Pace Enterprises Super-Mini Paint Booth Review
Maybe it’s just me, but I strongly believe that I get better results with oil-based paints than with Acrylics. (Somewhat ironic since I’ve worked for an Acrylic monomer manufacturer for the past 34 years.) Of course the downside to using oil based paints is the fumes which can be harmful to your health as well as annoying. Several years ago I learned of a suitable blower in one of the model railroading magazines and planned to build a paint booth from plywood. I never did build a paint booth and kept putting up with the fumes running me out of my train room. To eliminate this problem I finally decided to buy or build a paint booth.
I searched the internet and read posts by modelers about their experiences. I stumbled upon Pace Enterprises ( https://www.pacepaintbooth.com/ ). They offer several different booths made of sheet metal, complete with blower motor. After consideration of the kind of painting I would be doing (N-scale trains, buildings, vehicles, etc), I decided on the Super-Mini booth. It is 20” wide and 18” deep (at the bottom) and 11” high. The 148 CFM blower would turnover the air inside the booth approximately every second. From my experience as a research chemist working with odorous chemicals, I anticipated this exhaust velocity would be more than adequate to expel the paint fumes. Additionally the price of this unit was less than comparable paint booths from other manufacturers.
I called Bob Pace around 10 pm one evening and ordered the unit. (There is no on-line ordering offered on the web page.) He said I would have the unit in 7-10 days. Now I had to find a place for the paint booth. I shortened a shelf and added a 30” x 22” extension to my work bench. I also added a second shop light to hang just above the booth so there would be plenty of light.
The unit arrived in about a week as promised. It was very well packaged and was undamaged. The picture below shows how it looks right out of the box. The caution tape covers the hole for the blower as there are some sharp edges. The blue tape holds the screws to mount the blower. As can be seen the unit comes with a 20" X 12" X 1" filter and yes it does come with a Smiley Face sticker.
Here is the unit’s profile.
I used a small file and coarse sand paper to smooth the rough edges around the blower hole. All other surfaces were smooth. The unit is well made with crisp and clean bends.
The crimped edges are tightly done although there are small holes in the corners.
The channel that holds the air filter is well made and includes a foam strip across the top to help ensure a tight fit.
The foam was not seated very well on one corner and, in my opinion; it should be all around the filter. There is also a small gap between the filter channel and the booth frame where air can leak. These shortcomings are easily remedied.
Overall I find the booth to be very well made. The noted flaws are minor and should not cause a significant negative impact on the unit’s performance. I used Duct tape to cover the small holes to minimize leakage. Metal duct tape would likely work even better.
The blower is a Dayton model 1TDP7 and comes ready to mount to the booth with four machine screws. The bottom of the bracket has foam to help the seal and the mounting holes are pre-drilled. The unit has a nice long 3-prong cord and a convenient on-off switch.
The only negative on the blower is the large gaps in the corners of the bracket where it mounts to the booth. These are rather significant in size and could result in a loss of air draw through the paint booth.
After mounting the blower to the booth I taped these openings wit Duct tape to reduce the leakage. Metal foil tape would probably be even more effective.
Now that the booth was assembled I needed a way to vent the exhaust outside. I could run it through a window but I didn’t have one near by. So I decided to run it through the wall using a clothes dryer vent. The first chore was to cut a hole in the wall. The inside hole was pretty easy with a drill and a dry wall saw.
The work required outside was much more time consuming and nerve wracking. As I removed one brick it broke, but luckily in a good place. I then had to chisel out a curved area in the lower two bricks. This was done very slowly to avoid splitting the bricks.
Here is a look at the vent. I bought it from a True Value hardware store.
Here is the installed vent from the inside. The brown plastic collar hides the hole. I attached it to the wall with sealing caulk and also ran a bead of caulk around the metal vent tube to help ensure critters didn’t climb in.
Here is the view from the outside. You can see the new motor on the partial brick to the left of the vent. The unit was caulked all around. It shows white here but dries clear.
I placed a fine wire mesh inside the vent to keep critters out.
Finally, I installed a 90 degree coupling adapter to the vent and attached a metal 4”clothes dryer hose from the blower to the adapter. The hose was secured with metal hose clamps.
And here is the finished paint booth ready for use. Note I covered the workbench and bottom of the booth in white contact paper to ease clean up.
I’ve used the paint booth several times now and I find that it works very well. The blower is quieter than I anticipated for such good performance. I find that as long as open bottles of paint or thinner are within the booth frame, no odors escape. When spray
painting I do not smell the paint as long as the object is within the frame and the spray gun is held close to the front of the booth. My wife, who has a much more sensitive sense of smell than I, agrees with this assessment. I am very pleased with this unit’s appearance and performance and I look forward to many years of use. While I have not used a paint booth from any other manufacturer, I recommend that modelers looking for a paint booth seriously consider the products of Pace Enterprises.
Tim Mann
July 4, 2008
Note I’m not related to Bob Pace and I have not received any compensation from Pace Enterprises for this review.