medium sized booth (not enough to paint a car, but at least car parts) such as that that I can take apart and keep in the corner or basement or something. If you can get that fan issue worked out post the results!

Adam

 

[rjspitz]

Just made some calls and found a supplier that carries an assortment of "V" drive belts and pulleys. I dismantled one of the fans to see if I can fabricate a belt drive, should be fairly simple. I'll probably start on it tonight after work.

As far as being collapsible. It's not. Have to unscrew at every joint. I thought about hinging everything to make for easy tear-down and setup. But, I'll only use it once, maybe twice a year, so that much ease is not necessary for me. Plus, I have nowhere to store it if it becomes too bulky. I'll just hang steel lumber brackets off my ceiling and store it there. Shouldn't take more than 1 hour to put it together.

 

[rjspitz]

Try a positive pressure fan set up, with the fan blowing air from outside into the
paint booth. Have an exit for the fumes on the oposite side of the booth for
venting . Not sure if this will eliminate any concerns of igniting of fumes?
Just my 2 cents. I'm a volunteer fire fighter and this is one method for removing
smoke from a structure.

I thought about that, but the seals around the room are not exactly airtight. And since air finds the path of least resistance, it'll be hard to control the air to the desired filtered exit location. I'll just end up with paint leaking through every nook and cranny, and none in the filter. *****, but I gotta stick with the negative pressure setup. thnx though.

bob

 

[David D]

Something to consider is what type of motor the fans use. If they're induction type motors (brushless) then there's no sparks to ignite the fumes, with the possible exception of the on/off switch. All box fans that I've seen use induction motors, so you should be OK.

 

[dwayne]

When i put together a paint booth, I use basic idea but use pvc pipe and self tapping screws,easy to take down a put back up. also made a long box with heater vent grills down sides, attached filters then cage fan,made kind of a down draft system.

 

[dwayne]

left that kind of open. I slide vented box under car from front to back,with exit in back outside booth. use pvc so i can make a quick booth to blast a body or frame in.don't get material all over garage.

 

[dodgecharger-fan]

For every post I've seen about someone getting by with it, I've seen another saying don't do it. My two cents: I'm on the "don't do it" side.

Another way to do the poor man's booth is to use a squirrel cage fan driven by a belt and pulley. That way the motor is not in the path of the fumes.

Yeah, I'm usually not the "alarmist" type of person, but some things just seem to stick in my head more than others. This issue is one of them.

Similarly, I used to think that flipping a light switch in a room full of gas was nothing to be worried about and all the stuff on TV and in movies be damned. Then I started to notice the 20-year old switches in this house and how they would sometimes pop when you flipped them on. (I'm in the process of swapping them out.) That's another that is now stuck in my head. Not that I always have a room full of gas or anything, but I don't want to test the theory.

 

[Piet]

I used an old furance squirrel cage fan (Buddy got his furance replace... I took the old motor and squirelcage. NO exposed electrical. this works just fine.

 

[kenc184]

People get too easily frightene by theoretical isues.

I wouldn't risk breathing iso laden paints so, yes, I use a supplied air breathing suystem when I paint, but explosion proof fans?

I've used a pair of standard "turbo" fans for years with no issues, I just don't think the density of volatiles is anywhere close to being a fire danger. I have never heard of anyone ever having an issue either.

As usual, not my recommendation, YMMV, etc etc.

 

[sberry]

Correct. Negative pressure. It's gotta get pretty rich for the fan to be a boom problem. Clearing smoke in general is different,,, you don't care where it goes in many cases as long as it goes.
In a booth you want to pull.fresh in over the work and operator, pull in any leaks and draw fumes out. Pressure blows fumes everywhere.
In my own booth am familiar with it, can darn near stand upwork and not smell a thing and stay right out of the fume plume.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I always wonder how people find fourteen year old discussions. Heck, with the search function here I sometimes have a hard time finding discussions from last week.

As for the fan, while chances are it won't cause an explosion you aren't going to know until it does go boom. You would need some method of monitoring the level of paint fumes passing through the fan to see if you're close to the LEL (lower explosive limit), and if you're going to spend that kind of money you may as well find a safer method of ventilation.

 

[MarvinBerry]

Hmm...

I've used ez up tents with a fair degree of success.

Fans? Generally want throughput... Draw fresh air in & push the bad stuff out.

Common sense applies but the problem there is common ense isn't so common

 

[JMLangford]

Nice little paint booth

I've got a buddy who is a luthier, and he uses a 6' x 8' Harbor Freight Greenhouse for his paint and finish work.....

https://www.harborfreight.com/lawn-garden/greenhouses-supplies/6-ft-x-8-ft-greenhouse-63354.html




.