? to all who paint thier own projects

[Cheyenne Super]

what do you guys use for exhaust fans? so far i have found that brushless fans are expensive, especially for no more painting than i will ever do.
thanks

[Longhorn Man]

I did one years ago with no exhaust fan at all...but I don't recomend it.
It came out with only a couple specs of dirt, but I got lucky.

[EighthD]

I used just a regular house fans. One in the window blowing in and one fan blowing out the other window. You could use some kind of filter in front of them so you dont get any dirt or bugs in th e garage when you are painting. You could also use a squerrel cage fan.

[O'l Buck]

I've used a regular house box fan also, but i only used one, for outbound air.

[PICKMUP]

BOOOOOOOM! You're dead! ...if a spark from the motor of one of those fans sets off the fumes. That's why they make "Spark Proof Fans" for paint booths. At least paint away from your house, just in case.

[big71]

for about 10 years i had a attic fan like go in a house and just run it with a filter in front of it now i run a down draft system put your fan close to the bottom and it will pull it down and will be like a down draft system

[bobs409]

No need for fans when you have to paint outside! LOL

I've done many cars and trucks right in the yard. Just have to watch that weather carefully and pick a nice calm day. Oh yeh, watch out for those birds too!

I just painted my truck about 3 weeks ago. Once I get my scanner working, I'll post a pic.

[Cheyenne Super]

My grandfather painted airplanes for boeing in wichita, ks. for over 40 years. He has tought me a lot about the entire painting process. He has also told me all the horror stories of what can go wrong. The thing with paint fumes is there is a real fine line of combustibility. Too rich or too lean there won't be a problem with normal fans. So if I blow the garage up and ruin everything then I know I had the paint mixed right.

Big71 who did you get your booth from. Maybe I can buy a fan as a replacement for a booth and mount it in a custom housing.

[big71]

call me if you need to 1-336-835-4237

[lofly'a]

i've always used what is commonly called a squirrel cage type or centrifical blower. the kind you find in central air conditioning units. i don't actually mount it to the booth rather mount it on it's own stand outside, i use a/c flex duct and cut a hole in the rear of the booth. i've also always used filters for incoming and discharge air. these are usually easy to find at a/c & heat service companies on old units.

[dbenamati]

I've painted a few things in my little garage and so far, I'm still here. I always used a regular household box fan and yes, with a background in chemistry, I know what paint fumes can do. Try and place a fan on the outside of the window or as I do, close the garage door 3/4 down and place the fan ( or fans) at the bottom of the door toward the outside of the door. You can get a good current going if you have a screened window with a furnace filter in it. Paint fumes shouldn't flame if you are using the fan at a distance to pull a draft, now if you have it right up next to the truck trying to push fumes away, it may be a different story. You never know. The guy who painted my first truck had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth the whole time, luck?

[smitty62]

Lofly'a has it right--use a filtered furnace blower outside pressurizing the building. No explosion danger, no bugs, no dust.
USE A RESPIRATOR!

[TheMattMan]

Yea I would be definetly careful about what fan you choose esp. if you don't have enough paint mixing exp. Don't know if homeowners will cover you blowing up the place <g> I have had friends paint in there yard --which amazes me -- the ones who seem to know what they were doing ended up with very little trash they could get out or they looked like they were painted at the beach during hurricane season..lol... I am a little more lucky in that I have this in my backyard (if the image shows...never posted one b4.
and three shops this size

[Bamm]

Thats a pretty tight setup. Always nice to have that much working area. It must be a business setup because if it wasn't I know my wife would have had it filled with junk. I have also always used regular box fans for exhaust. I have probably painted 10-15 cars in the last 5 years and I have never had a problem with them. I stack three vertically in a back doorway of the shop that I use and tape filters to the doorway in front of them. I open a window on each side of the shop at the other end and tape filters in those too for air flow. The first and only time I tried to paint with no exhaust fans, I had a bad case of solvent pop that my paint guru said was becaust there was no airflow. Make sure you clean and wet down the floor good AFTER you have the car taped up and blown off good. Actually I sweep the floor, wet it, pull the car in and blow it off really good, tape it up, and wet the floor down really good again before I start spraying. I also use old drum brake shoes around the tires so that the air hose doesn't get hung up. Later and good luck.......JB