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Painting in Winter


deMideon

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I will be painting my car sometime this winter. I have a garage with a wood stove, so I can easily heat it to any temp. The problem is keeping it heated for any real length of time. So my question is once I spray the car how long do I need to keep the temp above say 60 degrees? Also are there any additives that would be helpful? Thanks!!

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Guest Zachb55

im also going to be painting sometime this winter (actually hopefully before winter). I have a 3 car garage which im going to put the car in after i paint so ill probly throw some heaters in there, what kind of heater do you suggest? they wont neccesarily be very close or anything, the garage doesnt stay very warm so i ask the same question, is there a certain amount of time i need it to stay warm for? is 60 the lower limit? im going to be going with a one stage paint system, if that makes any difference...

 

-Zach

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Guest Anonymous

Winter painters ...it is the fumes from the painting that will go BOOM. You cannot have any sparks at all and that includes the air compressor in the shop too. Once the fumes are ecacuated from the garage or before you paint you can have flame thrower space heaters in there to heat with. You even have to use caution with your lighting to. No sparks No Sparks .... be safe

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Guest VertexZ

Probably something like an oil column heater would do the job, doesnt blow anything aroung and no fire to start anything smile.gif

 

as for additives, you can buy reducer for several different temperatures. PPG has them in 3 grades (i think) which are about 60, 70 & 80 degress from memory. never used them personally, so i couldnt tell you much about them.

 

you'll be using acrylic laquer? i'd keep it at the required temp for 15-30min after painting, just till its all properly dryed

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I know it may not be practical for some, but I`m planning to use a natural gas forced air furnace. The same kind that is used in most homes.

I got a real good deal on one from an old house trailer,(100,000btu for $10.00). For painting, I would recomend doubling up the filters and changing them often to avoid plugging up the heat exchanger.

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Guest Anonymous

Joe, just be careful.. Nezzie 76 and I are facing about the same heat problem curing fiberglass... a few years back an experienced fabriacator and his assistant lit a torch in an enclosed shop with a tub of open solvent for cleaning parts. He left a widow and the assistant was fairly impaired for life.

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Bring the heat up as much as possible before you paint, (have all your prep. done) kill the heat, paint, as soon as the fumes are gone turn the heaters back on. If it's really cold you won't be able to paint the entire car that way, it will require stages. You will need a faster/hotter thinner for cold weather. Ask the sales rep.

 

Safety first guys, I know of one guy who blew himself up by not using a good safety light, he bumped it, it broke and the fumes ignited... bonk.gif

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I had a theory on this myself. I was going to paint my car in an enclosed garage/basement. The furnace is in the basement and I wasnt sure if even though it was at the other side of the room it was going to be a problem. My idea was to build a plastic paint booth. Completly sealed other than and extracting fan that would probably be rented. Am I nuts or is this a decent idea or do I not have to worry about the gas furnace at all. Thanks guys

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Jared, you DEFINITELY need to worry about the furnace, especially if it's gas powered. Look inside when these puppies start up, and you'll see sheets of fire blazing over the heating elements. WHOOSH!

 

If you're going to make an airtight paint booth, that should minimize the hazard. You'll need an to make an air inlet, though. That shouldn't be too hard to do, using a couple of furnace filters taped over large holes in the plastic.

 

Also keep in mind that when you exhaust the paint fumes, you'll be running the flamable vapors over a fan motor which probably will be throwing sparks from the armature. Fun stuff, huh?

 

Myself, I just covered everything with plastic sheeting, sprayed the cement floor down with water, and shot the car in my garage using two large air moving fans for exhaust. It worked amazingly well, keeping the air clear and getting a minimum of dust on the wet car. I figured it was better to get a small amount of crap in the paint than to blow myself up. Particles you can wet sand out. Exploding yourself is forever.

 

I waited until the spring to paint my car. Don't rush paint unless you have absolutely no other choice.

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I would recomend putting a fan blowing air (through a filter) IN TO your paint booth and setting up an exhaust vent to let the fumes out. If you use a fan to pull the fumes out (i.e. in the exhaust vent) you need to use an "explosion proof" fan and they tend to be pricey.

 

I'll be setting up a similar setup in my garage this winter where I'm going to use a propane heater to warm thing up first. I'll create positve pressure in the booth by pushing air IN TO the booth and simply venting the fumes. This way the fumes are kept away from things that might make them go BOOM b_hand.gif . (yes, the propane heater will be off before any paint is even mixed !!!, I still remember my lessons from Fire Fighting School)

 

- Joe

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