Q. We have a very old powder booth that no longer supports our color change needs. We are changing colors often and it takes 30 to 45 minutes to get from one reclaim color to another in our cartridge booth. We have seen booths that are supposed to be able to color change in 12 to 15 minutes, reclaim to reclaim. Is this true? —J.W.
A. The simple answer is yes, it is true that the right equipment can be installed to give you a very rapid color change. The key is to understand that the entire installation has to have the right features for the fast color change. Such a booth is constructed of a non-conductive material with a sandwich wall construction. It is typically smaller than most booth cabins and the walls are smooth and sloped to the extraction point. The airflow is a downdraft style and includes blow-down nozzles to move powder to the reclaim system and minimize accumulation inside the booth. The guns have several fast-color-change features including automated interior purging and blow-off nozzles to clean the gun body. A feed center is used to contain the feed hopper and pumps, which itself has features to speed up color change and contain powder.
The entire color change process is designed and executed for speed and efficiency. If you buy the right stuff, staff it correctly and maintain it, you can indeed change colors effectively in less than 15 minutes. Good training and maintenance are essential to keep the system working.
PF reveals the qualifying shops in its annual Top Shops Benchmarking Survey — a program designed to offer shops insights into their overall performance in the industry.
