In today’s economy, there seems to be an excess of used spray booths available due to the number of shops that have closed. We have all seen these used spray booths on E-Bay and web-based clearing houses. It seems like buying a used spray booth would be a smart and conservative decision. A spray booth purchase and installation is likely an infrequent occurrence for most companies.
Standard Tools lives in this industry every day and offers the following thoughts:
• The owner of the spray booth likely went out of business, possibly due in part to having a wrong or bad spray booth that was poorly designed and/or improperly installed. This costs the owner significant money in delayed production and poor quality every day that it is used.
• A used spray booth may not be complete with installation and maintenance manuals or other items that were omitted during the installation.
• Many spray booth manufacturers have either gone out of business or have significantly changed their designs over the years. Obtaining replacement parts or information on the spray booth may be difficult, if not impossible.
• Older paint booths may be obsolete and may not meet current building and fire codes.
• A used spray booth may have been altered or repaired by an owner that was not experienced in spray booth design and codes.
• Electrical items may not meet your available power.
• Taking a spray booth down and re-installing it is more than twice the effort required to install a new booth. This is due to tracking of parts, repackaging for transport, and replacing/repairing damaged or missing parts.
• There is no warranty. Buying a used spray booth is a gamble; buying new provides a guarantee from the manufacturer.
Most auto body shops charge $100-$200 per hour for painting, and many industrial shops charge more. The initial savings made by buying a used spray booth can quickly vanish if days or weeks are required to solve any of the problems listed above. Worse yet, there are instances in our experience where the buyer ended up throwing out the used booth and purchasing a new one.
Standard Tools recommendation is to buy a new spray booth built to your specifications and current codes. Installing an auto shop sized spray booth usually takes 2-3 men a few days to install, plus electrical and ducting work. Installing a new booth is the best way to ensure quality and throughput in your shop.
Call Standard Tools at 800-451-2425 for more information on spray booths, powder coating, and auto body equipment.
Visit us at www.toolsusa.com