making changes to my garage

By Mustie

14 thoughts on “Down draft paint booth attempt”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Atyourserviceable says:

    here is something I now will work and that is get your hands on a furnace hot air blower you know the one with the large drum in it in that C frame blower assembly ,add a one horse motor on the top of it and then gear it up to 3400 rpm and not 1725.Haha standing in front of it will feel like a hurricane..The reason im suggesting this is because when I used to make custom furniture and sprayed lacquer from a spray gun the fumes were gone in seconds almost the same consistency of spraying paint.What I did was build a box big enough to house the fane mounted it on the wall blowing outside and placing a furnace filter on the opening and an exterior on off switch.I suggest you try it first and seefor yourself and if you need even more make a second one placing it on the same wall on the other side exhausting to the outside. but im sure one will be enough.When I had to spray on site I used 2 one at the front door sucking in and another at the back blowing out .The client never smelled the lacquer spray and it never messed up the house .My thinking was if the unit was rated at say 1000 cfm by doubling the speed of the fan the result was now 2000 cfm. and it never destroyed the bearing on the motor or the blower and never had a need for hoses..Ps crack the garage door open about 2 inches
    ..get back to me if you can .If you need a plan for the box I can always send you a drawing

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Marsh Monster says:

    Awesome thought try the dryer flex tubing

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars rundoetx says:

    Those fan vents looks like a mouse interstate highway. lol

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars aa999xyz says:

    you should've gone down the HVAC section they have metal flexible tubes about 25 feet long..

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars blair79 bear says:

    we built a mini paint booth in my shop . about 100' sq and used a furnace fan assembly to suck it out using a 10 ft strip at the bottom about 1 inch wide. blew it out under the door. proved to be real effective. essentlialy a crossdraft paint booth.

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Duncan Mac says:

    How big is your property there? Looks to me like a pretty nice chunk for a city dwelling. Thanks for the videos.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars TheDisorderly1 says:

    Open your garage door 20" and place a row of 20" furnace air filters across the bottom so that all incoming air is being filtered. Add another fan blowing out if needed.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars yard farmer says:

    What if you use plastic Drain pipe that you would use septic tank drainfield pipe and place it under the car or truck you are painting. then plumb into the fan or exhaust. smooth pipe, lots of area. maybe block off some of the holes closer to the fan so it could draw all the way down the pipe? as you can tell i am thinking out loud. please help me figure this one out.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars granskare says:

    just use plastic and it will be fine…:)

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Peter Kartu Music World says:

    Hi mate, yes you are on the right track, but some simple maths. The rule of thumb for booths is "clear it in 60sec". So lets say your garage is 20'*30'*10. That is 3000 cubic feet of clean filtered air that needs to be sucked in, blown down on the job and extracted…every second. Now your exhaust fan is probably 3 foot square and it probably CAN suck 3000CFM no problem…IF you had a 3 foot square hole in the roof and NOTHING in between. If you reduce ANY portion of flow the suck must increase to compensate. That box? those hoses?…noooooo….. So if the smallest part of the system is 1 square foot then you'd need 9000cfm to compensate…HENCE, you are right those few square inches of floor cross-section are the deal breaker. Your idea is good, but not the numbers. Salvation is possible however. Simply calculate the area of your fan blades, look up its cfm and then re design the system so that NO CROSS-SECTIONAL areas is smaller than the fan blade area…bigger is OK, different geometry is OK but not smaller. Good luck and cheers Pete (who loves to paint)

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Brownstone Custom Cabinetry says:

    I think your idea is worth pursuing. The only think I see off is that you set up to much turbulence in the suction design. Fans don't like to pull through smaller openings than the are and they don't like to pull through corrugated piping. Your system is more like a vacuum cleaner than a air mover so I would try using two squirrel cage blowers instead of a fan.

    If the fan is a must have and you hate squirrel cages then I would build a platform and suck the air out from underneath the platform with the fan you have.

    Still keep at it. If your system works you have something that I would buy.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars kidharris says:

    most of the problems I had was dust falling from the rafters and blowing up off the floor. laying down cheap plastic on the floor and hung from the ceiling helps. Doesn't stop insects getting stuck to the paint while it is drying.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars kidharris says:

    First, the idea is to pull the over spray & dust AWAY from the fresh paint, so the air intakes need to be off to the side, not under the car.

    Second, air movement is going to generate dust in the air since the make up air is not filtered, this is why paint booths have enclosing walls and intake filters. Maybe a easy up -easy down clean pvc or metal tube framed tent could be erected in the shop as a booth. Maybe like an accordion attached to an outside wall. The other end could be a lightweight movable filter rack and velcroed in place from the inside just before painting, or from the outside if you build a door into it. You would only need to extend the tent out for painting or sanding large stuff like cars, small stuff could be painted with the tent in the compacted position, so now you have a small and a large paint booth all in one. The blowers could also be run at any time needed. to exhaust the building or for cooling in the summer. Stuff could be stored inside the compacted tent when not in use to conserve space.

    Third, you need massive cfm from the fan with very little restriction to the flow, something capable of removing all of the air in the shop several times a minute. Look at paint booth specs and see how big the blowers they are using compared to the cubic feet of space in the shop. hypothetical example – tent/booth  is 12x20x8 =  1920 cubic feet x 3 times per minute 5760 cu.ft./min and that is probably under powered.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars dekonfrost7 says:

    Dude there is reason downdraft cost 100k the materials ain't cheap. Even a good improvised booths is 2k minimum. Sore but it's a reality

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