Making the decision to purchase a spray booth will probably be one of the best choices you make for your automotive business. It lets you increase the quality of your work while also boosting productivity and efficiency. When considering adding a new paint booth for your business, it’s important that you take the following factors into consideration:
- Safety – It’s important that you have a paint booth that protects your operators from toxic fumes and volatile materials.
- Quality – Along with efficiency, the other primary reason to own a paint booth is quality. You want a setup that provides you with a platform that enables you to produce consistently good quality work.
- Eco-friendliness – A good paint booth doesn’t only protect its operators, it’s also good for the environment.
- Productivity – Your paint booth should help you work faster and more efficiently. Look for a paint booth that can help you reduce production time and wastage.
Fortunately, downdraft paint booths are able to meet most of these requirements. They are designed to reduce the amount of toxic fumes that operators are exposed to, while also reducing the chances that the painted surface is contaminated by debris or ruined by overspray. For this reason, downdraft paint booths are excellent for reducing touchup costs and improving production time.
Find the Perfect Downdraft Paint Booth for Your Business
1. Save Money by Using a Pit-less Downdraft Booth
If installation costs and downtime are important factors when choosing the best downdraft paint booth for you, consider going with a pit-less booth. Despite all of the advantages that come with choosing a downdraft paint booth, many companies don’t make the switch because of the necessary construction work that comes with a new booth. Most downdraft booths require a concrete pit and tunnels under the booth in order to work properly. This expensive and time-consuming process discourages a number of businesses from changing to a downdraft booth.
However, you now have the option of bypassing any construction work through thanks to the pit-less technology available in Accudraft’s TITAN and ITALIA downdraft paint booths. They offer the same airflow without the need of concrete pits. Instead, the object being painted is placed onto an elevated platform where air travels through a grated floor below. This gives you all of the benefits of downdraft airflow without the expensive and time-consuming installation process.
2. Factor in Your Electricity Expenses
The amount of electricity you will be spending to run your business is an important thing to consider when choosing the best downdraft paint booth for you and your business. Accudraft’s EnergySmart™ is an optional feature that can be added to help reduce your energy consumption while increasing your efficiency. It does this by reducing unnecessary motor usage, setting an optimal airflow based on how clean or dirty the filters are, and maintaining an ideal cabin pressure.
Another way that EnergySmart™ is effective is by reducing the power spikes that occur when the air system in the booth switches on. These spikes, which can consume up to three times more energy than usual, have a profound effect on your electricity bill. EnergySmart™ works by keeping all power usage at a smooth rate by preventing any start-up spikes from occurring. It’s able to reduce energy consumption by 50%.
EnergySmart™ comes standard with all Accudraft TITAN models, making TITAN an ideal high-powered paint booth for companies that want to cut back on energy expenditure due to costs or regulations.
3. See if You Can Speed up Drying Time
As you’re choosing the best downdraft paint booth for you, ensure that you select one that has the ability to speed up your work and increase productivity. Running a successful body shop business means being able to work quickly without sacrificing quality. If you work with waterborne paints then Accudraft’s Xcelerator™ system can help you finish the job in approximately half the drying time. This feature can be added on all Accudraft models, including the MX300 Semi Downdraft Paint Booth and the MX400 Side Downdraft Paint Booth, as well as various other makes and models.
If having the ability to work quickly is an important part of your business then the ITALIA Downdraft Paint Booth might also be an excellent choice for you. This booth is designed specifically for companies that have a high rate of production. Its Timeless™ Direct Drive feature makes painting and drying quick and energy efficient, and its reputation for speed and durability has made the ITALIA Accudraft’s most popular booth.
4. Buy a Paint Booth That’s Made for Your Business
There are a number of different types of downdraft paint booths available on the market, and each of them has a different function. Some paint booths are made for large equipment like aircraft, boats, and large trucks, while others are designed for cars and motorcycles. When choosing your paint booth, buy one that’s been designed for what your business does. Choosing a booth that’s too small can seriously slow your production time down, whereas a large booth will cause you to spend an unnecessary amount of money on utilities.
The MX600 Downdraft Dual Skin is a popular mod-range paint booth. It’s perfect for body shop owners who work with a lot of automobiles that need to be painted and dried in a timely fashion. It has even helped the China Springs Collision & Restoration shop in China Springs, Texas, increase their productivity while providing their customers with an excellent standard of service.
As you’re choosing a downdraft paint booth for you, think about why you’re in the market for a paint booth in the first place. If you’re going to be doing a lot of paintwork on automobiles, you will probably want to purchase a dual skin booth that’s well insulated and efficient. The TITAN and ITALIA, which were designed for high-volume paint jobs, already come with dual skin; other booths can have it added upon request.
5. Determine the Type of Paint You’ll Use
Before choosing a downdraft paint booth for your business, decide whether you’re going to be working with solvent or water-based paints. While solvent-based paints have traditionally been the popular choice, many companies are switching to waterborne paints due to the fact that they’re safer to be around. Additionally, states like California have placed strict health regulations on solvent-based paints because of the threat they pose to people and the environment.
For the time being, solvent-based paints still have their place in the market. However, the benefits of switching to waterborne paints include less energy expenditure, faster drying times, and a finished product that looks more vivid. If you’re unsure about making the switch over to waterborne paints, consider purchasing the TITAN Downdraft Paint Booth. It’s a powerful booth that is compatible with water and solvent-based paints, making it an excellent choice for businesses who want to keep their options open.
6. Short on Space? Go Compact
If you want a paint booth that can handle a lot of volume without taking up a large amount of space, the Accudraft SS is your best bet. There is no better economical choice when choosing the best downdraft paint booth for you. It can be designed as a semi downdraft paint booth system and can be optimized for speed by adding the Xcelerator™ Paint Drying System to reduce the amount of drying time for waterborne paints. The SS can even be extended in any direction, making it easy to expand if you suddenly have space freed up.
The best part about the SS is that it lets you choose a smaller unit without sacrificing performance. You can still choose the optional features that make other Accudraft paint booths great, like the Xcelerator™ drying system and the EnergySmart™ system. Since it requires no concrete work to install, setting up the SS is a quick and easy process. This makes it the perfect choice for small automotive shops that do a lot of paint jobs but don’t have the space to put in a large booth.
Settling in with Your New Booth
There are a lot of things to that go into successfully operating a paint booth. You’ll need to give your booth proper maintenance in order to ensure that every job is performed with the same level of excellence. By ensuring that your paint booth is always performing at its best, you can greatly increase your productivity while working more effectively.
One of the biggest advantages to choosing a downdraft paint booth is that you can select a setup that works best for you. This means that you’re able to save money by buying a small to mid-size booth that covers the occasional paint job, or you can purchase a booth that’s designed to maximize output. Whatever your unique needs and requirements are, Accudraft has a booth waiting for you that can attract more business and promote a safer work environment.
Contact us to learn more about what we can do to help you increase your performance while reducing your production time.