The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Paint booth

I think I may be forced into making a paint booth in the future. Any thoughts on a minimum size? First vehicle may be a 41 4door Plymouth. Any suggestion for lighting? Was wondering if the new LED lights are the way to go? Thoughts? Dave

First: LED lights for sure as they have no ballast and are not temp or humidity sensitive. Size the intake air filters so there is a good air flow but not a tornado. Absolutely seal everything so ALL air flow goes through filters. Have lights from floor to ceiling to prevent shadows. We have two booths, a home made and pricey DeVilbis in it's own building. The home made gives cleaner paint jobs because the painter is a cleanly nut and the one in the high dollar booth is a pig. No booth can compensate for carried in trash and sloppy wash and wipe downs. Our home made booth has an open from the bottom door (like ones on concession stands) that gives a tight seal when lowered down into place. A 19' long booth will work with most older cars/trucks but a 4dr long bed truck has to go in the DeVilbis.

Good suggestions! I have a 16'x25' detached garage that will eventually be my booth. I plan to use plastic sheeting for the booth (and now the 4' LED lights :)). The question I have is air flow.

I have a door, 2 small windows opposite and a garage door at the end. How would you set up the filters and fans? Fan blowing in from side door or end? outflow via filters thru the side windows?

Or fans sucking out at end and filters from the side?

building has a concrete floor, so no down draft available.

My Devilbiss Semi-downdraft is 14' x 24' inside. For a full size vehicle, it's nice to have some breathing room to walk around things. I have had occasion it has been cramped at that size..


[img]https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...oad/Number/26565/filename/Picture066.jpg[/img]

I have a commercial paint booth at work, but its small, works great.

Have painted a few cars at home in my garage, use a fan that pulls the air out of the makeshift booth not pressurises it. Dust fume extractors are pretty good as the motor sits outside the fan assembly

Clear drop sheets attached to the walls roof etc, wash down the floor bring the car in and paint away. I made a dummy entrance door that was my filter pack.

Have also painted a car in my mates back yard, amazing how much dust and dirt is in the air

Just some thoughts on air movement.
If you want a positive pressure booth you will need the fan pumping air into the booth. This is basically your air makeup unit in a professional spray booth.
You can size your fan CFM using this formula.
Width X Length X Height X 0.8= CFM
Dimensions are in feet
Place it low in your booth.
Round you fan size upwards to the next available size fan you can buy.
The other end of your booth will house non HEPA furnace filters (get the cheap ones) You can experiment with the number you will need.
You don't want a cloud of paint hanging around while you are spraying for various reasons.
Make sure your fan inlet air is dust free.
Hope this helps as a starting point!