Paint booths are one of the biggest investments that an owner or shop manager will make in his or her shop. It is also one of the most commonly used pieces of equipment in a collision repair shop. Continuous usage can cause wear and tear on the booth if it’s not properly cared for.
Improper paint booth care can contribute to costly downtime, hazardous working conditions and increased cost of repairs. A poorly maintained paint booth also won’t yield the best results, which can lead to dissatisfied customers, add to your cycle time and take away from the bottom line. In order to keep your paint booth in excellent shape for as long as possible, proper and continuous maintenance is key.
Best Practices
To improve the quality, efficiency and longevity of a paint booth, shops must follow industry best practices and adhere to the recommended maintenance schedule. An easy way to keep your booth clean is to prevent dirt and dust from your shop from entering the booth. Reducing the number of contaminants in your booth can result in higher quality paint jobs, less rework and increased filter life.
The following are a few tips that will help reduce contamination in your booth:
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• Keep the product doors shut at all times, except when bringing in a vehicle or parts to be painted. |
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• Turn the booth on when bringing vehicles and parts into the booth. |
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• Make sure the vehicle is completely blown off and tacked before bringing it into the booth. Also, use a tack rag on the air hose before bringing it into the booth. |
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• Store necessities, such as tack rags and tape, in clean storage containers, like a magnetic storage box. This allows for the items to be within reach without collecting overspray. |
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• Limit traffic in and out of the booth during spraying. A rotating booth access table can be used to easily move premixed paint and other supplies between the mix room and paint booth. |
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• Do not sand inside the booth. |
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• Wear proper attire — including a painter suit, hood, mask and lint-free, nitrile gloves — at all times when inside the booth. |
Maintenance Schedule
In order to ensure your booth continues to operate in peak condition, maintenance needs to occur on a regular basis. To establish a maintenance schedule, it is best to refer to the maintenance schedule provided by the booth manufacturer. The schedule should provide guidelines for how often to inspect, clean and replace key components of your booth, such as filters.
Filter Changing
One of the critical tasks in your maintenance schedule is regular filter changing. Filters should be changed regularly to ensure your booth continues to run properly and to prevent damage to the fan and other booth components. Clogged filters will also slow down airflow, allowing dirt and dust to collect in the booth.
When determining how often to change your filters, look at your booth’s work hours, as workload may change from week to week or season to season. Depending on your booth and filter, exhaust filters should be replaced at around 50-100 work hours.
In addition to intake and exhaust filters, you may also have filters in your air heater or control panel. Make sure that you’ve identified all of the areas in your booth where you have filters and continually monitor and replace them as needed.
Booth Cleaning
The interior of the paint booth will collect overspray over time. For better quality finishes and safer working conditions, regularly clean the booth walls and floors. Maintaining the cleanliness of the floors and walls of the booth is important to keep dirt and dust out of the paint job — for better quality finishes and safer working conditions.
On a daily basis, the floors should be swept while the booth is in operation, unless it’s a completely grated floor. As needed, booth walls can be cleaned with a soft cloth dipped in a soapy water solution or weak detergent solution.
Booth protection products — such as floor paper and Booth Shield peelable booth coatings — are a simple way to protect your booth surfaces and prevent overspray buildup. Once soiled, these products can be quickly removed and reapplied. Another paint booth floor product that helps to trap dust and overspray is the Pig Grippy Mat. This durable, padded mat can be vacuumed daily to remove contaminants.
Service and Preventative Maintenance Programs
An easy way to stick to a regular maintenance schedule and ensure your booth stays in peak condition is to take advantage of preventative maintenance and service programs offered by paint booth manufacturers such as Global Finishing Solutions and your local distributor. These programs can be customized to your needs and may include just-in-time filter replenishment and replacement, booth cleaning, peelable booth coating application, complete diagnostic checks and emergency service.
Some programs also include weekend and after-hours service to fit within your shop’s schedule and reduce downtime. Preventative maintenance programs can save your business a significant amount of time, hassle and costly repairs down the road.
