Spray-booth Explosion

Matt,

Most people use a squirrel cage blower motor that you can get from places like Grainger.


They are not "explosion proof" but they do seem to work well from what I hear.
If you want a certified "explosion proof" blower it is going to be very expensive.

Mike

yeah......what Mr. V said and the fan pic he offered is exactly the one i used in my home built @ (495 CFM).......from Grainger.
what about installing a filter assy. between the spray chamber and the exhaust fan..........my home built had sort of an evacuation chamber between the exhaust fan and the spray chamber with said filter..........

worked great until i donated it to a young beginner........

A BRUSHLESS motor is the way to go!!!!

awesome, thx a lot guys!! so, where could such fans and filters be purchased??
BTW cirikili, didn't u hav to clean that filter every once 'n a while, and if so, with what??

thx for responding guys, really helps!!

-matt

I thought all moters have carbon brushes..

Another idea is put the fan on the clean air side blowing towards an exhaust point, that way the fan and fumes never meet. Might take some work to keep the work area from blowing away though.

Something like this

Fan----------> work area ----------> Vent----->

Instead of the more common

work area-----> vent -----> Fan---->

or

work area ---> fan---> vent

I don't see why with a little experimentation this wouldn't work just as well.

Most of the hobby spray booths have the shaded pole blower like Mike has posted. I used it in a homemade bench and it works great. As Mike said, explosion proof motors are cost prohibative for most people.
Use of acrylics will also cut down the risk.
Volatiles have a habit of finding ignition points. A friend years ago lost his eyebrows and facial hair as the fumes from the Acetone he was using crept down the stairs to the water heater and flashed. He was real lucky.
The best practice is to get the motor out of the air flow, which is what a shaded pole blower does. Putting a fan at the beginning is putting you between a possible ignition source and a possible fuel.

Here's the link that has been around here for a while and will give you tons of good info and a link to grainger for fans.

http://modelpaint.tripod.com/booth2.htm

wow, I guess then u could say that every time I go down to my work bench, I'm pretty lucky. see, my workbench sits right next to the back heater of the house. not really NEother places to put it though. there's another heater in the front too, and no place upstairs.

thx a lot for the input guys, it really helps!!