By: Jeremy Winters
In an industry that’s ever changing like collision repair, typically your options are limited. In the past few years, waterborne paint technology has surpassed solvent technology by leaps and bounds. While solvent paints still work, most everything done by the OEM’s is now done with water. Not to mention, when trying to match OEM colors, it’s much easier to match water with water.
Over the years, collision shops across the world have come to see water’s superior speed advantage, making their decision to change that much easier. Many shops who have held out on switching worry about the cost of the equipment add-on’s just to be able to spray water. Shops need to add airlines, filtration, spray guns, air movers (like ceiling fans and hand held blowers), and more, just so they can keep up with modern times.
Let’s say that your shop doesn’t want to be held to one type of paint. You want to be able to spray solvent or water-based paints and be able to have the finishes you want. You may consider going back to a solvent system or even have a separate water and solvent line in the shop. You need something that can be customizable to what you’re spraying. This is one of the benefits available with Accudraft.
Accudraft’s automotive paint booths come ready to run with pre-programmed spray modes (and user customizable settings with the FOCUS panel) for multiple coatings systems. Whether you need more cfm through the booth or need to slow it down for a traditional solvent basecoat, it’s all available with a push of a button.
How exactly do we speed up the flash cycle in our booths though? Air movers are a great answer and with the addition of Accudraft’s Xcelerator blower system, CFM and air movement across the panels dramatically increases dehydration rates. But why exactly would you want to consider the addition of the Xcelerator paint drying system?
It’s actually quite simple when understanding how paint dries related to air movement. Faster drying occurs when that air flows directly at the car instead of just around the vehicle. Whether the fans get mounted in the top corners of the booth aimed down or in each corner of the booth aimed inward at the car, the main idea is to get as much air passing close to the surface as possible to ensure dehydration of the paint layers. The more air flow you have in contact with the paint itself, the faster the water will dry out, resulting in faster drying times.
If you’re interested in learning more our booths and accessories, reach out to Accudraft today.
