Collision Repair Archives : Page 2 of 4: Tools USA

Tools USA In-House Financing!

Tools USA has a new in-house leasing program for spray booths, frame machines, or multiple item purchases. To qualify, a prospect must meet the following criteria:

Acceptable personal credit.
Minimum 40% down payment.
Located in eastern or central time zones.
Agree to ACH monthly payment drafts.

Customers will be able to choose 24, 36, or 48 month lease options. Tools USA rates will run between 10 and 14%. All leases will be $1 buy-out financing leases.

The minimum financed after down payment is $3,000 (original price of item or items will be $5000).

An application can be requested by calling 1-800-451-2425.

Shop Tools USA.

Shop Paint-Booths.com.

When Should Spray Booth Filters be Changed?

Filters are often overlooked when evaluating the performance of a spray booth. A filter is a relatively inexpensive component of a spray booth and should be changed when necessary. Changing filters will help in avoiding poor finish jobs and unsafe conditions caused by inhibited air flow which can build toxic and combustible fumes.

Intake – Change filters when they fill with dust and dirt. Many auto body shops will change filters every two to four weeks if the booth is used daily.

Exhaust – Paint arrestor filters need to be changed under the following conditions:

When the material being sprayed may react with something that has already been sprayed with these filters so as to create a toxic or spontaneous event.
The static pressure differential is 0.5” or greater. This differential is measured on the manometer and is based on an empty booth with clean filters. Once the static pressure is above the basis line (0.5”), the exhaust filters need to be changed.
Powder coat filters can be vacuumed many times and usually last 500-1000 hours.

Please contact Tools USA for information on spray booth filters or to order replacement filters.

The Joys of a Used Spray Booth

In today’s economy, there seems to be an excess of used spray booths available due to the number of shops that have closed. We have all seen these used spray booths on E-Bay and web-based clearing houses. It seems like buying a used spray booth would be a smart and conservative decision. A spray booth purchase and installation is likely an infrequent occurrence for most companies.

Standard Tools lives in this industry every day and offers the following thoughts:
• The owner of the spray booth likely went out of business, possibly due in part to having a wrong or bad spray booth that was poorly designed and/or improperly installed. This costs the owner significant money in delayed production and poor quality every day that it is used.
• A used spray booth may not be complete with installation and maintenance manuals or other items that were omitted during the installation.
• Many spray booth manufacturers have either gone out of business or have significantly changed their designs over the years. Obtaining replacement parts or information on the spray booth may be difficult, if not impossible.
• Older paint booths may be obsolete and may not meet current building and fire codes.
• A used spray booth may have been altered or repaired by an owner that was not experienced in spray booth design and codes.
• Electrical items may not meet your available power.
• Taking a spray booth down and re-installing it is more than twice the effort required to install a new booth. This is due to tracking of parts, repackaging for transport, and replacing/repairing damaged or missing parts.
• There is no warranty. Buying a used spray booth is a gamble; buying new provides a guarantee from the manufacturer.

Most auto body shops charge $100-$200 per hour for painting, and many industrial shops charge more. The initial savings made by buying a used spray booth can quickly vanish if days or weeks are required to solve any of the problems listed above. Worse yet, there are instances in our experience where the buyer ended up throwing out the used booth and purchasing a new one.

Standard Tools recommendation is to buy a new spray booth built to your specifications and current codes. Installing an auto shop sized spray booth usually takes 2-3 men a few days to install, plus electrical and ducting work. Installing a new booth is the best way to ensure quality and throughput in your shop.

Call Standard Tools at 800-451-2425 for more information on spray booths, powder coating, and auto body equipment.

Visit us at www.toolsusa.com

SPRAY BOOTH PERMITTING SIMPLIFIED

Your inspectors (building, electrical, fire, environmental, worker safety, etc.) are responsible for making sure that your spray booth and processes are up to code. They are generally very interested in seeing your company prosper, but they are charged with making sure that the spray booth does not negatively impact the chance of a fire, worker injury or environmental issues.

This can seem complex and overwhelming when building a new spray booth. Here are some notes to make this easier.

Know your building:
-Total volume of building (floor space X height of ceilings)
-Building and floor materials
-Distance to nearby walls (should be at least 36”)
-Distance to electrical wiring and controls
-Proximity to property lines and other buildings
-Distance to spark-producing processes, like welding or grinding
-Escape routes for fires and other emergencies (aka egress)

Know your project:
-Obtain drawings and specifications from the spray booth manufacturer
-Have contractor information for electrical/fire/ducting
-Be prepared to give information about building the spray booth and subcontracting specific processes

Know your process:
-Obtain MSDS sheets for materials to be sprayed
-Be prepared to provide a plan for storage/mixing/waste management/training.

Know your plan:
-talk to your local inspectors before buying the spray booth (Do you need ETL certification? Are your inspectors influenced by other local spray booth incidents)
-submit a simple site plan (This goes a long way with letting your inspectors feel that you are open with them and wish to meet all code requirements.)

Know your support:
-Standard Tools can help you by providing information about the product and general code information.
-More information is available on the Tools USA blog by searching ‘permit’ or by contacting us at 800-451-2425.

For more information on paint booths please visit us at www.toolsusa.com.

Free Freight Fallacy

The old saying, “There is no such thing as a free lunch”, supports the concept that you cannot get “something for nothing.” Many internet businesses advertise “free freight” so consumers will believe they are getting a great deal. Merchants are actually just hiding freight and shipping costs by marking up the price of the product. Freight and shipping providers expect to be paid for their services which include packing, palletizing, loading, documentation, transporting, unloading, and insurance. These services can account for up to 50% of a product’s cost and it is you, the consumer, who pays for this whether it is included in the product price or added separately.

