10 TOP TIPS FOR SPRAYBOOTH EFFICIENCY
Best tips and tricks for the most efficient and effective use of the spray booth can be related both to the management of the workflow in the shop, and to the general quality of the booth itself, in terms of construction materials for the main components of the booth, accuracy in the installation works and quality of the complements, such as the burner and the air fans.
First of all, be sure your booth is properly installed to work at its most effectiveness;
1.?????the perfect sealing of the booth will avoid heat losses, and therefore improve efficiency during the drying phases.
Second, to be effective your booth must work at its best, and a proper maintenance plan of the booth is mandatory to keep it working in the most effective and efficient way.
2.?????Filters must be changed regularly based on the daily use you do of the booth, every X number of paint jobs; see the manufacturer’s recommendations about that. A good floor and ceiling filters changing schedule, guarantees the best performance in terms of inlet and extraction air flow, assuring the paint job is perfect and the booth is always clean.
We could suggest the use of wall protection paper to help keeping the internal walls of the booth clean, if your booth does not feature a good quality downdraft system.
This will help achieving high quality level of paint jobs.
Third, effective?time in the booth increases productivity; the goal of improve effectiveness and efficiency in the booth can be achieved by:
3.?????writing down a daily planning of the jobs to guarantee a constant workflow of the cars to the booth, thus avoiding bottlenecks and loss of productivity. Your booth should be working 8 hrs a day!
4.?????to reach a constant workflow to the booth, and increase productivity, you shall avoid masking and demasking inside the booth. Just use your booth to paint and dry, and do all preparation first, and then demasking and detailing phases, outside your booth, in a smart preparation bay aside of it. Best way is to use a sideload rail system that will make the movement of the car in and out of your booth quick, smooth and easy.
5.?????a smart tip to help speed up the preparation phases, thus avoiding bottlenecks at booth’s entrance, is to maintain constant paint stock levels, which will allow you a quicker paint mixing and guns’ preparation work.
6.?????especially if your shop is located in a cool climate Country, consider the use of a drying robot to speed up drying phases in your booth; that will reduce heat level and consequently energy consumption in the booth, whilst accelerating the workflow of repairs and achieve a higher number of daily paint cycles. A double positive result!
Moreover, IR and UV technology of the drying robots are highly recommended for the use on electric vehicles, to which a too high temperature in the booth could cause damages to the batteries and to the electrical components. Infrared technology dries any type of paint through a chemical reaction that keeps temperatures in the booth low and focused on the painted surface of the car; there will be much lower temperatures impacting the batteries compared to classic booths, which use hot air generated from a burner heating the whole cabin. Same is for UV technology, which can be used with the UV paint products that most of the paint brands are currently developing.?
7.?????One more good tip to reduce energy consumption in your booth, is the use of automated programs for air and lights management. Automated air flow system applied to the paint application process, can be controlled by a specific sensors’ system, which will stop air inlet and extraction fans to work after the spraying phases, and will also switch off the lights during drying phases.
8.?????The use of highly efficient LEDLights in the booth will not only improve the quality of your paint jobs, but will reduce energy consumption as well.
9.?????Choose a booth that features the automatic balance of engines’ power , based on the automated paint programs in its database, compensating external humidity and temperature. This program will also save energy by monitoring and adapting the supply for any single phase of the drying process.
10.??Last but not least: remember to pre clean the vehicle for maximum benefit; once inside the booth the vehicle should be free of road grime and general debris, eliminating dust and silicone particles in the paintwork, and minimizing wasted time.
Published by Bodyshop Magazine, UK, Feb. 2022