DIY installation and assembly of the spray booth

Most cars need to be painted at least once during their service life. For this purpose, a spray booth is used - a special room designed specifically for painting work.

Content:

• Features of the spray booth
• What the camera consists of - a list of equipment
• Types of spray booths
• Production of a spray booth
• Preparing to mount the camera
• Basic requirements for the construction of the camera
• Camera material
• Camera lighting
• Camera ventilation
• Temperature mode
• Camera interior
• The pros and cons of homemade boxing
• Cost of paint box

To get the perfect result, the spray booth should be equipped with all the necessary tools and equipment. Making a room for painting a car is possible with your own hands, if strict requirements and safety precautions are met.

Features of the spray booth

The standard paint kit for cars is a box (camera) with an air ventilation system installed in it, and devices for controlling the temperature. Only under these conditions, it will be possible to paint the car with high quality, reliable. The presence of a filter for the camera is also mandatory - with its help the air mixture will be cleaned, there will be no dust left.

A properly configured hood in the workshop will eliminate the fog from the paint, remove toxic fumes, gases. It is important that the exhaust air exhaust already filtered air, only then the box will comply with environmental standards. It is equally important to have temperature sensors and equipment in the chamber that allows you to configure the desired mode. Another feature of the configuration of the camera for car painting - excellent lighting, allowing you to do even the most difficult stages of work.

If these conditions are not observed, defects when painting a car in a camera will inevitably appear. All modern models of spray booths are equipped with carefully selected and calibrated equipment. If you wish, you can create such a box with your own hands, for example, in a garage.

What the camera consists of - a list of equipment

Under the paint box, you can equip any suitable size premises. After completion of work, there is always the opportunity to restore the previous view of the camera, if necessary. To make boxing yourself, you need to find or rent such equipment on sale:

• air compressor with a pressure of 8 - 12 At, equipped with a receiver, oil and water separator;
• fans - inflation, supply;
• halogen type floodlights (4 pieces of 1.5 kW each) or a heat gun for drying;
• fabric hydraulic filters;
• diode lamps (at least 3 pieces);
• elongated fluorescent lamps (at least 6 pieces);
• reinforced polypropylene film.

Instead of a compressor, some craftsmen buy industrial oxygen cylinders for the chambers. In this case, the application of paint will be convenient, the layer will lie evenly and thinly, due to the use of pure oxygen, gloss enhancers of the paint and varnish material will not be required. The risk is very high, because even with a small spark, ignition in the painting chamber will be instant. It is better to invest in a compressor, and to use a good varnish for shine.

Types of spray booths

By the type of room, cameras can be walk-through and dead-end. The classification of painting chambers is based on the arrangement of a ventilation system. Depending on the indicator, the paint box is organized as follows:

• with exhaust valves around the perimeter of the room on the walls (the most comfortable and inexpensive way);
• with ventilation valves inside the gaps on the floor;
• with exhaust motors on the floor in shallow trenches.

According to the type of ventilation, the cameras are divided into single-engine and twin-engine. In the first case, the air flow is supplied from above, and the fog settles down and is discharged through special channels. In the second embodiment, the first motor pumps air, the second pumps it out of the box. In single-engine models, ventilation valves are floor and ceiling, and in twin-engine models they are wall.

Production of a spray booth

Usually, semi-professional or even less expensive devices are used for independent conversion of cameras, which will allow to paint the machines with high quality, but not at the highest level. For professional painting work, the level of equipment is much higher, which is unattainable without high costs.

All installation work on the arrangement of cameras is performed in 5 stages:

1. Search for premises, assessment of its size.
2. Drawing up plans, drawings, calculations, assembly diagrams.
3. Installing the hood.
4. Finishing, facing of internal walls, floor, ceiling, boxing gates.
5. Installation of furniture, appliances for drying, heating.

