Title says it all, anyone know where to get a decent but cheap exhaust fan that's explosion proof and filtered.
I don't want to die(explosion proof) or get high gloss black(filtered) on the ginormous 2 car garage that I recently spent the better part of a week painting.
I don't need one that big though, I am going to section of a portion of the garage with plastic sheet, and that will essentially be my paint booth.
Alternatively, if a fan and filter can be bought separately that would also be fine, but I just have no idea where to find this type of stuff.

 

I don't think there is anything ou there that is "paint booth" specific. I bought one of those attic ventilation fans from Lowes and installed that in my garage window ( I have one of those old factory style windows with about (15) 12 x 12 windows panes). I'm in the middle of painting my car and I turn it on while spraying with the garage door shut and a window open and it clears the garage out pretty quick. I found that clear coat fumes are WAY worse than paint. I don't need a filter tho since the back of the garage faces a wooded area and no real close neighbors.....don't know what your situation is like. You might be able to get away with a cheapo box fan as well......I don't think you have to go too crazy on this

 

I looked into it some more, and it seems like the best all around option is to use a fan to push fresh air in from the top, with a filter in front of it for safety and to keep it from downdrafting crap into my fresh paint, and to have a hole somewhere at the bottom with a filter. Using a fan to push instead of pull means I don't have to worry about an explosion, so I can just use a normal cheap fan.

 

I don't get the safety concern about an explosion....as long as you don't have a open flame or other heat source you're fine..... you still need to exhaust all the fumes or you'll pass out for sure.....

 

Just get a box fan from Lowes and bring the garage door down on it (unless you want to build it into the wall of your 'booth') and set it to 'suck'. Then put a generic a/c filter frame into the other end of the booth with a normal household filter in it. the fan draws the air out of the booth and the filter filters the incoming air... easy.

 

You will need a special fan for this depending on what type of paint you use. If the paint says warning flammable, then you should assume that its vapor will also be flammable. If the vapor concentration is high enough then the spark from
a standard fan motor could ignite the vapor. This is not the kind of risk I like to take. Look for an industrial fan / motor dealer in your area and see if they sell used fans. I painted a few cars about 15 years ago and was able to score one used for $50. I bet you could score one nowadays for $100. Good luck and remember never F around with safety! Save the money somewhere else.

 

Currently, about 99% of any box fans you can buy at lowes, home depot, walgreens, cvs, etc, are brushless. For the most part, they are reasonably safe to use in a makeshift paintbooth.

The switch however, is a source of ignition. The fan on (as should be) prior to paint, makes them mostly safe (not 100% as they are not 'explosion proof')

@jb - obviously you don't understand the term 'source of ignition'.

Granted, powder from doing powdercoat has slim odds for ignition, it can happen and I use my filter booth for solvent paints as well, I used a shaded pole blower...

 

Good to know, really wasn't sure which motor type was more common, I did kind of figure brushless was though given that most people care about noise level when it comes to fans.
If I do paint the car myself I will either have a fan pushing fresh air in at the top, and an exhaust hole at the bottom, both filtered, or a fan drawing it out with a filter in front, and turn it on ahead of time, probably the latter for cost and ease...gonna be enough of a pita getting the plastic sheet over the rafters, much less trying to get a fan mounted up there somehow. It's actually my dd corsica I will be painting, though If I do it myself, then I am also going to do the camaro once it runs again. Which is part of the motivation to do it myself, sure I can probably get a mako paint job cheaper than I could do it myself, but probably not if I'm doing 2 cars, plus Its an excuse to finally get an air compressor.

 

"@jb - obviously you don't understand the term 'source of ignition'."

nah I'm pretty sure I do AND I also understand overthinking something and making it way more complicated than it has to be. You obviously don't understand what an ampersand is......(@) means "at" .... (&) means "and"......

my apologies to the OP

 

Somehow it really isn't that complicated to try and be safe, which is what the OP is trying to do. He's simply trying to avoid a potential problem. Seems like a rather intelligent decision.

Thanks for the clarification, too. Next time I direct a comment AT another person, I'll remember your wonderful lesson

 

Wow, I guess the guy from the place I purchased my fan years ago just spooked me when I told him what I was looking for and what I would be using it for. He seemed to know what he was talking about and gave me a great deal on a heavy duty fan set up so figured he was honest. Sorry to spook you I will stay away from this subject in the future and leave it to the pro's! Thanks for the lesson.

 

just make sure you got your stuff straight before you call somebody out next time

 

Run an exhust type fan that you can add a shroud too (you will need to rig this up) Lowes carries alot of what you will need. Either mount thru the wall or window, use dryer vent on the shroud and then attach the other end thru a 5 gallon bucket lid (cut tight as possible). Fill the bucket with water (third of the way up) attach the lid and the paint fumes will be less outside. You can skim the water when done and remove the paint film. We used to do this when we painted hot rods in single car garages, not sure I explained it the best way but hope you get the idea.

 

The risk with paint booth fans is that the solvent will be ignited by a spark when the fan starts or is running. A typical paint booth has a totally enclosed fan but a fan not mounted to a paint booth for painting will usually be explosion proof. This guide on paint booth fans explains in greater detail