heating a home made paint booth

[semlin]

any suggestions on this? I have an uninsulated garage and it gets plenty cold here in winter. I was going to put up a small 8x8 booth out of pvc and polythene for painting motorcycle parts, but I can't figure out how to heat it safely. I am going to vent it with a fan and also probably add a pusher fan on the intake side.


short of installing an old furnace outside the garage and running ductwork I am not seeing any truly safe way to heat it.

plan A would be running an electric blower heater at one end of the garage ducted into the booth from as far away as possible.

plan B is to heat the booth area before painting with space heaters, then turn off the heat, paint really fast, then turn the heaters back on once the majority of the fumes are vented.

 

[jasonmt]

Easy and cheap:

 

[semlin]

jason have you done it or seen it done?

i have been looking hard at infrared but i can't figure out where or how to install them or how much you need. do you set them up outside the booth or inside, and how much do you need?

 

[jasonmt]

Well if you want to know about my redneck setup I have two brooder lamp assemblies hanging from chains to adjust the height (and heat) but usually only need one.

I have a heated and insulated shop though that is a little bit warmer inside than yours likely will be in the winter in the (Okanagan?) though but the heater stirs up way too much dust to paint anything other than stuff like axle housings etc. without making a mess.

The back third of my shop has a mezzanine for storage with under the mezzanine being 3 feet lower than the rest of the shop and closed off so I do most of my welding/cutting/grinding/painting/fabrication in there. All I have setup for a "redneck paint booth" is a couple of 4'x8' sheets of ½” plywood screwed to the bottom of the mezzanine joists for the top of the booth with some 2x2's around the perimeter to attach poly when needed. The plywood is positioned such that the 2 exhaust fans (~120CFM) I have above the welding bench are just sitting inside one edge of the plywood and there are 2-4' light fixtures also within the boundaries as well as a 2 plug receptacle. The ½” plywood makes it easy to screw in a hook wherever needed to wire up a part as well.

All I do when I want to paint is staple some poly to the 2x2's and tape it up, cut a few holes and tape in a couple of furnace filters. After that turn on both exhaust fans for a few hours to cycle the air etc. I also wet down the floor but that may not be such a good idea in a unheated space...

So to answer the original question, yes the lamps are inside the booth and on when painting and yes I wear a respirator. I adjust the heat on the parts by using a cheap magnetic thermometer and changing the height of the lamps with the chain. As you are in an uninsulated and unheated area I would build your booth and try it out with one lamp to start as you can vary lamp wattage and colour as well to get more or less heat as needed. Depending on your garage construction putting up a couple sheets of plywood and a couple of cheap bathroom exhaust fans ducted outside with dryer ducting is likely not going to be a expensive or time consuming project.

Just in case you do not know what I mean by "brooder lamp":

 

[Toyo FJ40]

I painted my 40 with kerosene heaters running while I sprayed. I heated the garage up with a torpedo heater than ran 2 kerosene heaters while I painted. I didn't have the heaters near where I was painting and the old shop leaked so much air I wasn't worried about the fumes igniting. If it didn't stir up so much dust I would have painted with the torpedo running. If you can get the shop warm with a space heater you can use heat lamps while painting to keep it warm and then back to the space heater after the paint sets up.

Kevin

 

[semlin]

thanks guys. i have been thinking about brooder lamps, just not sure how safe they are.

I also found these things. wall panel convection heaters with fully sealed elements that don't get over 90 degrees.

ECONO-HEAT - Electric Panel Wall Mounted Heaters

https://www.econo-heat.ca/index.html

 

[jasonmt]

If you have enough vapours in the booth that the LEL is exceeded I would not want to be in the booth even with a supplied air respirator.

As long as you maintain a decent airflow I would not worry about things exploding.

 

[semlin]

i am sure i would not be in the booth, but when i leave it for 24 hours things can happen, such as the fan cutting off unexpectedly. my intent is to have nothing operating in the garage that could spark an explosion if that happens.

 

[Dirtsquirt]

Infared heat lamps

I am with jason.
If you are spraying an automotive paint. they flash (release voc's) for days at room temperatures. With infared I wouldn't worry about explosions or fires (especially after the painting is done) unless the
switch for the lamps is in the booth. the only spark produced would
be if you broke the lamp. unscrewed the lamp, or flicked a switch.

Infared panels have been used in body work for decades. To heat the surface and to aid in curing of paint and after application.

For me its cheaper to run a couple of infared bulbs than heat my entire garage. So i heat my garage .. spray my parts kill the heat and lights and walk away with the heat lamps on em.
for me overnight usually is long enough for the paint to harden enough to be handled by my club fists.

 

[cruiser88]

Semlin I beat myself in the head trying to figure out the name of the airhorn we used in industrail painting then today when Skillets thead came up I remember.


This unit when done right will almost create a negitive pressure . We used a big heavy canvas bag on the one end(which the bag was outside ductaped to the one end) which would not only filter out the fumes but catch all airborne particles even with a dusty garage. It does require good amoun of airpressure

Air movers - Coppus - DRESSER-RAND - Ventilation, Suction

http://www.directindustry.com/scrip...oduit=350531&IDProdSource=&SourceType=Produit

It may not be any help to you but maybe to somebody else.

 

[semlin]

Semlin I beat myself in the head trying to figure out the name of the airhorn we used in industrail painting then today when Skillets thead came up I remember.


This unit when done right will almost create a negitive pressure . We used a big heavy canvas bag on the one end(which the bag was outside ductaped to the one end) which would not only filter out the fumes but catch all airborne particles even with a dusty garage. It does require good amoun of airpressure

Air movers - Coppus - DRESSER-RAND - Ventilation, Suction

Dresser-Rand

It may not be any help to you but maybe to somebody else.

those look pretty cool, but if i am reading the requirements correctly, 47 scfm at 60 psi for the smallest model is a gigantic air hog. that would require a 15hp compressor running continuously to keep up with it! for that it would manage 1370 cfm which is about the same as a 1/3 hp household squirrel cage blower.

Delhi 1/3 hp 1200cfm blower fan squirrel cage exhaust - (eBay.ca item 270368822522 end time 10-Apr-09 16:07:43 EDT)

 

[cruiser88]

No you are reading it correctly. That is the only down fall of these but really..awsome as far as the air they pull.

those look pretty cool, but if i am reading the requirements correctly, 47 scfm at 60 psi for the smallest model is a gigantic air hog. that would require a 15hp compressor running continuously to keep up with it! for that it would manage 1370 cfm which is about the same as a 1/3 hp household squirrel cage blower.

Delhi 1/3 hp 1200cfm blower fan squirrel cage exhaust - (eBay.ca item 270368822522 end time 10-Apr-09 16:07:43 EDT)

 

[Toyo FJ40]

Modine makes the Hot Dawg propain fired garage heaters in a sealed combustion version (the HDS heaters) that uses outside air for combusion.

http://www.djsonline.com/modinebrochure1.pdf

Kevin