Reading a trade magazine article about paint booth air flow changed my mind on a setup

I was flipping through a copy of ABRN at the supply house and saw a piece about how many shops have their booth air speed set too high. The article said a study in Michigan found over 60% of booths ran above the ideal 100 feet per minute, which can actually cause more dirt nibs. I always thought faster was cleaner for the finish. Has anyone else tested their booth's actual flow rate lately?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_blair26d ago

Wasn't there a tech sheet that said too much flow can mess with the spray gun pattern? It makes sense if you think about how it would blow the atomized paint around before it lands. I should really check my own booth's numbers now.

sean_foster5210d ago

Yeah that article lines up with what I saw at my last shop... we had the flow cranked way up thinking it was better. Ended up chasing dust nibs for weeks. @kai327 you can use a basic anemometer, just take a bunch of readings across the filter face and average them out. Our numbers were way over that 100 fpm mark too, dialing it back made a real difference.

kai32726d ago

What kind of test gear do you need to check the flow yourself? Is it just an anemometer, or are there other tricks to get a good reading with all the turbulence inside a booth?