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Safety tips while spraying indoors?

RV7ForMe

Well Known Member
Hello!

I did a test run with a non toxic, water based primer and it just didn't quite do the job the way I wanted it. But I am glad I did because I made some experiences with a paint gun. This was my first use of a HVLP gun and I did set up a mini paint booth but it wasn't 100% sealed. I guess quite a bit of fog got out while I was getting in and out.

What I found with the primer that even though the booth was there I had tiny green dust just about in every corner of the shop after the dust settled about 3 days later... Not so nice.

I want to try an Epoxy based primer like Akzo. But I am a bit hesitant due to the toxicity of the product. (Please no Prime war here)

Here is my question: Is the dust that settles still toxic? I mean I am ok with taking precautions while I prime and then let the whole shop air out for a day or two but I dont want to feel like I contaminated my work environment and every time dust moves around in the shop I am vulnerable to toxic particles.

I do not know much about chemistry involved here but I want to do this as safe as possible. I had no proper ventilation on my first try. I will probably build a downdraft type system. If you guys have any safety tips while using this toxic stuff I would be very thankful.
 
I shoot my Akzo outdoors most times for big batches. Small batches, when I cant do it outdoors cause of weather, I've done in a closed garage, then opened the door to let the vapors out for drying. I can do that, I've found, cause Akzo will dry to the touch in 10 min. A quick shoot, maybe 5min max doors down and I'm covered in a bunny suit and respirator. The key is to use a primer pistol and tweak it for really low pressure, like 10 psi - almost no over spray, but still even coverage. I made a 6'x3' wood frame with window screen stretched over it, and thats what I lay my parts on to shoot. When inthe garage, I shoot over the top of an old carpet so any over spray sticks to it, then haul it outside to air. Akzo is very sticky, so wont bounce off the carpet, and 10psi doesnt kick up any dust already inthe garage. Akzo flows out really nice, but I only use it for interior parts and as long as there's coverage, I'm not too fussy about how it looks, as you would with an external primer.

The caveat here is this is what I do - and its a risk I've chose to accept, so I'm not recommending thats what you do. What you choose to do of course is your own responsibility.
 
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My friend and i just finished a complete strip down to bare aluminum and a re paint on an rv 9 i bought as a project. It came out awesome but my friend is a professional painter and i built a complete T hanger paint booth around my aircraft with 4 filtered inlets in and 4 filtered outlets with large fans to evacuate all overspray. I also vacuumed the hanger floor on my hands and knees after every spray session to keep contaminated air particles out and the weather was still warm and in our favor. After participating in this experience there is no way i would risk ruining my aircraft with bad paint job which is what you will get especially trying to use water based paint in a small inadaquate booth in cooler/ cold weather. We had no dust contamination Or overspray issues outside of the booth. BTW the type of air filters you buy makes a huge diffence in the type of ventilation you will get. I found that the least exspensive filters worked the best allowing air in and out, dont want to build it too tight and also need absolute negative pressure in booth if you want overspray out. The primer and the clearcoat were the worst as far as overspray particles. Im glad this is over , it was a huge amount of work , a full time job, and it was kinda stressful but it came out awesome thanks to my friends expert knowledge and im stoked. I could have never achieved this on my own for certain.
 
Hello!

I did a test run with a non toxic, water based primer and it just didn't quite do the job the way I wanted it. But I am glad I did because I made some experiences with a paint gun. This was my first use of a HVLP gun and I did set up a mini paint booth but it wasn't 100% sealed. I guess quite a bit of fog got out while I was getting in and out.

What I found with the primer that even though the booth was there I had tiny green dust just about in every corner of the shop after the dust settled about 3 days later... Not so nice.

I want to try an Epoxy based primer like Akzo. But I am a bit hesitant due to the toxicity of the product. (Please no Prime war here)

Here is my question: Is the dust that settles still toxic? I mean I am ok with taking precautions while I prime and then let the whole shop air out for a day or two but I dont want to feel like I contaminated my work environment and every time dust moves around in the shop I am vulnerable to toxic particles.

I do not know much about chemistry involved here but I want to do this as safe as possible. I had no proper ventilation on my first try. I will probably build a downdraft type system. If you guys have any safety tips while using this toxic stuff I would be very thankful.


I tried a water base paint over 20-years ago and had BAD results. I ended up stripping it off and going conventional.

The Paint / Primer dust left after spraying is just paint dust so if the paint is not toxic when dry so will be the dust as it is the same thing. What I find the most hazardous is the solvent or liquid part of the paint.
 
Buy a hobby air fresh air system, your lungs are worth the money. Get some air flow through the booth and put rosin paper on the floor which will absorb a lot of the overspray.
 
According to the MSDS for Akzo at http://site.skygeek.com/MSDS/akzonobel-463-12-8kit-akzonobel-463-12-8-fluid-resistant-epoxy-primer-2-gallon-kit.pdf, the product contains strontium chromate, which is listed as a carcinogen at http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1742.pdf

I would be concerned that the dust that falls to the floor after painting will contain this substance, which might eventually spread throughout your house. You might want to think about only painting outdoors with this product.

John
 
I'm spraying AKZO and there is no way I would want to spray this stuff indoors. I am also building my kit in my basement/lower level of the house. AKZO primer is fantastic stuff, and goes on easy, but it's very bad stuff and has a strong odor.

When I primed my parts this weekend, I opened the back door to the basement, and the windows to get some fresh air circulating in the basement while I scuffed and cleaned my parts with acetone. I used a half-face respirator with 3M pink cartridges (the ones that filter out just about every chemical), and I didn't have any vapors coming in the mask.

Then I moved my parts outside and closed the doors and windows before spraying AKZO to keep its fumes out of the basement and the sprayed my primer wearing a full the respirator and some of those safety glasses that have the foam seals to keep it out of my eyes. I left the parts outside for about 10 minutes to cure, and then moved them into the basement since its cold outside. Get this.... in a few hours my basement had a faint smell of AKZO just from the parts curing! It's not a strong smell, but its definately noticeable. Like others have mentioned, this stuff is pretty bad in its liquid uncured form so there's now way I'd feel safe spraying it indoors, unless you have a very very good ventiliation system.
 
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