Up to 1/3 of all equipment is used to absorb and remove dust, to combat water curtains and droplets of paint (the smallest suspension in the air), because the final result of painting a car depends on it. It is equally important to purchase high-quality drying equipment, because the principle of operation of the box is to thoroughly dry the painted parts using high-power halogen lamps or a heat gun.

Preparing to mount the camera

At the very beginning, you should create a camera project on paper. In the drawing, it is necessary to schematically draw all the main nodes, simultaneously painting smaller parts and elements. Then, at the stage of preparatory work, they are stocked up with all the necessary equipment, equipment for the camera: ventilation system, heat gun, lamps, etc.

On sale there is equipment for equipping service stations and paint boxes of well-established brands - Nordberg (separate equipment), Saima, ColorTech, Metron, Oskas, Thermoprocess (finished cameras), there are good brands from China.

All systems should work in automatic mode. It is advisable to have a generator in case of a power outage - for safety reasons. The room should be locked with reliable locks, because the cost of equipment will be quite large.

Basic requirements for the construction of the camera

There are a number of requirements for the construction and arrangement of a camera for painting machines. The dimensions of the box should be sufficient, not small-sized - so the master will not have problems with the movement and painting.

It is better if the box is made on the basis of metal structures or concrete. Doors should be 2 - sliding or ordinary. The main thing is that they open easily, and in case of fire it would be possible to urgently evacuate employees. Doors should be airtight, otherwise dust and dirt will get from the street.

Camera material

The camera must be made of materials that meet a number of requirements:

• tightness;
• fire resistance;
• the possibility of wet cleaning;
• thermal insulation properties.

Sometimes, to save costs, craftsmen decorate the walls with furniture materials or wooden lining. But such walls will be subject to fire, therefore, wood is undesirable for use. Iron and other metal parts, non-combustible insulation materials (in rolls) are well suited.

If there are steel walls at the garage, they must be insulated. Outside, a sandwich panel with a layer of basalt wool or other refractory insulating material is installed, then another layer of steel is mounted.Joints are treated with silicone sealants. If there is a capital structure made of concrete or brick, the chamber is insulated from the inside, using mineral wool, waterproof gypsum board. After the wall is primed, white powder paint is applied.

Replace the powder paint with a plastic refractory lining that can withstand up to +500 degrees. Why is it important to make the walls white? This color will not distort paint shades when processing cars. For the same reason, walls should only be painted with a matte paint - the glitter dazzles the master.

Often the walls of the spray booths are finished with a special film with the possibility of magnetization. It attracts dust, preventing it from circulating in the air and settling on painted parts of the car. One layer of film can be used for processing 10 machines, then it is updated.

When selecting materials for the camera, you should pay attention to the installation of the floor. The finished floor should allow air to circulate, so special multilayer grilles are installed to ensure the inflow and outflow of flows. If there was a viewing hole on the floor in the garage, it is also covered with home-made iron bars, under which the boards are placed. The duct pipe is taken out of the pit - this will become the basis for lower ventilation. A rectangular pit or 2 trenches a meter deep is dug on a solid floor, and a 20 cm high floor is mounted on them.

The ceiling of the camera in the shape of a rectangle will be convenient if angular lamps are installed along its perimeter. Otherwise, you will have to round off the corners of the chamber, otherwise dust will accumulate in the corners due to air turbulence. Filters are required on the ceiling, which ideally occupy the entire surface.

Camera lighting

The organization of lighting is very important to obtain a high-quality result in the coloring of trucks and cars. It is necessary that the light be bright, but comfortable for the eyes, and the location of the lamps to eliminate shadows and glare. According to the rules of the technological process, the illumination varies between 600 - 2000 Lumens, diffused light.

For cameras painting cars use three types of lamps:

• incandescent;
• luminescent;
• LED light.

A convenient installation option for the light system will be fluorescent lamps or fluorescent lamps, which have a high heat transfer coefficient, are quite economical. The devices are located on the ceiling, and for viewing the bottom of the machine - on the side walls (for example, model K 1339). Their disadvantages include low environmental friendliness and the need for disposal, because inside there are mercury vapor.

