Making the right choice of filters will directly impact on safety, efficiency and the quality of your end products. Choose the right products and your booth will run smoothly and efficiently for longer.
Here are the types of filters to consider when you’re equipping your spray booth.
Air Makeup
This type of filter is your first line of defense, removing large particles from the air before it reaches the air makeup unit which delivers pressurized air. This protects the air makeup unit and acts as a barrier for more expensive filtration, extending its lifespan.
If you need to troubleshoot your filtration system, this is the place to start. Dirty and clogged filters provide insufficient airflow while incorrectly placed filters create too much airflow. Filters come in the panel, pad, pocket and bag, and cleanable aluminum varieties and should never come into contact with the burner or cooling coil in the system.
Intake
Intake filters remove filtered air to your booth so that your paint jobs are free of foreign particles that can cause defects in the finished result.
A cross draft booth requires linked panel filters or polyester panel filters that can be mounted without clips and have a MERV of 6-8. Downdraft booths use more efficient diffusion-type media pads that allow for a uniform spread of airflow for a more precise finish. These filters typically have a MERV of 10 or higher which removes more than 99% of particulates sized 10 microns or larger, guaranteeing a clean room atmosphere. Both types of spray booth filters are available online from companies like https://www.dustspares.co.uk/spray-booth-filters/.
Exhaust
These filters ensure that air leaving the booth is environmentally safe by capturing potentially dangerous chemicals before operatives can be exposed and highly toxic pollutants can enter the atmosphere.
These multilayered polyester or fiberglass filters also help to prevent overspray contamination by absorbing enough paint so they don’t need constant changing while avoiding too great a pressure drop in the booth.
Different types of filters are used depending on whether a booth is a cross draft or down draft but both operate within.
Maintenance
The quality of your work also depends on the regular maintenance of your filters to allow proper airflow. Intake and exhaust filters should be changed regularly and the entire operation must meet standards for health and safety.
