discussion Nuther noob air brush question (2)....

[pjgtech]

If you have a proper air brush spray painting booth, with the proper extractor fan vented, etc....
How often do you change the filter thing?
I suppose it depends on how much you paint, eg: lots of painting the filter will clog up faster, less painting and the filter will last longer, etc.
But how do you know when to change the filter, does it change colour or what?
Cheers

 

[Jim R]

I check my filter about every 6 to 8 weeks. I light one of those little tea light candles, blow it out and it makes smoke. Put it in the spray booth and if the smoke goes out I reckon it's working OK. Another check is to put a piece of A4 paper on the filter. If it sticks on OK, if it doesn't then no good.
Regardless I change my filter every 12 to 18 months.

 

[pjgtech]

Yep, should have thought about the smoke test myself, as used to do flue tests with them.... good idea. Cheers

 

[PaulTRose]

I've never had a proper spray booth..... All home built or improvised..... Once made one out of a plastic storage box, a couple of computer fans and a hose from a dryer which got put out the window....worked brilliantly.... No filter since I was two floors up and figured any paint would dry when leaving the hose....... I actually proved that didn't happen since all the paint dried on the fan blades or in the first six inches of the hose...... However the build up of paint on the blades was surprising...... Fans would last about nine months before being coated so much they would struggle, but they were so cheap I would buy new ones

So I would say change the filter as soon as you see a change in 'suck'..... That candle idea sounds a good one

 

[Andy T]

If I notice the overspray is hanging around rather than being evacuated straight away I'll clean or change my filter.

 

[Nicko]

I usually see if the extractor will support a sheet of blue roll. If it falls down, the filter gets changed.....

Nick

 

[flyjoe180]

If I notice the overspray is hanging around rather than being evacuated straight away I'll clean or change my filter.

Same for me. Wish I could find suitable bulk alternatives for the branded ones.

 

[Over_scaled]

If you have a proper air brush spray painting booth, with the proper extractor fan vented, etc....
How often do you change the filter thing?
I suppose it depends on how much you paint, eg: lots of painting the filter will clog up faster, less painting and the filter will last longer, etc.
But how do you know when to change the filter, does it change colour or what?
Cheers

Have you checked out Azon for replacement spray boothe filters, and they are easy to change. And if you only spray acrylics then you can wash out the filter with acrylic thinners, or normal washing up liquid..

 

[rtfoe]

For more than 40 years I don't have one. X-rays haven't shown any blockages...touch wood. I have a fan at my back and an exhaust fan above to suck out through the window. The odour still lingers in the room which keeps the dogs and cats out.
I think it's different here in the tropics as we have a very open concept throughout the house with every window open. On a good day you will get a breeze from the front to the back of the house. Kuala Lumpur is situated in a Valley in a low basin far from the coast with a mountain range in the interior. Somewhat like a Chinese frying pan or wok where heat is concentrated in the center. Not much wind with clouds circling overhead and creating a pressure cooker effect, thus the strong humidity. That's why it rains like clockwork.

Follow Jim's practise, I think that suffices.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Jim R]

Wish I could find suitable bulk alternatives for the branded ones.

They are certainly not cheap. I have recently spent £55.20 for three filters for my Benchvent. They will last me for at least 3 years but even so

 

[pjgtech]

Have not looked at replacement fan filters yet, which are the "branded" ones, and should I avoid "cheap" ones?

 

[Tim Marlow]

Wow, that’s pricey.

The cheap blue ones only collect particles, not vapours, anyway, and are just layers of filter matrix. They do not remove anything else. In my opinion the cheap booths just collect overspray, and I’m happy with that. To collect fumes you would need a booth with an activated charcoal filter and change it every couple of months. Vastly over the top for a hobby user.

Therefore, when the filter in my cheap old booth gets discoloured I put it through the washing machine (put a cleaning cycle on afterwards to get the residue out of the machine), dry it, and use it again. I only replace it when it starts showing signs of breaking down. This happens every third or fourth wash.

I do use a filter mask when spraying, and keep the window open afterwards to remove fumes, because I can’t vent mine out of a window. The mask is my primary PPE

If you want to get technical with this (extremely unnecessary in my opinion) you would need a rotary vain anemometer to measure face velocity airflow in several places before use, and change the filter if the velocity falls outside of the range 0.3 to 0.7 m/s. The anemometer would also need to be calibrated every three months to ensure it is reading accurately. This is standard safety cabinet protocol in industry. If you feel the need to go down this route, you are probably in the wrong hobby

 

[pjgtech]

So if the cheap filters just remove particles, could I buy something like the thin sheets of cooker hood charcoal stuff, and add that either in front or behind the cheap particle filter or would that not work, or am I simply overthinking this, Lol, probably....

 

[Jim R]

I was told by Benchvent that if the booth is vented to the outside a charcoal filter was not needed. The charcoal is only needed if you're recycling the air.

THIS is what I use. Filters are not cheap!!

 

[pjgtech]

I am literally like a dog with two tails.......or a little child......on Xmas morning..... with a big pile of pressies just waiting to be opened up.....
Still not tried the new AB / compressor yet, (apart from checking its all working ok) as I'm now waiting for the new spray booth to turn up!
I saw a great idea on T'interweb for newbie AB users, and its to get a Colouring book, so will train you to get the paint in specific places, etc, so have ordered one of those too, Lol, Good to practice with and it can't hurt can it.....

 

[Jim R]

Colouring book is a good Idea. Only downside is that the paper is absorbent whereas model kits are not so you can get away with laying down more paint on the paper which would flood on a model.
You've every right to be excited. If the hobby doesn't excite then you're in the wrong game

 

[Tim Marlow]

I was told by Benchvent that if the booth is vented to the outside a charcoal filter was not needed. The charcoal is only needed if you're recycling the air.

THIS is what I use. Filters are not cheap!!

Completely true Jim. If you remove the air to the outside, the fumes go with it. Good point to go with it….do you need the expensive particulate filter if you do this? A cheap filter roll could be cut to size and do the same job. After all, if you vent outside, the filter is really only protecting the outlet tube and fan from overspray. Food for thought…..

 

[pjgtech]

I've gone for a slightly wider, double fan, spray booth too, so should have plenty of "suck", Oo-er Missus!

 

[Jim R]

Stupidly I didn't consider a generic filter roll. I just went with branded filters. It wouldn't be difficult to fit a new piece of filter material into the frame.
I have just bought 3 and had one already so probably good for the next 3 or 4 years and by then I hope to have won the lottery and so I'll go for gold plated filters just to show off

 

[Tim Marlow]

When you factor in the time needed to fit the filter into the housing, it’s probably not that dear, and I’m sure you’d rather be making models than fitting fabric into a frame anyway Jim