Whether you are a new painter or a seasoned vet, there comes a time when you encounter a problem for the first time. Thankfully, there’s not much the experts at Accudraft haven’t heard. We’ve compiled a list of some uncommon paint booth questions to help provide answers to some tricky situations. Let’s get into it!
Condensation can cause additional moisture in the air, slowing down drying times. If solvent layers do not properly dry, a paint job can have an irregular finish or the paint could lift entirely. Two of the most common reasons condensation occurs is by overrunning the AC within a shop or the AMU burners need replacing. If your shop is constantly experiencing condensation, try upgrading to a dual skin booth, as the double walled construction significantly helps to prevent moisture from building up inside the cabin walls.
Yes! While most painters know the importance of protecting the walls of a booth, many forget about the floors. Floor protection has become quite a big conversation topic within finishing, and rightfully so. For many years, it was most popular to spray a coating on the floors to protect them against overspray and dirt. However, coatings are time-consuming to apply and take several frequent reapplications to work effectively. For these reasons, shops have turned to alternate methods of floor protection.
Today, rugs or mats are actually becoming the most popular protection solution. Rugs are easy and relatively inexpensive to clean or replace as frequently as needed. A quick power wash or vacuum and they could look as good as new! There are also a few commonly used mat options as well, such as New Pig’s Pig Mat or 3M’s Dirt Trap. The Pig Mat tends to be more reliable, as they have a longer lifespan than the Dirt Trap, which relies on a tacky material to capture overspray and needs to be replaced every 1-2 weeks.
Fun fact: We’ve even seen some shops utilize a Roomba to keep their cabin floor clean!
Short answer, no. Longer answer, (legally) you should. All coatings should be sprayed in a well ventilated area that filters out the contaminated air. According to the EPA for Rule 40- CFR Part 63; Subpart HHHHHH: “Apply spray coatings in a booth, prep station or mobile enclosure; all with exhaust filters that capture at least 98 percent of the paint overspray. The only exception is if you are spraying 3oz or less and its in the same sized cup. There are disposable cup options out there with options to fit this rule.” Just remember, open air priming is never a safe or smart idea!
Absolutely! Just not in the same paint booth that you paint in. Keeping these operations in separate areas help ensure a quality refinish job without fighting debris. Similar to the above, you want to avoid cross contamination between sanding and painting. While many shops choose to use paint booths as a sanding and buffing station because of the excellent lighting, it’s not ideal to share that same space for painting. Just like for priming, as long as there is a dedicated space for sanding that has filtration, it can be done in a paint booth or prep station.
Temperature and climate control can be quite the struggle for shops that experience intense weather, meaning very hot summers or extremely cold winters. The time of the year certainly affects finishing jobs, and each season comes with its own unique challenges. In the summer, the warm weather brings out bugs, pollen, and other airborne particulars that could make their way into the shop’s air or through a paint booth’s intake. The heat could also cause paint to dry much quicker than intended, causing the layers between the solvent coatings to prematurely catalyze and blemish the finish.
While the cold air doesn’t necessarily bring in more airborne particles, it does typically drag in dirt, debris, and mud from the outside into the shop. If any of these substances make their way into the paint booth without being properly cleaned, they could kick up into the air once the booth turns on and stick to any wet coatings during a paint job. The cold weather also causes an increase in static shock, which attracts airborne particles, causes paint defects, and makes it difficult to color match.
If we didn’t answer your question in this article, do not hesitate to contact us directly via our online contact form. We at Accudraft are happy to help our customers solve even the toughest of problems. Many times, we can even offer solutions to painters who do not work out of an Accudraft booth.
