problems with filling gaps and paint fumes

Everyone's advice so far has been dead on with respect to the venting of your spray booth. Keep the tubing straight. Check the filter often and check the fan blades behind the filter; if they become coated, you'll get assymetrical circulation and your motor won't last long (like an out-of-balance load in the washing machine), but it can also reduce the fan's efficiency long before it crashes on you. Duct tape, duct tape, duct tape!!!! Use it on all the joints and everywhere the tubing is connected: at the fan, at your exit point, and anywhere in between if you suspect that you have a leak in your tubing setup. You can never have enough duct tape! :) Don't have asoluction for your Green Stuff problem. That's a bit of a mystery. - Ed

A low cost solution might be to go down to a hardware store and see if you can get an in-duct fan to put near the end of your outlet. I have no idea what kind of cfm or voltage these things need, but they are generally intended as a 'booster' for getting furnace air to the ducts that don't carry enough air for the homeowners.

One consideration here is that the fan motor itself will be in the air stream and this has been cautioned many times re: the potential to ignite the fumes in the ducts. Not sure if this would be a significant issue if the fan was placed at the 'end' of the ductwork rather than the beginning.

I would really suggest getting your airflow up because working in these fumes is not a wise thing to do. Your wife will also be very happy ...

M.

If it's not an esthetic problem, then extending the pipe at the outlet a foot or two away from the house may help carry the fumes away. A kinked hose will not pass as much air as a straight one, and you might need to provide a fresh air inlet, such as an open window elsewhere in the basement, since the fan will not remove fumes effectively unless the exhaust air is replaced, and you don't want it replaced with furnace and water heater exhaust.

Thanks for all the positive replies.

For the super glue and accelerator, well I only wait a minute until the glue is set and i still have a hard time sand the stuff. I do not wait to long. I am sand a seam of a model ship where in the towers all can reach real good so I am using one of those wand sandering sticks (plastic and has a belt sandpaper).

The fumes problem, I just do not know, I spray only on calm days and not into wind, my hose maybe to kinky since it is a metal flex hose (6' approx. long) and it sits right next to the window but the curves may slow the fumes down. It also has one of those opening and closing vents for the dryer. The fan may not be strong enough to push up the slats (I just thought of that). The fumes for the paint are not the big problem it is when I open a can of Laquer thinner or denatured alcohol and the fumes do not go out. Maybe that is a problem i cannot cure but my wife may cure it for me and kick me out...let's hope not that one. As far as an intake air vent, I am in a room where the heat is controlled by kerosene heater not furnace. I will just have to save money and try a different spray booth system or maybe to clean the airbrush hang it outside. I will find a solution.

thanks everyone.

Not sure what your situation is with respect to the paint fumes. But I'll throw out this caution to everyone, particularly those of you in colder climates. Most houses have some kind of venting to draw fresh cold air to the furnace. When you vent your paint fumes to the outside, try not to do it next to the vent that draws the cold air back into the house. While I've never heard of it happening, it could lead to an explosive situation Not to mention the fact that it could draw those smelly fumes back into your house. Finally be sure to use a good respirator!
Dave

On the gap filling CA. You can use a debonder sparingly, it will soften the glue a little and makes the sanding a little easier. I put the debonder on a rag and then daub the rag against the excess glue.

You will always have some fumes. Curing paint still gives off fumes.
Lee

Snoopy, good advice so far, but I'll add the following:
1. I use ca glue and accelerator, but I sand it quite soon after (less than a minute). I only apply as much as I know I'll be able to sand in a minute or two. It won't ever be as 'easy' to sand as putty, but the end result is usually better (very hard and can be polished/blended to the surrounding plastic very well). I also wet-sand the ca glue as this seems to keep the sandpaper from clogging up and helps the sanding to proceed along at a faster rate. Djmodels is right though... the longer you wait, the harder the CA will get. You might want to apply some masking tape overtop of nearby details that you don't want to accidentally hit with the sandpaper...
2. Don't have a solution for the green putty problem. I've never really had that happen? Has the plastic been 'cleaned' to remove the manufacturing chemicals that might be on it?
3. As for spray booth blow-back, it could just be that your fan isn't strong enough. The turned-down vent that berny proposes will surely help if the 'wind' is the problem. Here in Canada, I have a bit of a problem in winter where the cold air 'rushes' through the vent-hose and creates a 'draft' going the wrong way. The only thing I can think of to combat it is a stronger fan motor. Straight ducting will help too (ie. the more kinks and twists in your ducting, the harder it is for your fan to push the air through it.) If you are using the plastic flexible dryer hose to carry your air, you might want to change it to some metal ducting that wil have much less air resistance (and make your fan more efficient).

M.

You may be having the same problem with paint fumes I had. My exhaust is on the south side of the house. When the wind blowes from the south, I get fumes in the house when I am painting. I solved this problem by installing a 90 degree downward facing duct on the end. This way I can paint no matter which way the wind is blowing.

The longer the superglue is on the harder it gets and the harder it is to sand it down. I'm not sure how the accelerator fasten this process, but it does. You might want to let the superglue set 'naturally' and wait a few minutes instead of a few seconds to start your sanding down. When I apply putty, I'll either 'clean it' straight away or let it dry several HOURS before smoothing it down with Q-tips and nail polish remover (i'm talking Tamiya putty here, not sure if NPR works with other brands).