[JimKramer]

Hi Guys,

I am painting more cars now and my current set up of two box fans framed in the door way isn't enough. On small jobs they are fine but lately I seem to be painting huge cars. I thought a good belt driven squirrel cage type fan could do the trick. Does anyone know where I can get one at a reasonable price? Home Depot and lowe's doesn't sell them. Maybe you have a better suggestion than mine, I am open to anything.

Thanks.
Jim

[Bee4Me]

Most ANY heat & air shop will have a bunch laying around. Most will give you one. Finding a belt drive may be tough as they aren't used much anymore but some are still to be had. An old "Swamp Cooler" is another source. The old evaporative units with the water pads in them.

[pumpkin35]

Try dumpster diving around houses that are being renovated. The last one that I got was laying on the curb next to the dumpster. Safety Note!!!!! Please put something on the intake To keep things from getting sucked in ( It will also keep people from calling you Larry 4 fingers.)

[nick62877]

got one out of a junk furnace sitting on the curb.

[steve t]

i welded a axle on mine, put 2 wheels on it , and a long handel, to pull it around,

[Rob Keller]

when you do find one if you take a piece of Luann board and slowly slide it across the intake you will find that when you get 1/2 way across the rpm's will pick up and it will pump 2 times the air

sr66

[62galaxiguy]

guy was replacing his furnace had to remove it (simple job) and man does it throw al lot of air around. dont try to buy a new one there over a 100.00. mikew

[antiquecar]

Just remeber to filter the air coming in. That is where your dust and bugs will come from. Go into the industrial area you live in and look for old atic fans. They were usually driven by belt
Jan

[Blaster]

Just has a suggestion, I would stay away from any belt fan around a paint job, because of the black fine powder that the belts give off during normal wear and tear. I am in the HVAC trade, and plan on using, what I can get either 120vac(normally gas furnace) or 220 vac direct drive squirrel cage's for my paint job......Blaster

[mrcleanr6]

i just happen to have one here. its been a while since i have looked at it but if i remember right its 3 speed and around 3/4hp. its direct drive, motor is in the center with a blower on each side. last time i hooked it up it worked good and really moved some air. if you cant find one you can pm me or email me at jim@xtremekreations.com. if you want a new one then goto www.granger.com but for one that moves alot of air your talkin big$$$.

[baddbob]

I've got one that I robbed out of an old large forced air furnace, direct drive three speed. I use it to help supply air on the intake side and use a booth fan with sealed motor on the exhaust. You may already know this but, if you're not using a sealed explosion proof motor on the exhaust side there is a chance of explosion if the right amount of vapors are in the air. People have done paintwork with normal box fans like you for years but I'm sure there have been a few fires.

[Bee4Me]

Just a note. Most direct drive varieties are PSC motors and are reasonably safe to use IMO. The only sparks would be from a switch to operate it or a failure of the motor windings causing it to short out or burn. A lot of the old belt drive units have a centrifugal switch to kick out the start winding of the motor and WILL spark each time the motor starts as the unit comes up to speed and opens the switch to kick into the run winding.
Use these at your own discretion and always "Safety First" with things that go BOOM.
The furnace blowers are designed to operate with a certain amount of static pressure (load) against the flow. This is why you generally have to block off some of the inlet or outlet to create this load or the motor will run slow and WAY over it's rated amperage load.

[67goat]

I Just Searched On Ebay For Blower Fan You Can Get One I Think Like Youre Talking About The Little Squirrel Cage Blower Fans Anywhere From 49.00 To 100.00 , Take A Look At Them , Might Help? , Mike.

[fat_tire_freak]

Hey, worth a shot, I'm in the HVAC trade. You might try locating a nearby hvac buisness and seeing if they have old units you could comb thru. I know my company just recycles the equipment and would have no problem letting part go. Many of these units are ok just being replace due to age.

[kenseth17]

I finally broke down and bought an attic fan that was on sale and used it for the last car I painted after choking on overspray using a little box fan for years. I put filters in the window in the garage, and filters before the fan for exhaust sitting under the garage door and put up plastic. The fan is rated at 3000 cfm. I ran it on low and it still did a pretty good job at clearing out overspray. A big difference over the box fan and the car came out fairly clean also, better then normal. Now if I just get some more lighting, it might be somewhat enjoyable painting in the garage. My dad has a renzor heater with a 1/2 hp motor and squirrel cage that he bought when I use to do some work by his place, but never got gas run to it. I was going to rob that, but broke down and payed for the attic fan, already got good use out of it just cooling off when we had a bunch of hot weather recently and reached 100 in the garage. If you break down and buy a decent size fan, you won't regret it.