Hey
Everyone
Ok, the wife is on board with me getting the Paasche 22" spray booth. It will come with 1 fiber and 1 carbon filter, so my questions are: how often do I need to change the filter? And should I get some more now or can I wait to buy the filters later?
Thanks
Scott
P.S. I may airbrush a model once a month if I’m lucky.
If you are exhausting to the outside you shouldn’t need the carbon filter.
The fiber filter should last for at least 3 or 4 models or more I would think, but of course that all depends on how much paint you blast into the booth. The filters tend to clog around the opening to the fan mostly and the rest of the filter stays clean. At least that is how it is on my Badger spray booth.
You may be able to find furnace filters at Walmart that could fit it depending on it’s size.
I’m brand new to airbrushing. Spent all of two or three hours at it in the last few days. I forget where I read it, but the recommendation was to replace the filter every 100 hours. I can already see overspray on the filter after just 2 - 3 hours and me thinks there’s no way it’s going unclogged for 100 hours. 
I suppose they are relatively cheap and every 50 hours would be reasonable?
I’m curious to know what experienced airbrushers thoughts are on this?
Thanks and cheers,
Mark
Any particulate filter in an air system lasts until it begins to obstruct airflow to an unacceptable degree. They don’t stop being filters, they just slowly reduce how much air can pass through them during a given time, and in theory, eventually they will block 100% of the airflow.
The degree to which this matters will depend on the application and the equipment. A clogged whole-house furnace filter that causes too much air restriction can make the blower in your forced air furnace work too hard, and burn the motor out. Similarly in an airbrush booth it may restrict airflow to the point where your CFM of air movement isn’t high enough to effectively remove the fumes you’re trying to remove.
The point is that there’s no real way to offer a time frame or a “number of models” type guideline, because there are too many variables. Even a manufacturer’s suggestion is going to be almost meaningless, though it certainly will err on the side of too-often. What kind of filter is it, and how large of particulate does it allow to pass vs. capture? How large are your models? How many coats of paint? How much over spray do you generate? What kind of paint? How powerful is the fan?
If you can detect your airflow beginning to diminish and the effectiveness of your booth being reduced, either by sound or smell, then it’s definitely time to replace the filter. Beyond that, you’ll have to use your best judgement to determine a maintenance interval that makes sense.
I need to start awarding a badge for zombie resuscitation - I do it myself and I love seeing the old topics come back up, but for some reason, it always amuses me!
@Toimi_Tom has given a very good response. What I would add here is that if there’s a question as to the efficacy of the filter, it almost certainly is due to restricted air flow. To test air flow visually, light a match or a candle and then put it out in the booth - air flow should be visible from the smoke movement. Might even be good to test with a fresh filter to see what it’s “supposed” to look like, so you can compare.
You are going to see overspray on the filter from day one. This is not a concern.
You just need to be concerned with airflow. As long as the exhaust fans are pulling air through the filter, you are fine.
A good way to test this is to tear off a piece of notebook paper that is roughly half of an 8.5 x 11 or A size. Hold this paper from the top with one had and hold it in front of the filter. If the fans can suck the sheet of paper against the filter you are ok still.
Another thing you can do is every once in a while, remove the filter and knock the crust out of it. This can prolong the life of it.
Great responses to a very important subject. BTW, time for me to get some new filters. Thanks.
The main purpose of the filter is to keep the over spray off of the exhaust fan blades.
Ahhhhh, I’d wondered what their purpose was. Makes sense.
Cheers,
Mark
A good point worth mentioning.
If you’re spraying acrylics, and not worried about the solvent/fumes, an argument could be made that you could just use the booth and filter to capture the paint particulate.
I’ve seen this a number of times in my short return to the forum. I gotta say, it’s refreshing to see everyone just roll with it and keep replying. So many forums I’ve been a member of over the years are full of “old post” police who will reprimand anyone who dares resurrect an old thread, sometimes if it’s even just a few months old.
Keep being the best forum, FSMers!
A few months back, I detected that suction of the overspray was lacking, so I removed the filter. That helped a lot. Fully agree with what Toimi_Tom said:
I have the replacement filter; just need to get round to getting the job done.
@gomeral @Schmidty13 Agreed. In my mind it makes sense to search (within reason, based on time) for a topic to see if it’s already been posted about, rather than create a whole new thread. Perhaps the answer I seek will be in the old thread. Done. Or perhaps time has made the answer antiquated. In this case, the thread was all of two posts long and the answer to my curiosity was not really there. Thanks for not being an Old Post cop.
Cheers,
Mark
I have the “Pace” spray booth and only spray acrylics in my basement workshop. I use a respirator and it’s vented to the outside BUT I’m terrible about replacing the booth’s filter. That is a goal for 2025 for my modeling.
Depending on what kind of filters people use, I thought I’d mention that I’ve seen aquarium filter media used. It’s cheap and easy to cut to any dimensions.
I built my foam-core booth specifically to fit around a 12x24 air filter, so for me it’s just a yank-and-push replacement. Probably costs more per square inch, but takes me 15 seconds to do!