How to protect your spray booth

Spray booths apply the final process on most production lines, and are usually tucked away somewhere remote from the rest of the factory. Unfortunately “out of sight out of mind” can be a costly mistake. The finish may be the last thing applied but it is the first the customer notices. Finishes need to be perfect every time, but you can’t achieve that from a flawed spray booth.

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Why spray booth design matters

Humidity, airflow, temperature and cleanliness can all impact the results and none are simple to control. You need to achieve reliable isolation from the ever-changing external climate. That may entail heating or cooling, humidifying or dehumidifying, and air-filtering. But that isn’t enough if you can’t control them dynamically.

Not only does the weather change (especially in Britain), but each time products are brought into the booth they change the temperature and introduce outside air. As your operators work they emit heat and moisture, also changing the conditions inside the booth.

The ability to adjust conditions quicker than they can change is the main secret of an efficient spray booth. Your systems must have sufficient power and the controls must be easy to access and set.

Air make-up units are the easiest means of controlling the climate variables inside and ensuring you comply with HSE guidelines.

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One of their most critical components is the spray booth filter. Monitoring and changing spray booth filters frequently is essential, and so is buying good quality consumables.

Getting the most from your equipment

Literally dozens of factors need controlling to get a perfect finish: controlling a spray booth is a skill in its own right. The paints and other coatings come with technical data describing their temperature and humidity ranges, as well as drying times, coat thicknesses, chemical interactions and other factors.

Your equipment comes with similar specifications about temperature, pressures, maintenance and so forth. It is important to understand that none of these factors is independent of the others. For example, high concentrations of spray in the air impact spray booth filters, allowing temperatures to rise. Rising temperatures may then increase the humidity. Humidity may affect the solvent and change the time needed between coats… and so on.

You use your spray booth time after time. Investing in a good one is just good business sense.