When you’re running a body shop that deals with a high number of cars, you want to make sure that you work as efficient as possible without sacrificing the quality of your work. If you don’t need an additional paint booth but would like to speed things up, consider looking at ways to improve your drying time. After all, nobody likes to sit around and wait for paint to dry.
If painting automobiles is one of the primary services provided by your company, there’s no reason why you should be without a drying system. A good one will dramatically reduce the amount of time spent on one car.
Another benefit of choosing a good drying system is that the quality of your work will improve. A proper drying system will be able to dry the paint evenly and at optimal temperatures, thus reducing the chances of bubbles, streaks, or runny paint that results in a finished product.
Drying systems are perfect for waterborne paints because, unlike solvent-based paints, increased air circulation cuts down on the drying time without compromising the quality of the finish. Because of this, drying systems are able to increase airflow and reduce drying times by pushing roughly 20,000 cfm through jet blowers and paint booth fans.
With that said, there’s one thing that you must consider before adding a drying system to your waterborne paint booth: is your workspace clean? The airflow itself won’t impact the quality of your paint, but if there’s any dirt or debris lying in your paint booth, it’s likely that the drying cycle could blow it in the air and contaminate your paint job. For this reason, it’s best to use a downdraft paint booth that extracts all unwanted contaminants by design. That way, you’re guaranteed a quality finish without any imperfections like smudges or grainy patches.
If you’re painting with waterborne paints, consider adding the Xcelerator drying system to your paint booth setup. This state-of-the-art system uses a total of fully-adjustable eyeball air jets to speed up the drying process. It has also been known to cut the flash time in half and take nearly 30 minutes off of your average bake time. Along with increasing your productivity, installing an Xcelerator will also help you save on utilities. By virtue of speeding the drying process up, you actually end up spending far less on electricity or gas.
The Xcelerator only works with waterborne paints. If you haven’t made the switch from solvents yet, this drying system won’t do much for you. While it is true that a growing number of people in the industry are changing over to waterborne paint booths, there are a few employers who prefer to stick with solvent-based paints until it’s for certain that they’ll be phased out. If you’re one of those people, consider looking into buying a dual paint system like the Titan. That way, you can switch between water and solvent-based paints at your leisure, thus allowing you to make use of the Xcelerator drying system when possible.
Using the Xcelerator drying system along with a downdraft paint booth ensures that you have a clean finished product all the time. With pit-less downdraft systems like the Titan and Italia, you don’t even have to worry about making major changes to your workshop before installing the booth. This makes it easier than ever to make the switch to a downdraft system; when you combine that with the Xcelerator drying system, you get a setup that cuts back on the drying time while also preventing the need for touch-ups and re-dos thanks to in-booth contamination.
When it comes to paint booth technology, Accudraft is an industry leader and a name you can trust. They specialize in creating quality products that enable shop owners to deliver top-quality finished products consistently and in a timely manner. Their Xcelerator drying system is the perfect tool for the body shop owner who’s looking to increase productivity without sacrificing their quality.
If you’re planning on upgrading your paint booth equipment, contact one of the friendly Accudraft representatives to learn more. Just explain your goals and expectations and they’ll be happy to assist you with finding the right equipment to help you get there. Whether you’re looking to speed up the painting process with a state-of-the-art drying system, or you want to save a little bit of money by cutting back on utility expenses, Accudraft has the equipment to help you get there.
