Auto Painters, Chime in..

[solekeeper]

Hey guys, lately I`ve been having some issues at my shop.. whenever we paint, we`re getting tiny particles of dust.. I have no idea why. Can you guys offer some suggestions? A buddy of mine suggested cleaning my air hose, so that`s one thing i will try tommorow...

[Brad B]

You don`t mention the environment. I assume its just an open garage situation? Air conditioning blowers are a big problem. Control the air movement . You should seal off the paint area as much as possible. Install filtered ventilation. Plastic walls or hanging vinyl strips are flexible ways to help the situation. Wetting the floor prior to painting will keep dust way down. Use tack rags. There are lots of similar budget minded ideas like this that have worked for me when painting cars.

[C. Charles Hahn]

I assume you mean dust particles showing up as trash in the paint you`re spraying? What sort of air supply, air brush/gun, filter, regulator, etc. are you using?



Further clarification of the issue would be helpful.

[solekeeper]

nope not an open garage, enclosed booth. Cross draft, booth is wet down prior to painting, car is washed..



Iwata Supernova gun is being used to clear, car is tacked off prior to clearcoat as well..? I do however do not have a filter for the gun, could that be it? sorry for being so brief, off to work!

[Ron Ketcham]

Could be the lack of a gun filter, but usually that is redundate, since I gather you filter the paint and reducer as you mix.

Have you cleaned the booth filters?

Is it a down draft booth?

If so, check under the grates for debris and such, clean out the channel, as well as the grates of overspray build up.

Are you using a cleanair setup for the painter and how often do you replace the tyvek suit?

Lots of things can produce a small amount of particle flow in a booth.

Grumpy

[BLKZ06]

Nothing wrong with a cross draft booth..I`ve seen 2K paint jobs come out of a crossdraft booth that looked cleaner than 25K paint jobs out of new downdrafts.



Its all in the painter, how clean the enviroment is, and filters.



What kind of filters are you using? If its the cheapo green/blue tacks- ditch them. Get some hi-quality triple filtration filters such as Speritex or AFR. Check your booth..look for signs of pressure dirt trails..could be caulk in the seams is letting some unfiltered air by. Have you checked your air speed and/or calibrated your fan?



Then, on to the air supply filter? What are you using? I use and only recommend SATA. The best, period. We have tried all the others, and it was a waste of money.

[solekeeper]

i actually solved the problem, it was thew filters.. changed them and i shot 2 hoods the other day and combined, i had about 3 specs of dust. that`s it. I also switched my gun, and used my dads` sata. I may have to sell the supernova now..

[hacadacalopolis]

i actually solved the problem, it was thew filters.. changed them and i shot 2 hoods the other day and combined, i had about 3 specs of dust. that`s it. I also switched my gun, and used my dads` sata. I may have to sell the supernova now..

sounds like a typical case of fisheyes to me