Hot Rod Forum banner

Temp. Spray Booth didn't work very well

7K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  fordSR 
#1 ·
Anyone contemplating using a temporary spray booth like the one pictured in my gallery should be aware of some problems I encountered. Note the air filters in one end and the blower in the other. The blower capacity changes the air in the booth about every 2 1/2 minutes. All primers were sprayed outside the booth and no problems were encountered. On the first day of applying PPG Base coat, 6:30 am, air temp 60 deg, reducer DT870, humidity 60%, clear skies. First three coats on small parts went on well, by now it's 8:30 and suns up brightly. Air temp in the booth about 70, all should be going well at this point but the UV penetrating the the sides and top of the booth have the body parts heated to at least 90 deg. Dry spray now a real problem, changed to DT895, made very little difference. Stopped painting for the day, dry spray now a repair issue. The remainder of the project was painted including the clear coat, between 3:00 am and 6:00 am. As soon as daylight appeared, the temp in the booth began climbing, painting stopped for the day.

My next painting project will heve the booth constructed inside my garage, or if outside will have some type of structure built over the plastic covering to sheild from the UV. Consider this: all paint manufactures Tech Sheets assume professional paint booth with controled environment and consistent air temps. I was amazed by the effect of the UV, cool air doesn't mean cool body parts.

Hope this helps anyone considering this type of spray booth.

Jim
 
See less See more
#4 ·
Lectures from Science: UV doesn't do much about heat but it's short wavelength breaks chemical bonds and destroys paint. IR (infared) is the stuff that heats things up just by shining on them. Aa lot of places use IR lamps to accelerate drying on spot repair. The plastic in your temp. booth has almost no effect on the IR - it goes right through and heats the body up directly.
 
#5 ·
There have been many post on this Forum about temporary spray booths built using plastic sheeting, some inside garages, under carports, even outside such as mine. I took the design elements of some of these and incorporated them into mine. None of the problems I encountered have been discussed on this Forum to my knowledge so I thought my experiences might be of benefit to others comtemplating a similar setup. The main point I'm trying to make is that for whatever the reason, IR I assume, the plastic amplifies the heat raising the temp. of the parts to be painted well above what I expected and well above what they would have been had I not used the plastic and just painted outside in open air.

I had hoped to avoid the expense of lights but I now think that cannot be avoided. If I were to do it over again I would build this booth inside my garage with lights along the sides and top. Another alternative might be to build outside but use the construction foam sheets available from Home Depot. The one I'm talking about are blue in color and 3/4" thick by 4'x8' and use duct tape to seal the seams. Still thinkin' about it.......
Jim
 
#6 ·
I would just try to find and rent a paint booth. By the time you spend building this booth you could have had your car painted. Time is money, even though it doesn't cost anything or much to build, just think how much time you have involved. I rented a paint booth last spring for $75 a day and didn't have all of the hassle.
 
#7 ·
Foam Panels

If you use the blue foam panels to build a spray booth, you will need to line them with plastic sheeting. The paint chemicals will eat the foam, otherwise. You will also need to use latex construction adhesive to glue the panels together. Normal construction adhesive will eat away the foam, too.
 
#8 ·
I looked at the pictures in your gallery; that booth looks really nice. It's too bad it didn't work out too well. I've had fairly good results with a booth made in the garage. As you noted the main problem is getting enough light. I keep getting more lights but it still isn't enough. I think I'm going to have to go all out and buy a bunch of flourescent light tubes and mount them on the walls and ceiling.
The worst problem with mine is that I leave part of the door open for the exhaust. This works fine until evening and the bugs are attracted to the light. A few days ago I had a beautiful coat of clear ruined by a little fly. DOH! Now I'm going to filter the exhaust too so that nothing can get in.
Anyway, good luck with your next booth.
dh
 
#9 ·
So my brother calls me the other night. He says that the paint he has is no good because he can't get anything but dry spray. I ask him what temp. reducer he's using? He says 60 degrees. I ask him what's the temp of the booth? He says 85...

Temp and humidity is a HUGE concern when painting. It's probably better not to use a booth and just paint somewhere where there is no direct sunlight and constant temp/humidity. You probably would have been better off painting at night and putting a small heater after painting just in case the temp drops. (safety concerns with flamable vapours)

If I'm painting something special, or just want it to look nice, it doesn't see daylight for at least a week. Automotive paint takes about 30 days to fully cure, at least that's what the reps said. I believe it. Notice how you can smell solvents for about a month after you paint it, and longer if the car body really heats up? Solvents are evaporating for all that time, and if the vapor can't escape faster than the upper layer will allow it to...orange peel.

I shot a car once and thought that I could force dry it by letting it sit in the sun. (about four hours after painting it) After about eight hours it was orange peeled, where it was a mirror when I put it out. The side of the car that was shaded wasn't bad but the hood, roof, trunk, and the other side was just like Florida goodness. It calmed down a little bit after it cooled, but wow, what a learning experience.
 
#10 ·
Are there any good options for spraying outside? Plastic on a cloudy day? 1/4 plywood roof and or sides with shoplights? foam?

It would be pricier using wood especially covering the whole thing in plywood, but if its the only option and it works so be it. I have no access to a garage and really want to get into painting...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top