I posted the following other at the Target Coatings and got some feedback, but looking for a bit more.
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I am getting ready to take the plunge into spray finishing. I plan on ordering a Fuji Q4 and spraying exclusively water based products. My finishing area is 8′ Wide x 16′ Long x 8′ High and is part of a finished basement space that I’ve installed a heavy plastic curtain divider to separate the finishing area from the rest of the room (wood storage, office space). The long part of the space (opposite the plastic curtain) has a sliding glass door leading outside. My plan is to build and install an insert into the open door space with an exhaust fan. There is a bit of a gap between the top of the plastic curtain and the ceiling and I plan to use filter material in this space and have it as my intake air source (there’s other options as well if this proves inadequate).
Questions.
· Do I need (or is it advisable) to have an explosion proof fan if spraying only water based products?
· I use exposed CFLs for lighting in this space – do these need to be enclosed?
· Is just having the exhaust fan in the open door space (fitted into an insert) and with or without filtering enough? Or should I build a wider “filter bank” and then just duct the exhaust outside?
· If I just use the exhaust fan through the open door space/insert, what’s the best placement for the fan (at ground level, mid-height, at the top, etc?)
· There’s an interesting CFM calculator at http://www.industrialfansdirect.com/CFM.html. Any ideas what I should shoot for in “Frequency of Air Change”
The advise over at the Target Coatings forum was that I don’t necessarily need to worry about having and explosion-proof fan, using uncovered CFLs, or even necessarily venting to the outside (I’d build a filter box with the fan in it).
Looking for more advice as I setup this area. Thanks in advance!!!
Carl
Replies
· "Do I need (or is it advisable) to have an explosion proof fan if spraying only water based products?" You don't need an explosion-proof fan.
· "I use exposed CFLs for lighting in this space - do these need to be enclosed?" No.
· "Is just having the exhaust fan in the open door space (fitted into an insert) and with or without filtering enough? Or should I build a wider "filter bank" and then just duct the exhaust outside?" The fan and everything near it will eventually get clogged up with overspray that hardens on it and is really hard to clean up. It will work, but there are 2 great advantages to making a baffle (there are perforated paper products that look like an accordion sold for this purpose) - first, the paint sticks to the paper and not the fan. You can replace the paper from time to time. Second, even though water-borne is nicer than solvent spays, you're still just throwing paint into the air outside, maybe to your neighbors car or something else... You can catch most of it with a baffle before it leaves the spray booth.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
Get a copy of their Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). It should answer your question. That said, all the one part waterborne acrylic finishes I am familier with are non-flammable and non-explosive. Fume protected devises should not be necessary.
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