Incandescent bulbs are more familiar and very cheap. For the painting chamber, you can use those that have a vacuum flask. It’s best to buy devices with a mirrored or tinted surface. Unfortunately, incandescent lamps have a low indicator of light output, but a large thermal radiation, and the products do not last long.

LEDs are the most suitable option for installing a lighting system in a box. Electricity consumption is very low, safety is high, and the service life is up to 50 thousand hours. High-quality diodes do not blink, do not flicker, are resistant to high temperatures, reliable and durable, however, they are more expensive than other devices.

Camera ventilation

A key role in the quality painting of cars is played by the ventilation system. A properly mounted system performs the following functions:

• removal of fog caused by the use of a spray gun or occurring during painting by electrostatic spraying;
• maintaining the frequency of air exchange and the desired temperature;
• filtration of dirty air, its reverse circulation;
• air purification before painting.

In the design of the chamber, the use of ceiling filters with high performance is mandatory, which will prevent the ingress of foreign substances, dust particles into the working area. It is better to buy two-phase filters, which in the first phase purify the air from large pollutants, in the second - from small ones.

Exhaust air purification needed - this is an important requirement of environmental oversight services. At high humidity, additional compressed air treatment units are used, which have the ability to drain and clean the air flows.

Ventilation must work in the mode of painting and drying. For painting, it is important to supply clean air with a temperature of 25 - 27 degrees, air and dust must be taken from the chamber. When drying, air is supplied at a temperature of 45 - 90 degrees, for which it is important to mount a special heat exchanger.

In the ventilation system, it is important to correctly design the outlet openings that discharge the exhaust air to the outside. Otherwise, “dead zones” with paint suspensions will appear in the chamber. This violates the quality of the painting of the machine, so in the trenches on the floor they additionally put the devices that draw air from the chamber.

Temperature mode

The heating system is required in the garage or other room from which the box for painting was made. With frequent use of the camera, you need to buy a heat generator. For work performed only a couple of times a month, you can restrict yourself to an infrared heater of a household type. Such a mini-heater will be more economical to use.

Another option for installing air heating is a heat generator made independently from a cast iron boiler for liquid fuel. The device will be able to work on waste oil or diesel fuel.

Ready-made models purchased from specialized companies often run on gas. Such devices will also be responsible for drying the car. The main thing is that the heat supply is uniform and continuous, eliminating overheating. For drying, powerful halogen lamps (spotlights) can also be used.

Camera interior

A separate corner or room should be provided inside the chamber for storing equipment, paint, burners, clothes and other things, tools. This will help to avoid inconvenience and damage to devices, personal protective equipment. Directly for the painting process, you should buy conventional spray guns, pneumatic low-pressure devices, airless spray guns or combined systems (the most expensive).

The automatic process control greatly simplifies the work. Automation will require significant costs, but professionals prefer not to save. The control panel has a manual and automatic mode. The built-in timer will allow for precise dyeing and drying, and the result will be no worse than at the factory.

The pros and cons of homemade boxing

Is it worth it to mount the camera with your own hands or is it better to buy a finished one? The benefits of homemade boxing:

• the ability to create a project at your own discretion;
• saving money, including cheaper camera service;
• the opportunity to save money on some nodes of the system, for example, buy used devices.

The camera also has many shortcomings. There is no guarantee that all systems will work for a long time - a breakdown is possible. There is a risk of design errors, because the calculations can be made incorrectly. In this case, you will have to additionally spend money on repair and re-installation of equipment.

Cost of paint box

The price of the box will depend on the selected materials, the number of motors, type of ventilation, the presence or absence of automation. Typically, the cost of a fully equipped camera is at least 0.5 million rubles.

Custom assembly, installation of all equipment causes a rise in price, as well as maintenance with the involvement of specialists. After the installation is completed, it is necessary to register a new type of activity under OKPD 2, to register with the regulatory authorities.