Powder Powder Everywhere, Newbie

[Ikaika]

Hello, I am new to this and just did my first couple of pracitce parts. Didnt come out the greatest but that is what practice is for, right. Here are a couple of pics.

The problem I am having is that there is now blue powder all over my garage. I made a "spray booth" and have two 550 cfm fans with furnace filters but the powder seems to go right through them and actually blow it around the garage.

[Ikaika]

Here are a couple of pics of the booth. Also there seem to be quite a bit of powder that falls to the bottom of the booth. Is this a normal amount for the two small parts I did? or am I doing something wrong? And one other thing, what would be the best way to go about cleaning up the booth/powder? Can I use a shop vac to clean up the excess powder? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Hexhead]

Remember when curing, you start curing time (20 min) when the PART reaches 400 not the oven. You can buy a temp gun to check the temp of the oven and parts. Looks like you might need a little more powder on the parts.

[JTW37]

It isn't recommended that you use a vacuum to clean up powder. Well, not like a shop vac. Reason for this is the motor in NOT and explosion proof motor. Powder will ignite. Although I have used mine, but for very small amounts. Otherwise, it's the BROOM You will get plenty of powder that falls. Check the amount of air pressure your using. Mine is between 5 and 10 lbs. And the rest of it is, practice, practice, practice.....

[Harleydad]

Gotta ask, what side of the exhaust fans are the filters on? The side that draws the air or the side that pushes the air.

Some powder will will aways find the floor. I don't know what gun you use but you could come down with the amount of powder and make a couple passes on the part.

[Ikaika]

Thanks for the feedback guys,

Hexhead: yes will have to do some more practicing, I do have a temp gun just need to get use to it.

JTW37: I will play around with the air pressure and see what kind of results I get, had it around 10-12 but the regulator I have on the gun is a HF pos. Need to get a good low pressure guage.

Harleydad: The filters are on the intake side, fans blowing out. I am thinking of trying to double up on them or get better filters. I also have the HF gun and it seems to waste quite a bit of powder, was just wondering if the amount I was getting was excessive. Will have to work on that and or eventually upgrade the gun.

My main concern right now is to contain the powder as best as possible and clean up of the excess powder, then I can blast away. This stuff is terriblly addicting!!! : )

Thanks again for all your replies, I am sure I will have more question. This forum is a great place for info and resources.

[Popeye]

Normally, you only need 100 cfm per sq ft of booth opening to contain it. Filters are made with a specific Cfm and velocity in mind.. rule of thumb 2' x 2' filter is good for about 200 Cfm.
Depending on the type of filter... you might not be able to capture the dust.

[mikechase]

Being a newbie myself and reading this forum for some time, dust was a major concern with me especially having an attached garage. What I did was spend the extra money and bought a 1-1/5 HP Delta dust collector, about $350.00, that collects down to 1 micron. I also built a booth using a furnace filter as the base. Actually it works very well. There's some downdraft but not enough to effect appling the powder. My other concern was using fans that drew the powder through or past the fan motor. That's an accident waiting to happen. It may be more costly on the front end but safety was my main concern. I also justified the cost because Harbor Freight sold me their display powder coat oven for $175.00 verses $400.00. It was only missing a knob and door latch which I replaced for nothing. Hope this helps.

[mikechase]

Being a newbie myself and reading this forum for some time, dust was a major concern with me especially having an attached garage. What I did was spend the extra money and bought a 1-1/5 HP Delta dust collector, about $350.00, that collects down to 1 micron. I also built a booth using a furnace filter as the base. Actually it works very well. There's some downdraft but not enough to effect appling the powder. My other concern was using fans that drew the powder through or past the fan motor. That's an accident waiting to happen. It may be more costly on the front end but safety was my main concern. I also justified the cost because Harbor Freight sold me their display powder coat oven for $175.00 verses $400.00. It was only missing a knob and door latch which I replaced for nothing. Hope this helps.

[mikechase]

Being a newbie myself and reading this forum for some time, dust was a major concern with me especially having an attached garage. What I did was spend the extra money and bought a 1-1/5 HP Delta dust collector, about $350.00, that collects down to 1 micron. I also built a booth using a furnace filter as the base. Actually it works very well. There's some downdraft but not enough to effect appling the powder. My other concern was using fans that drew the powder through or past the fan motor. That's an accident waiting to happen. It may be more costly on the front end but safety was my main concern. I also justified the cost because Harbor Freight sold me their display powder coat oven for $175.00 verses $400.00. It was only missing a knob and door latch which I replaced for nothing. Hope this helps.