Tools USA chooses to itemize these charges to be upfront with our customers. We will do everything we can to offer the best freight pricing without lowering our standards. Our shipping department makes every effort to ship your paint booth or frame machine in a manner that allows for easy offloading, which includes arranging a carrier and extending the discounts provided to us by our shipping partners. When possible, a flatbed is used to transport larger automotive body shop equipment.

At Tools USA our product knowledge is superior because we manufacture many of our products. This enables us to provide “great customer service” which includes accessibility, support, and innovation. So, when you are shopping for a spray booth, frame rack, powdercoat system, or other auto body tools and equipment, make sure you do your research. Free freight may seem like a bargain at first, but in the end products with free freight may not provide the value anticipated by consumers.

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Tools USA Shipping Policies

What is really involved with installing a Spray Booth?

A spray booth is a system made of several components. There is the paint booth structure with exhaust fans and possibly an air make-up unit. The spray booth will need electrical controls, compressed air supply and exhaust ducting. Most locations require automatic fire suppression protection. Permitting and insurance are also required for most paint booths.

There are 2 main options for getting a spray booth in your shop. You can spend a large amount of money to have all of this done for you. Alternatively, you can save a good deal of money by doing the installation yourself.

The least expensive method of getting a spray booth installed includes:

completing the permit application yourself with the help of your local inspector & fire marshall
assembling the paint booth yourself (This takes 2-3 men, 2-3 days with most automotive-sized booths assuming limited equipment)
building the exhaust ductwork yourself from a pre-designed kit (if allowed in your location)
contracting certified installers for fire protection & electrical work
installing the compressed air system (compressor, dryer, lines, connections) yourself

Doing some of this work yourself can save thousands of dollars and get the paint booth in operation based on your schedule, not that of someone else. Please visit our website, www.ToolsUSA.com or call us (1-800-451-2425) to get more information about building your spray booth.

For industrial paint booths and woodworking spray booths, visit us at our sister site www.Paint-Booths.com.

Canada – Waterborne Conversion

As of June 18, 2010, autobody shops, manufacturers, and distributers in Canada will be required to use waterborne compliant auto refinish coatings or a similar solution to limit VOC emissions into the environment. Automotive body shops that have remaining inventory of non-compliant coatings will be able to use up their inventory as long as it was purchased prior to the implementation date. These new regulations will impact products in Canada as well as products being shipped to Canadian shops.

System for Cleaning Paint Booth Air

Tools USA responded to a question on a Collision Hub Blog that we wanted to share on our blog.

The paint booth user needed to replace their system for cleaning air used in their spray booth. One company suggested they would need a refrigerated dryer.

Air refrigerators and air conditioners are equipment used for extreme environment conditions or super-sensitive spray applications. Some of these conditions may be very long periods of super-high humidity, very dirty air supplies, and nano-technology paint materials.

There are spray booths in all parts of the USA, spraying the vast majority of paints and powders, without using this expensive high-end equipment.

We recommend our most popular dryer “THE EVAPORATOR 10 LB DESICCANT AIR DRYER“. We sell a lot of these to shops for use on their paint booth just for cleaning the air prior to going into their paint gun.

Here are some of the benefits of this dryer.

• Oil-free air
• Super low relative humidity – 1.5%
• Can be mounted on wall or floor
• No electrical parts or motors to explode
• 95 times dryer than a MOTO GUARD filter
• 81 times dryer than a LAMANS Filter/Dryer
• 81 times dryer than a DeVILBLISS Filter/Dryer
• 26 times dryer than a REFRIGERATED Dryer based on 70 F entering air 100PSI
• FOR SHOP COMPRESSORS
• 3 YEAR WARRANTY

Fire Prevention in Spray Booths

Top 10 Really Bad Ideas for Spray Booths (or What a great way to have a fire!!)

Using any electrical device in a paint booth.
Thinking how cool it would be to have an electrical outlet in the spray booth wall.
Smoking in a spray paint booth.
Grinding or welding in a paint booth.
Not using a licensed electrical contractor to wire the booth lights and fan.
Not performing routine maintenance of cleaning the walls/ceilings/floor or changing filters.
Not installing an automatic fire suppression system.
Not assembling the spray booth as shown in the manual.
Using your spray booth to store excessive paint or other combustible materials.
Not training your booth operators about fire safety.

The NFPA-33 standard defines the safety requirements for spray booths. This standard is available through Techstreet. This is a good investment that will save you money, but you might not have that great fire story to tell your friends.

Shop Paint Booths at Tools USA.

Is your Auto Body Collision Shop “Going Green”?

Tell us about how your auto body shop is “going green”.

Post a comment to tell us what you are doing to help the environment.

There are several ways shops can participate in helping the environment and save on expenses.

1. Solar Power – Auto Body Shops should consider heating the shop with solar power. The shop facility will need to be located in direct sunlight away from shaded trees in order to benefit from this type of power. Installation of solar power panels can be costly but tax credits might be available to offset some of the cost.

2. Heated Shop Flooring – Auto Body Shops in colder climates should consider installing a water heated floor. This will allow the work area inside the booth to stay warmer for potentially less cost. As gas and electricity costs rise, heating a shop can become more expensive. Since hot air rises, heating the floor makes sense!

3. Recycle – Recycle scrap metal and other body shop materials some of which can be sold for income.

4. Energy Efficient Spray Booth Equipment – Install energy efficient new technology paint booth equipment.

Email KellyG@standardtool.com to inquire about the efficiencies in newer equipment.

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Category: Collision Repair