After reading about several home made paint booth’s out there. I thought I would remind everyone about fire safety and prevention. I also made my own paint booth. I use a small 3 speed fan with furnace filters. The paint collects on the filters in the form of dust. This is a very flamable material. If a fire would start it could get out of control in a matter of seconds. I keep a 5 pound ABC fire extiguisher within arms reach. The ABC rating is for different type of combustable materials. The “A” stands for paper, lumber (wood), cardboard, etc… The “B” stands for Liquids such as, Gasoline, Kerosene, Paint thinner etc… The “C” stands for Electrical equipment. As you can see this type and size fire extinguisher should handle any fire emergency in the shop. It may even be a good idea to have an extra fire extinguisher just in case. Your local fire department would more than willing to instruct anyone on proper use of a fire extinguisher. Just thought I would mention fire safety tonight because you know the old saying “out of site out of mind” also includes fire extinguishers and fire safety.
Roger that crownover, I also keep an ABC handy when I’m doing any painting in the booth. Better to have one and not use it than to need one and not have it. Nothing will turn the wife against your hobby faster than burning down the house.
Good post. I also have several ABC extinguishers in my home. One in the kitchen, one in the hall, one in the bed room, one in my model room and one in the garage. I also have smaller ones in each of our vehicles.
Another good point is a good smoke alarm and heat sensors. I have several through out the house. Don’t forget to change the batteries when you reset your clocks each year. Another point I learned from a fireman, ABC extinguisher powder has a tendency to harden over the years. To correct this problem, shake up the extinguishers twice a year. I do it when I change the batteries in my smoke alarms. Attention now can mean a difference later.
I’ll give a quick lesson, remember to hit the fire at the base of the flames at what is actually burning and sweep back and forth. If you don’t you are only wasting what little extinguisher you have. Just remember PASS…
Pull pin
Aim nozzle
Squeeze handle
Sweep back and forth
And don’t be embarrased to still call the fire dept. even if you think it out, sometimes old man fire has a way of hiding himself well till wee hours of the morning. Alot of departments have little things that can detect heat through walls are good enough that they can sense a ciggarete burning 20 feet away. Hope somebody learned something you’ll never need to use.
Great post! Something a lot of us forget about. I didnt have a fire extinguisher in my garage for a long time. Until I was brazing a copper pipe and a piece of red hot solder fell on the garage floor on top of a pile of saw dust…started a nice lil smoker…Now I have 3 ABC rated extinguishers in the garage and keep my floor a lot cleaner!
Chris
i think that paint jars have a nonsmoking good ventilation warning isnt it?
i mean who on earth would use them over open fire?..just a bit of reasoning and most accidents would be a thing of the past. Next time i will have the fire brigade parked under my window just in case…lol although true, safety is not a laughing matter.