Can You Believe These Paint Booth Emergency Calls?

No shop wants to experience a paint booth emergency, whether that be performance issues or a complete shutdown. While sometimes mechanical glitches happen, they are few and far between. There is usually an underlying problem that is cause for an emergency. Here are some of the top paint booth emergency calls the Accudraft service team has received.

#1: My Shop Experienced a Power Surge and Now My Booth Won’t Turn Back On

Unfortunately, power surges happen more often than we’d like, and are almost always out of our control. Sometimes, local construction or governance can cause a known or unknown power surge. Other times, a bad storm can affect the power supply to a building, even if it’s only for a split second. That slight surge can kill a booth, and a repairer would need to come and reset the equipment.

#2: My Booth’s Sensor Tripped and Won’t Reset

Sensors are designed to monitor certain data points and send alarms to protect your equipment and investment. Rather than blow an electrical component, a sensor will alarm the computer and trip one of the several on board safety features before that happens, alerting a painter of the potential problem. While sensors can be sensitive, they are a painter’s first line of defense against a serious issue that would cause more downtime and cost more money. However, something being tripped can cause the booth computer to shut down if it’s not addressed right away, which calls for an inspection to see what caused the anomaly. Some common points being monitored are for filter load, VFD, or pressure changes. Some shops can fix the said problem themselves, however for any electrical or mechanical issues, it’s best to call a technician.

#3: My Booth Just Shut Down and I Can’t Figure Out Why

Sometimes, a booth will shut down for seemingly “no reason.” While there might not be an apparent reason, there always is one! Most of the time, it’s a reason that cannot be visibly seen, therefore leading some painters to think there is none. That’s when a technician should be called in to evaluate the equipment. We always check out these three components (and it’s almost always one of these three):

• Pressure issues: Too much air going into the booth and not enough going out (or vice versa) can cause a booth to trigger a high or low pressure alarm and shutdown. This likely means there is an issue with the booth’s pressure system, or intake or exhaust.
• Dirty filters: If any one of a booth’s filters is clogged, dirty, or hasn’t been replaced in quite some time, it can cause a booth to stop working.
• Structural problems: If left unattended, pressure issues and dirty filters can cause structural problems like blowing out seals and supports. This happens within the booth’s walls and is a serious problem to fix.

#4: I Hear a Weird Noise Coming from My Booth’s Vents. What Is It?

More often than you’d think, we get a service call stating there is a weird noise coming from a booth’s vents, or that they are not properly opening and closing. Also, more often than you’d like, it’s caused by an animal being stuck in the vents! Most commonly, a bird flew in when the vent was open, and got stuck once the vent closed. We’ve even seen a few cats get stuck before! It is definitely an unfortunate situation, but we try to remedy the situation to the best of our abilities.

How to Prevent a Paint Booth Emergency

The best way to prevent a paint booth emergency is to have a preventative maintenance plan. Accudraft offers our maintenance services to every shop, whether they have an Accudraft or other manufacturer’s booth. By having a technician regularly visit your shop to perform filter changes and inspections, you can avoid some serious and costly problems.

Pro-tip: Always have a paint booth contact in your phone, whether it’s for maintenance or an emergency. Remember, it’s not if you’ll need it, but when!

If your shop is looking to schedule preventative maintenance, or looking for ways to prevent paint booth emergencies, contact Accudraft online.