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Visited a big dealership body shop in Phoenix and their paint booth setup made me think.
They had three downdraft booths running non-stop, but the prep area was maybe 30 feet away across a main shop aisle. I watched a tech carry a primed fender through what looked like normal shop air to get it into the booth. On one hand, their volume was huge, so maybe the extra steps for a perfectly sealed prep area would slow them down too much. On the other, in my experience, that's asking for dust nibs in the clear, especially in a dry climate like that. I'm curious where other shops draw the line between speed and perfect paint conditions. Have you set up a separate prep room, or do you manage it another way?
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jennifer_west525mo ago
Hot take: Speed wins, nibs lose.
That setup is a dust magnet for sure. Maybe it works for their volume, but I'd be polishing nibs all day. A sealed prep room is the dream, but even just a plastic wall curtain around the prep area would help a ton. It's crazy how much junk floats across an open shop.
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brookekelly5mo ago
Yeah, that's the eternal fight, right? I've seen shops try sealed prep rooms, but honestly, the dust just finds a way in anyway, lol. For me, the biggest thing is a really good tack rag routine right before it goes in the booth, and keeping that main aisle as clean as humanly possible. It's never perfect, but it cuts down on the nibs.
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