What do you use to stop Winter weather paint booth backdraft?

[Joe Nunes]

I am installing my paint booth vent piping in an Up North Michigan environment. Am curious as to what you are using to stop cold air backdraft from coming through the 4" booth vent and into the house when the paint booth is not being used.  

Joe

Edited December 30, 2022 by Joe Nunes

[TarheelRick]

Go to Amazon and look up dust collector blast gates. I believe one of those installed in your vent tube should decrease a lot of your problem.

[steveracer]

I had to remove mine and install a manual gate. The micro mark booth could not overcome the backdraft spring, even after I cut the spring to lower the force to open it.  So make sure to check for that.  

[Joe Nunes]

Both of you addressed the two thoughts I am having regarding this issue. That's kind of neat in itself as I guess my thinking is on the right track. ?

A manual gate would be fine if it closed tight enough to keep the cold air out. I will look into this option. 

Joe

[Mike 1017]

A clothes dryer vent ?

Good luck 

Mike

[stitchdup]

look for extractor vents for bathroom fans/cookers. they are round sections of pipe with a flap inside that only open one way. i have them on all my outside vents and they are much better than the flat wall mounted vents. they look similar to this but you want the ones with the pivot at the top. the centre ones just aren't as good as they can open with a breeze but the top pivot ones dont

[espo]

As Mike 1017 suggested, using the exit used on the side on a building for a clothes dryer. Another thing to consider is the normal direction of the wind in your area. Should the exit wall be facing the oncoming wind this may restrict the opening of the flap or cover. These are normally mounted facing downward on the side of a house and if the wind were to be blowing parallel to the side of the building turning the exits slightly toward the air flow may be of some help. My personal setup may be a little different but may also offer some ideas to help. My area is in the storage area of a semifinished basement. The bathroom shares a wall with the area where I do my spray painting. Being a bathroom, it has an exhaust vent and fan. The venting passes through my painting area along the ceiling. What I did was to get a metal Y pipe used for a water heater and have my spray booth connect to the vent from the bathroom. When I'm using the paint booth, I also turn on the bathroom vent, and this seems to work fine in my case.  

[Spex84]

Squirrels. It's worth the heat loss through the vent pipe to keep a little family warm, and if you get enough of 'em packed in there, it all balances out. ?

Seriously though, I'm interested in others' solutions, as I have this problem too. Right now I just stuff a block of insulation into the exterior vent hole and cap it with a 4" galvanized duct cap, which I naturally remove whenever I want to use the booth/extraction fans. Same deal with my 3D printer.

[espo]

Just now, Spex84 said:

Squirrels. It's worth the heat loss through the vent pipe to keep a little family warm, and if you get enough of 'em packed in there, it all balances out. ?

Seriously though, I'm interested in others' solutions, as I have this problem too. Right now I just stuff a block of insulation into the exterior vent hole and cap it with a 4" galvanized duct cap, which I naturally remove whenever I want to use the booth/extraction fans. Same deal with my 3D printer.

I should have mentioned that some sort of a screen should be there to stop small woodland critters from taking refuge in colder months. Even small birds could become unwanted invaders. 

[Dave G.]

Around here Southern NE all or most of our dryer vents use the gravity louvers outside. And just inside the louvers is a screen. We drop the vent hose down, cold air doesn't rise. I'd do the same with a permenent booth vent and if you feel better still use the manual back draft block.

[Joe Nunes]

Lots of good thoughts in the above posts. Thanks for sharing your comments. 

I have the hopper style basement windows. This afternoon I stopped by a glass shop and the folks there are going to cut a 4" hole through the glass for me. This will allow me to use the window location as desired and keep the hopper window closed, insulate the interior window surface as before (it's single pane construction) sans the vent opening, and connect to the booth vent without a problem. I also found a piece of soft yellow 4" thick foam in the shop (used it for isolating RC radio installation) that I will use for a vent plug along with a 4" vent cap as suggested above. This will take care of my needs. I am also adding a piece of new window screen fabric (also found in the shop) to the inside of the outside vent piece to help keep critters out. It all should work out fine. ?

Joe

 

[Straightliner59]

I've always just used a dryer vent. Never had a problem.

[Dpate]

I use one of these from ventworks and they've went up in price sadly.

