Clean Up Your Act: Spraybooths Los Alamos NM

A spraybooth, in simplest terms, is nothing more or less than a fire-retardant box with air moving through it.

By Mark Clark
7/1/1996

How the box is built, where the moving air comes from and where it goes on the way out of the box are the basic issues about any booth. To achieve cleaner paint work, however, you must fully understand these basic issues, along with the bells and whistles - such as lights and doors - that make the booth easier to use.

The Building Blocks

Class I Division I locations where flammable solvents are being sprayed generally require walls and ceilings with a two-hour fire rating. The rating describes the ability of the enclosure to contain flames, hopefully long enough to extinguish them. Two-hour ratings are available by using metal panels, cement blocks or even double-layer, 5/8-inch sheet rock on metal 2x4s.

• Cement blocks - One problem with cement-block construction is the porosity of the blocks: OSHA regulations may call for "smooth" interior walls. Block walls would then have to be filled and sealed to obtain a smooth finish. Sealing the blocks also makes for cleaner paint work, eliminating any place for dust to hide.
• Metal panels - Most all manufactured spraybooths use metal panels to construct the spraying box. Some booths use single-thickness metal panels, and others use double layers with insulation sandwiched in between.

  For many years, rust was a huge problem for spraybooths, just as it was for automo...