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The slab for my new woodworking shop is scheduled to be poured the end of next week. The contractor will order the steel on the 17th. I have a double squirrel cage fan(two 28'' diameter blowers with a 3 or 4'' axle ruuning through both. I thought that this would make a nice overspray fan because the motoris on th outside of the box and should be totally isolated from flammables. But, after some contemplation, I'm not so sure. The whole box is about 86''x29''x29'' and should pull a lot of air with a 5HP motor but I wonder if the vanes in those blowers would eventually clog with paint.
Does anyone know of a good place to order an overspray fan? I also need a source for an exhaust fan ,with closeable louvers, for the gable which would pull about 20000CFM.
Thanks for the help.
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com
Posts: 7405 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Please be careful....two reasons,one you need to be legal,and you need an explosion proof fan to do that.You can buy one from Grainger @ grainger.com they are quite expensive....450.00 and up.The second reason is when you flip the switch to turn the fan on it creates an arc....that's what ignites the explosion.You might only have a new shop for a short time!
Posts: 71 | From: Spring, Texas USA | Registered: Aug 2001
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Wayne..I use an exhaust fan manufactured by DeVilbiss. I tworks great...The fan is run by a pully/belt system where the actual motor is located outside the spray booth and out of the flow of the fumes/overspray.
I once worked for an autobody shop that had a variation on the same fan but they used a truck radiator fan. Theu had welded up a framework to hold the fan and it was also driven with a belt/pully system. The difference was that the fan was about 2 feet in diameter and it moved air VERY well!
A squirrel cage fan is a very powerful fan, more powerful than a regular blade fan...BUT the vanes DO get clogged up fast and lose their effectiveness quickly. It is a lot easier to clean a 3 or 4 bladed conventional fan than it to clean a squirrel cage fan with 50 or 60 vanes.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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I have a 48" exhaust fan.It uses an external motor..belt driven..Like Dave is talkin about.Its yours.......come and git it......or pay the freight.Come on Wayne...bow season starts next week...... I always figured on stealin the fan blade and usin it as a propeller for a homade 60 foot submarine. One of the priveledges of bein a packrat! It needs a motor......prolly a 5 horse anyway.... Spin it slow..quiet......louver doors are easy to buy
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Joey, that's a good idea. Could you use, like, air conditioner filters?
Steve, Glenn, that's a good point and the reason I want the motor outside the airflow. I guess a switch that doesn't arc would be a must. We spray waterbased paints most of the time but do occasionally use FirstStep which contains Xylene and Toluene (Nasty Stuff). I think induction motors don't spark as opposed to the ones with brushes which do.
Dave, thanks for the advice about the squirrel cage. I won't be useing that for sure.
Michael, that's very nice. I can't make the hunt for a while but man I sure want to. Have to get this shop set up. Very tempting. Josh has been practicing faithfully with his bow, has his stand set up. Deer don't stand a chance! I'll send you an e-mail about the fan. Thanks
Posts: 7405 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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I'm putting a fan in my shop as we speak.The electrical, my electrician told me about....something I wanted to make you aware of that I just reread on is the fan blades create a spark.The one I bought costs700.00 I didn't want to pay that,but I just didn't trust cutting this corner.It is mounted in the duct work.I'm trying to work my way out of striping,so I built a shop to do conversion paint jobs on nice used trucks.I'm getting a dealers license,at the very worst I'll get to drive a truck for free,but maybe I'll make a buck.
-------------------- Stephen Michael Robinson Steve's Pinstriping Houston, Texas Posts: 71 | From: Spring, Texas USA | Registered: Aug 2001
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Exhausing air is one thing. Make up air is just as important. Yes you can open a door to let in fresh air. In this neck of the woods, it can get a little chilly when it's -30. If you take air out it has to be replaced. If it doesn't come in anywhere else, it will come down your chimney and bring with it CO CO2 and other poisons. Our make up air is heated in the winter and provides a positive pressure in the shop when ever the booth is running. Downside...$15,000+. investment and add $300. a month to your gas bill in the winter to heat the make up air. This is one of the costs of doing business "by the book". And no I still wouldn't dream of using isocyanates in my shop. Yes I know ya have to do what ya have to do, I used to screen print in my garage with vinyl inks. Sometimes ya gotta roll the dice just to survive. I bet the next time a government agency comes by our shop they'll say okay so you're dumping all that toxic vapor into the atmosphere, what gives you the rite to endanger your neighbours... install a scrubber and purifying system or we'll shut you down. It's tough competing with shops that don't play by the same rules. Is it worth it? NO. Is it worth while? Ask my employees and my kids.
[ October 07, 2001: Message edited by: Duncan Wilkie ]
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if you havent installed the fan yet, it should be low to the ground, not up in a gable. All the overspray is heavier than air and will stay close to the ground. Having the fan low to the ground will remove the overspray more efficiently and not let it settle on everything in your shop.
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Thanks Rick, What I need for the shop is two fans, the exhaust fan in the gable and the overspray fan at the floor. If the gable fan is a very powerful one, I will probably turn it off while spraying.
Duncan, the overspray fan is to be placed opposite from the rollup door which will be kept partially raised while spraying. We use waterbased paints over 90% of the time and we're out in the boodocks. Compared to the millions of automobile emissions (hundreds of cars pass by this place every day), pesticides, household chemicals, factory waste, agricultural runnoff, forest fires, volcanic eruptions, cow flatulence, and who knows what else, I don't think a little latex paint is all that nasty is it?
[ October 08, 2001: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7405 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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