[Joe Nunes]

My new paint booth is now installed and works great. Today I had the hopper glass in a basement window replaced with a piece of Lexan as the original glass was only 1/16” thick single pane. A 4” hole was drilled through the Lexan and the the paint booth piping installed. I am now able to easily pull the booth with attached piping clear of the exhaust hole in the window and I can then simply insert a 4” cap into the hole to seal it off.  Here are a few photos showing how it came out. 

Joe

 

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Joe Nunes

[NOBLNG]

Very nice installation. Bug and rodent proof too.?

[Straightliner59]

Very nice setup, Joe. Ya' done good, my friend!

[espo]

Very clean looking setup. Any idea or guess how much air pressure at the window from your fan? 

[Joe Nunes]

Hi David,

Not sure about the air pressure at the window, however, there is about 8 - 9 feet of equivalent 4” piping with my installation which includes a 3’ equivalent pipe length for the 90 degree 4” elbow. And I installed the vent screen. I can say that with the booth fan operating there is plenty of air pressure at the vent to fully open the vent flaps, which I went outdoors to check out firsthand. I also checked the air draw by lighting a couple of small matches, blowing out the flame, and watching the air pull on the match smoke. Took the smoke right out through the booth with a strong air draw. I am quite happy with the installation. I am including a photo of the fan draw from the instructions for your viewing. 
 

Joe

[Joe Nunes]

This afternoon I changed out the original 90 degree aluminum elbow. The elbow was made up of thin aluminum segments that deformed easily and allowed the individual segments to separate from the tracks holding the elbow together. This also allowed air to escape through the segment tracks back into the shop. Not good. 
 

The new elbow is of heavier material and works out much better. Now I can move the booth with attached piping away from the window without deforming the elbow and the addition of a few pieces of actual aluminum ductwork tape took care of the minimal air leaks. Much better, and I noticed that the fan operation was quieter after the change out of the elbow. 
 

Joe

[Dave G.]

Nice booth and install that should serve you well for years to come.

[paul alflen]

Nice job joe! My motto is do it right the 1st time! You followed that to a tee! Enjoy, the hard part is done!

Edited January 10, 2023 by paul alflen
punctuation

[Joe Nunes]

A quick update:  just used the paint booth for the first time and I am really pleased with the operation of the unit. I sprayed two separate coats of Testors Dull Cote, from a spray can, 10 minutes apart, over an inked alignment grid that was drawn onto a steel plate. My bride, Joyce, was standing about 4 feet away from the booth during each spray time. Testors Dull Cote is a Lacquer based product. Neither of us could detect any paint/product odor throughout the entire procedure. The fan pulled the excess overspray and fumes from the paint booth immediately and I could actually see the overspray being physically pulled into the filter. I believe this paint booth will be a great addition to my shop tools. Hope my comments prove helpful to anyone considering this paint booth for their own use. 

Joe

[Dpate]

5 hours ago, Joe Nunes said:

A quick update:  just used the paint booth for the first time and I am really pleased with the operation of the unit. I sprayed two separate coats of Testors Dull Cote, from a spray can, 10 minutes apart, over an inked alignment grid that was drawn onto a steel plate. My bride, Joyce, was standing about 4 feet away from the booth during each spray time. Testors Dull Cote is a Lacquer based product. Neither of us could detect any paint/product odor throughout the entire procedure. The fan pulled the excess overspray and fumes from the paint booth immediately and I could actually see the overspray being physically pulled into the filter. I believe this paint booth will be a great addition to my shop tools. Hope my comments prove helpful to anyone considering this paint booth for their own use. 

Joe

Yeah them dayton exhaust fans are very nice.  I got a spare one from my custom booth i built before i bought my peace keeper.  If i remember correctly i paid about $200 for the dayton fan. 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Dpate

[Joe Nunes]

Okay, thought I would post one more comment for those interested in the Pace Peace Keeper similar to the model I have.  

I just finished applying a second coat of Spar Varnish to the three wood pieces that will attach to a set of wind chimes. I experienced very little to no detection of odor while brushing the Spar Varnish, or within the house with the paint booth operating. It is amazing to me how well this paint booth works because if you know about Spar Varnish you know that stuff can really stink!  First time I ever had the nerve to apply the Spar Varnish within the house and I was very happy not to have the obnoxious fumes spread throughout my home. Just thought someone might be able to use my experience to aid in making a paint booth decision. 

Joe