As of June 18, 2010, autobody shops, manufacturers, and distributers in Canada will be required to use waterborne compliant auto refinish coatings or a similar solution to limit VOC emissions into the environment. Automotive body shops that have remaining inventory of non-compliant coatings will be able to use up their inventory as long as it was purchased prior to the implementation date. These new regulations will impact products in Canada as well as products being shipped to Canadian shops.
Month: October 2009
Waterborne Paint Conversion for your Auto Body and Industrial Shop
Waterborne conversion is coming soon! Auto Body Shop and Industrial suppliers will only be able to provide low VOC products after the conversion. Is your shop ready or do you need insight as to how to make your collision or industrial shop waterborne compliant? You might need paint equipment upgrades as well as additional training to ensure a smooth waterborne conversion.
What has your body shop done to get ready for the new standards?
When will your auto body shop convert?
Call or email Kelly for more information. KellyG@Standardtool.com
Paint Booth Fire Protection
NFPA-33 Spray Application for Flammable and Combustible Materials requires an automatic fire protection system for all spray booths. Here are some frequent questions about this paint booth issue. This information is offered as a guide; your local inspector and fire marshal will be experienced in their interpretation and local codes.
- Who do I buy this system from? – These systems are made by only a few certified manufacturers like Amerex, Pyrochem, Anzul and Badger. They can often be purchased through the spray booth seller.
- Can I do the installation myself? – No. Installation should be done by a licensed installer.
- What if I have a wet sprinkler system in the building? – A self-contained system is designed to extinguish a fire in the paint booth, plenums or ductwork, all areas that the building’s system will rarely reach. Some smaller, limited-use open-face paint booths may be approved by your local authorities as being adequately protected with the building’s wet sprinkler system. Consult your local inspector and fire marshal for that specific application.
- Are there size limitations to the booth? – Yes. Open-face spray booths should be no more than 12’ high due to the design limits of these systems. Higher open-face booths can be protected but at a significant cost. The larger the spray booth, the more ductwork and the greater number of fans all add to the cost of the fire protection system.
- What are the maintenance requirements? – After the initial installation, most system providers can be contracted for annual inspections. This annual inspection will include checking the pressure of the chemical tanks, the mechanics of the system, the fusible links (the automatic part of the system) and the control panel. They will apply an inspection tag much like a portable fire extinguisher’s. This contractor should be notified after any trigger event of the system or when any question arises about the system.
- What is the major difference in wet versus dry systems? – NFPA-33 allows either system. The dry system is designed using the same technology as restaurant fire protection system made to work on oil/grease fires, mush like the solvents found in most paints. A wet system simply works with water and may not stop a solvent-laden fire as quickly as the dry system. The dry system should work better in corners, ductwork and plenums. The dry system should be easier to clean up after a suppression event.
Fire protection is one of the main reasons to have a spray booth, along with providing a clean spraying environment, fume/overspray controls and safe lighting. A paint booth owner must complete the process of building a spray booth by making sure that a certified installer completes a pre-designed fire protection system and that the system is maintained.
Shop Paint Booths: Industrial Paint Booth, Woodfinishing Spray Booth, Automotive Paint Booth
System for Cleaning Paint Booth Air
Tools USA responded to a question on a Collision Hub Blog that we wanted to share on our blog.
The paint booth user needed to replace their system for cleaning air used in their spray booth. One company suggested they would need a refrigerated dryer.
Air refrigerators and air conditioners are equipment used for extreme environment conditions or super-sensitive spray applications. Some of these conditions may be very long periods of super-high humidity, very dirty air supplies, and nano-technology paint materials.
There are spray booths in all parts of the USA, spraying the vast majority of paints and powders, without using this expensive high-end equipment.
We recommend our most popular dryer “THE EVAPORATOR 10 LB DESICCANT AIR DRYER“. We sell a lot of these to shops for use on their paint booth just for cleaning the air prior to going into their paint gun.
Here are some of the benefits of this dryer.
• Oil-free air
• Super low relative humidity – 1.5%
• Can be mounted on wall or floor
• No electrical parts or motors to explode
• 95 times dryer than a MOTO GUARD filter
• 81 times dryer than a LAMANS Filter/Dryer
• 81 times dryer than a DeVILBLISS Filter/Dryer
• 26 times dryer than a REFRIGERATED Dryer based on 70 F entering air 100PSI
• FOR SHOP COMPRESSORS
• 3 YEAR WARRANTY
Fire Prevention in Spray Booths
Top 10 Really Bad Ideas for Spray Booths (or What a great way to have a fire!!)
- Using any electrical device in a paint booth.
- Thinking how cool it would be to have an electrical outlet in the spray booth wall.
- Smoking in a spray paint booth.
- Grinding or welding in a paint booth.
- Not using a licensed electrical contractor to wire the booth lights and fan.
- Not performing routine maintenance of cleaning the walls/ceilings/floor or changing filters.
- Not installing an automatic fire suppression system.
- Not assembling the spray booth as shown in the manual.
- Using your spray booth to store excessive paint or other combustible materials.
- Not training your booth operators about fire safety.
The NFPA-33 standard defines the safety requirements for spray booths. This standard is available through Techstreet. This is a good investment that will save you money, but you might not have that great fire story to tell your friends.
Shop Paint Booths at Tools USA.