indoor ventless spray booth

The questions that immediately come to mind are: How long do the respirator cartridges last? How do you know when to change them? Is the 5 gallon bucket a gas bomb?

Kitty litter will absorb liquid, but it may not hold it that well, and slow evaporation could both use up the respriator cartridges and pose a respiratory/fire/explosion hazard. It might be better to use something like "oil-dry" (the stuff auto shops use to absorb spilled oil) and charcoal (which will absorb and hold most organics).

Also bear in mind that if there ever is a fire, the plastic bucket will burn rather nastily.

All that being said, it might work, and may be better than nothing.

For the type of windows you have, you could also cut a piece of plywood or similar material to fit where the screen would normally go, and build your vent into that. When  you want to paint, pull the screen, insert your vent panel, and turn on the blower. When done, remove the vent panel and replace the screen.

i thought about the explosion hazzard part of it and it seems that with positive airflow there really isn't much vapor left (leave it on a few minutes after your done) as far as how long the cartriges last....they seemed to last for a long time when i used a face mask type when painting 1:1 cars,you should be able to tell though when they aren't exhausting air like they should,,,,on the kitty litter front,i just want it to catch and hold particulate matter,not so much the vapor,as the charcoal would,i'm trying to get rid of them ,not store them inside the bucket as i think the charcoal might have a tendency to do,then become more combustible....i'll keep the testbed going for a while,i'm just curious if it can work for all those who have no way to vent to the outside....i'm by no means an engineer,so if there's any one of the big brains in here,help me out

The stuff that's catching the organics in the respirator is charcoal—possibly enhanced and "activated."

There was a HVAC pro in the forums at one time—can't remember who he was, though.

i know about the cartridge part,it's just a much smaller amount than the 2" in the bottom of the bucket..man, i feel so close to something good for us here,but i'm stuck on the science and enginnering part....it's gotta be possible,practical and affordable

I'm not an expert, but I used the actvated carbon a bunch when I kept fish as a filter medium.  In that capacity, the question came up on afew forums about recycling the carbon and it was said that once chemical ar absorbed intot he carbon, you have to heat it to some ridiculously high temperature (at least for non-industrial equipment) before they will be released.  From that, I would surmise that once it'sstuck in to the carbon, you should b ok under most circumstances.

lone wrote:

i thought about the explosion hazzard part of it....

Aw, c'mon, lone. We're in the South. Sounds like a perfect "Hey y'all, watch this" moment.

jwb wrote:

lone wrote: i thought about the explosion hazzard part of it.... Aw, c'mon, lone. We're in the South. Sounds like a perfect "Hey y'all, watch this" moment.

that's indeed why i placed the bucket behind my wife's work chair,,,if anything goes wrong ,she'll tell me all about that too!...lol

since i live in a apartment i want to make a paint booth that dumps the overspray and all the fumes into a tank that when full i can take outside and release the fumes through a filter  that way they stay out of my apartment my only problem is how to get the fumes into a tank and if it would work any comments on the idea would be appreciated thank you

  fockwulf

that's the reason for the inverted filter cartriges,,,there are no fumes,,,,,it's the same as breathing through a respirator only backwards,the cleaned air re enters the room...mine's working well so far with no noticable fume odor

I need to work something out for a spray booth. Would a picture of the setup be possible?

my spray booth or the vent container?

lone wrote:

my spray booth or the vent container?

Both, silly!

i'll bring my digi cam home tomorrow and snap a few,,,,if i knew how to draw on the PC i could easily make a diagram,,,,,,,if your able to do that,follow the directions above as to how i made the vent sys,(obviously i'll never get a patent,i can't even draw what it looks like)

A couple of initial concerns

1.  Big increase in pressure from your setup is going to require a bigger fan to push the air through your system.  Not sure that the kitty litter is really going to help, except provide weight to keep the bucket from tipping over

2.  Respirator cartridges will expire prematurely.  If you're living in South Carolina, humidity in the air will cause your cartridges to fail pretty quickly--especially if the spray booth is running steadily at several hundred cfm.  Respirator cartridges are also designed to catch vapors and adsorb them onto the activated charcoal at a fairly fixed flow rate constistent with human inhalation.  Your setup, running at considerably more than the rate humans breathe, should be blowing vapors through the cartridges unless you have some way of damping the airflow--which is going to require a bigger fan, etc.

3.  Cost for replacement cartridges is going to become a problem fairly quickly, unless you have a cheap supplier--or you're independently wealthy!

4.  Pigment filtration always occurs on the suction side of the fan.  The idea is to prevent pigment build-up and eventual balance problems with the fan blades...or create a fire hazard in your ducting.

5.  Depending on the size of the bucket and airflow through it, vapor concentrations over time may become a potential hazard...

Sorry this post is late.  I haven't been on this forum in about a month....

Gip Winecoff

i  already "used up" the first set of cartriges and the backpressure is also a problem,,,,,,oh well,i thought i was onto something,though it did work

Gip knows his stuff, listen to him. ;-)

OK, I don't always see the big picture but why not have some flexable dryer hose and just run it out of your window while painting? When done pull it in and close the window? I try to practice the kiss principle.   Greg.

i have a vented spray booth that i use all the time,i was trying to see if there was anything that can be done for those who don't have a window (basement,apartment,closet,etc...),,,some just have the tiniest spot and not the right layout,so i was trying to see if there was indeed a ventless solution