I built, what I thought was a great paint booth, I spent a great deal of time making sure it's sealed real well but I'm still getting dirt in the paint! I first vacuum the booth, then wipe all the walls and ceiling with a car duster then I tack rag the parts 3 times waiting 10 minutes between each time.

What is the proper way to get the dirt out of there? Here is a link with pictures of the booth: http://www.1970chevelle.net/html/paint_booth.html

Lee

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1970 ZZ502 Chevelle (http://www.1970chevelle.net)
My Wife's 1967 ZZ502 Camaro 12.04@115 (http://www.1967camaro.net)
1997 Yukon 4x4 13.7@98 (http://www.blown4x4.com)

Lee, I's pretty hard to get completely dust-free paint work even in the most expensive spray booths. That said, here are some tips that may help:
1.Make sure you wash the car thoroughly to get rid of all dirt and dust hidden in the crevices and cracks. A power washer is best. Then blow thoroughly with air to remove any remaining dirt.
2. Wipe clean with a solvent such as Spies Hecker 7010. Then just before you paint, wipe again with Spies Hecker 7090 to reduce the static electricity that draws dust.
3. Lightly blow again and tack body parts and even masking paper with a tack rag.Use high quality masking paper,not newspaper.
4. Purchase and wear a paint suit. This will keep the lint from your clothes off the car. This will help more than you can imagine
Remember, under ideal conditions, 90% of the dirt will come from your clothes and the car itself.
I hope this will help you. If you have any questions, e-mail me at gvm67442@hotmail.com
Gordon

Although I see home paint booths as dangerous. At the body shop we would wet the floor down. That puts moisture in the air but, it stops the dust from rolling in the booth.

daveseitz - I would agree, but having said that, I spent $400 for an explosion proof fan and installed a grounding rod. I feel just as safe if I owned a shop.

GVMLS6 - I "think" I know what happened, the inner fenders have no dirt in them but the fiberglass hood has a ton, I believe that the fiberglass was attracting the dust. Is there a way to eliminate this with fiberglass parts?

Lee


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1970 ZZ502 Chevelle (http://www.1970chevelle.net)
My Wife's 1967 ZZ502 Camaro 12.04@115 (http://www.1967camaro.net)
1997 Yukon 4x4 13.7@98 (http://www.blown4x4.com)

Lee, don't worry, you booth is safe. As to you other question, use the product I mentioned earlier,SpiesHecker 7090. Wipe the hood and this will get rid of the static.You can test this by moving your arm by the hood before you wipe it down. You will feel the static pull the hair on your arm. Wipe the part and test again. You will be suprised at the results. Most likely this was your problem. If you need to talk more about this, e-mail me and I will e-mail my phone Number.

Gordon VM

I've painted many cars in very sub-standard conditions. As someone else said, it's almost impossible to get a dust free paint job. The previous posters have covered just about all the things to look for. I would just re-iterate 2 or three...

Wash the car completely, high pressure, etc. When you are absolutely positive you've got it clean, wash it at least one more time.

Wet the floor, clean yourself, paint suit is best and removing the static electricity cannot be overempasized. I have what some people call a funny way of doing a final wipe down on the vehicle. I never, ever use a tack rag. I first use a lint free cloth with air, then I go over the car with my hand while blowing with air. That way I can feel any dust on the car and that also helps to discharge the static electricity. I'm a hand-washing freak so I don't worry about contaminating the finish with body oils.

BTW, it's good to see you have a grounding rod. Lotsa people don't use those...if they have even heard of them.

I'm a firm believer that 90% of the dirt comes from the car itself. While I was growing up, I watched the local master painter, paint a car. This was his secret to no dirt. First, he would mask everything tight. No cracks or traps. All seams taped.
Then, he would spray the color in all of the seams and cracks that were left. Then he would spray the masked areas as well. This trapped all of the hidden dirt in wet paint. If there was any thick paint build-up on the outer surafces, he would wipe it off with a thinner soaked rag immediately. Crude, but effective. He never wet his floor and his shop was a mess, but when he sparyed an enamel job that wasn't going to be buffed, there wasn't hardly a speck of dirt in the whole thing. That's what he was known for.

you could also have too much cfm coming from that new fan. You can still pull small particles through those filters. you want to pull the fumes out, not blow them clear down the street. Keep your floor wet down too.
A sponge mop is good for cleaning the ceilings and the walls with also.

I hope you are in good terms with your neighboors. They might think you're cooking up some crack in that garage. My wife gets pissed when I use a spray can.

I posted a topic on this awhle back and most people said it was not a good idea considering the saftey hazards and fines involed if caught. Who knows maybe I'll build one after seeing your masterpiece http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I did some investigation into home made booths some time ago adn found the general concensus of good booths was that a fan was used to pressurize the booth. If you suck the fumes out all you are doing is creating a huge negative pressure inside your booth and every little crack and crevace is an infiltration point for air and dirt. If you pressurize the booth and fiter the incoming air, all the little cracks and crevaces are exits for air and will not all ow dirt in. A filter over an adjustable air port allows you to tune the amount of pressue in the room. In really good booths the exit is in the floor so any dirt and dust that exits from within the car goes straight to the floor and out. Why couldn't a guy run a 6 inch piece of PVC DWV tube from under his car through a wall and a set of filters and have the only exit port for the air through this tube? I looked at Len's booth at http://www.autobodystore.com. JUst som thoughts,

Cam

ss396boy - our laws here are far less restrictive then were you live! Plus I live out in the country. Also, I put filters before and after the fan and there is little overspray entering the air. I had my wife video tape it when I was shooting the blue and there was no signs of paint leaving the fan. I replaced the filters after each session since they only cost .50 cents each.

Cam Sweet - That user makes sense, when I only had 6 filters in place and turned on the fan it just about collapsed the walls and ceiling! But after 12 filters it just sucks the sides in a little but since it's sucking the sides in at all would indicate that it would indeed pull dirt from anywhere not sealed. I think I will put another fan in the front that is filted and duct air in to help pressurize it. Thanks for the good info.

Lee

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1970 ZZ502 Chevelle (http://www.1970chevelle.net)
My Wife's 1967 ZZ502 Camaro 12.04@115 (http://www.1967camaro.net)
1997 Yukon 4x4 13.7@98 (http://www.blown4x4.com)

i didnt bother to read every detailed reply to your problem but maybe i can help a little since you have tapped into my world of dirt in the paint. i paint everyday in a booth but have painted in a homeade one too. your fan controlling your booth at home may be drawing in the air too fast. that will always bring in dirt. if that is not the problem and you have filterd everything out but still having dirt or chunks in the paint after wetting the floor and walls down with water. check your lines. if they are kinda old and you do not have the drying systems bodyshops have that keep the air at a certain temp and humidity out, the lines start to break up inside. especially in pvc. im not saying change all of your lines but try running the air out of the compressor, turn it back on and then start spraying. alot of the junk will blow out and you will be left with clean air.