I’m spraying Model Master Acryl paints with my airbrush, currently in a makeshift box. So I’m looking at spray booths on Amazon. I do not plan to run a vent to outside. Has anyone tried these?
This first one gets decent reviews but its depth may be an issue. I’ve shown this version as it has a good side view. There appear to be options which i need to understand regarding LED lighting, hose included, etc. on various similar ones. One comment noted it would be about 29" deep with the hose out the back. My workbench (unless I rearrange for it) is only 19" at the higher point where the hose is. Perhaps I could put a 90-degree low profile turn to save a few inches and mount the thing on a plywood board with overhang on the front.
This other one seems more compact, though I’m not clear on where the exhaust emits and whether I can direct it away with some sort of hose arrangement. It may be all I need.
It looks like your second choice just vents out the back.
I haven’t invested in one of these yet, just kind of make-shifting my way along. I do spray some acrylics in the basement, in my own little corner, away from things, but it’s usually just one car or one loco, and not a day of painting.
Both of these units look good to me. I’d probably go for your first choice.
Now you got me thinking things over, especially since winter doesn’t want to give up yet, and I have a few projects to finish.
They are both the same, the second one adds an optional light kit plus the exhaust hose. If you put it near a window, you can clamp the exhaust between the window and the sill to exhaust outside. The in your face position shown is pretty much just for storage, you certainly wouldn’t blow the fumes in your face while painting, and if you did have it clamped in a window but took it out to close the window back up, instead of letting the hose flap around in the breeze, it clips to the top.
As shown in the illustrations - if you have one of those but need wider, they expand, just get a second one…
Filter sets for them are also on Amazon, $10 to replace both filters.
I see, they are all the same except different decals for different vendors, all seem identical to the Master Airbrush version. List price is $80 bare, plus $10 each for vent system and LED lighting. I’ll read all the reviews and probably order the Master Airbrush version since it has a 1 yr warranty and they seem part of a larger company (TCP Global). Some reviews noted the LED lighting can be an issue. I’m hoping I can adapt the rear vent output with less depth requirement.
UPDATE: I decided to buy the one below, $80 including LED & exhaust, as reading reviews did not give me confidence in warranty support from buying from the larger outfit. At this price, with slower shipping, I’ll just hope I’m not one of the 12% of folks rating at 1-2 stars.
Thank you for explaining the hose set up. When I first looked at it I told myself that “I could get high on that!!”[swg][(-D][(-D][(-D]
I share maxman’s concerns about future filter availablity and cost. I’m surprised at how quickly my (home made) spray booth goes through filters. It uses a 16" x 16" furnace filter, or it can hold just filter material if I can’t find the correct size. Several times I have thought that the filter still looked pretty clear but when I changed it the fan speed and air flow increased noticably.
The filter in the back of the booth doesn’t seem like a very good idea to me, especially if you need to buy the manufacturer’s brand of filters.
Depending on what you’re painting and its size, the filter is either in the path of the sprayed paint or is blocked by larger items, such as structures.
Since you’ve already purchased one, though, let us know how it works out.
My home-built spray booth has a top-mounted exhaust to the outdoors, and uses one-half of a standard-size fibreglass furnace filter - very little paint build-up on the fan blades, even after almost 40 years of airbrushing, including commercial work.
I actually have one. I’ve set it up to look at, but I haven’t sprayed paint in it yet. Now that maybe Spring is finally here I can get out my little compressor and airbrush and practice some. I don’t remember the exact filter but the one at the back of the booth appears like you could just use furnace filter for it.
Neither one is some exotic material you couldn’t obtain somewhere else and cut to size should they go belly up, but given the prevelance of them on Amazon, plus Micro Mark selling the same one, I doubt there’s anything to worry about for a long time.
I’ll offer a preliminary update as mine arrived today. I have not used it, so please note that. But it will surely (unless it dies) beat my re-purposed HP printer box. It is not large, but I would not want larger for my HO work.
The setup went ok, basically unfolding it and installing the 3 LED lighting strips. Some reviews noted this did no go well for them, as there are left and right LED assembly pieces that must connect near the filter (each is like a pc power connector) as well as similar connectors on each end of the front LED that must connect to the front ends of the side LED strips. It took some fiddling to get all 4 connectors seated in series but that succeeded, so the lights are on. I would recommend the LED option. But it might be good to leave the booth set up to avoid later connection issues.
Some reviewers noted issues with the (walwart) power supply; i.e, it got too hot. My booth is labelled at 12 volts DC (for the motor, less LEDs) and 1.6A and the included walwart is labelled at 13v DC and 1.5A. Mine did not get warm over several minutes. Perhaps some early walwarts were inadequate (got hot) or it depends on the supplier. My box was labelled “ZENY SKU DO2-1219A Model: Spray Booth Kit” (the $80 Amazon item). Worst case, be open to getting a more robust walwart if yours runs hot.
Some reviewers did not appreciate the fan noise level. I downloaded any old sound meter phone app and it showed 77 dBA (not sure about accuracy). It is not “quiet” but not objectionable at all IMHO. It is far quieter than a vacuum, much less my Porter Cable pancake air compressor (when it’s on) for my airbrush. But louder than our microwave which is at 64 dBA.
Here’s another update, installing the vent system, completed today.
I wanted a convenient semi-permanent location and do not have a window handy but a nice long workbench. So I decided to place the booth in the workbench corner. I only had to move the stereo receiver.
This first photo shows the exhaust adapter that replaces the fan exit grill. One is supposed to be able to just twist the adapter against the rear wall. Protruding tabs on the adapter have angled edges that are supposed to tighten the flange against the back wall. Well, that was not going to work without modifying the tabs or something else as the tabs are not quite long enough and the angles do not look to be cut properly either. So I simply added 4 screws. There is a bit of leakage that might bear some caulk.
Next came adding a 90 degree dryer vent piece from Home Depot. I cut about 1" off the horizontal part that connects to the booth adapter piece, to reduce extension out the back. Duct tape was the sealant of choice. The soft vinyl adapter piece clamped at the top is part of the exhaust kit.
This photo shows the first exit tube, the one from the kit. It works great with the kit adapter atop the tee, as the adapter is not rigid so the hose wiggles nicely into the gray adapter, but can easily be separated if I want to move the booth. It only needs gravity to stay put and seals well.
I don’t recall the numerical ratio, but every bend in a duct creates resistance to airflow equivalent to increasing the duct’s over-all length. There are four 90° bends apparent in the photo, plus the lesser angle where it enters the wall.
Since you’re using only acrylics, it might have been preferable to simply double the filter to catch more of the particulate matter, and skip the ductwork altogether, as the paint has little or no odour.
