Dust extrator to keep room clean?

[Robert Lambie]

we have a spray booth that has an extractor fan sucking air out of the room.
then a smaller fan on the opposite wall sucking fresh air into the room.

same with our printer rooms.

I’m no expert, but small extraction fan on a wall or window would help would it not?

in the cold weather, this can keep the room very cool though. :lol1:

[Warren Beard]

Yeah it would suck in cold air which I don’t want to do, I basically want a fan that will circulate the air but as it sucks the air through it passes a filter which traps the dust. This would just sit in the corner somewhere like a normal fan.

The print room will be sealed so don’t think it will get too dusty (once cleaned) but just to eliminate any I thought it might be easier just to have a small fan with filter if there was such a thing?

How do others keep their print rooms clean?

[James Martin]

http://www.flextraction.co.uk/

Looks pricey mind you

[Martin Pearson]

How much do you want to spend Warren :lol1: :lol1: Yes you could build a clean room that would be dust free and would cost you thousands of pounds but would be complete overkill for what you are doing.

If you are just looking for a way to try and reduce airborne dust in the print room then it shouldn’t be to difficult to build a small unit with a foam dust filter to just circulate air round the room if something doesn’t already exist.

Like you say the problem with any wall mounted fan is that it is going to bring cold air into the room, even if it was on an internal wall it will still be dragging air from the workshop in and cooling the print room.

A small wall mounted extractor could easily be built into a box, fit a foam filter on the inlet to collect the dust and then just plug it in somewhere in the print room. Wash the foam filter every now and again. That should be all you need.

Perhaps I need to start producing them to sell to signmakers :lol1: Although I would have thought something similar already exists.

[John Parfit]

Can you not just make one Warren, just a simple box or cylinder, intake fan at top leading dust down with simple baffles to settle it out, then seperated baffles back to top with muslin or felty type filter at outlet. Could be sealed, can’t see dust ever filling it up. A diagram would be better but can’t see how to add one here.

John

[John Parfit]

oops, SNAP Martin :lol1:

John

[John Harding]

Warren ive recently finish a room where my printer resides, along with my laminator and pc – to be honest the best thing is a nice smooth lino floor its light coloured and shows the dirt hence I remember to hoover regularly and the floor is one piece so its fits snug to the edges hence a fairly clean roomand all the dirty work goes on elsewhere – personally I think your over worrying but hey if your rich enough why not 😀

John

[Warren Beard]

Thanks Guys, I’ll just see how it goes (because I’m not rich :lol1: ) it’s painted concrete floor (light grey) so should be fine and easy to clean, not sure how dusty the area is but it will be a sealed room and the door closed at all times so the only real dirt going in and out is when the door opens and closes and on our feet.

otherwise I’ll make up a filtration unit for a little fan and monitor it.

cheers

Warren

[Phill Fenton]

Get your wife to dust and Hoover on a regular basis, problem solved and at no cost to you 😕

[Martin Pearson]

Warren, don’t know how you have things set up at the house but if you have a dedicated print room at the unit it really shouldn’t be any worse than things are at the house. Long as you keep the door shut except for access obviously then there is no reason for the room to get bad.
A mat to wipe your feet on before you go in would stop a lot of dust from the workshop floor being transferred and I would think would be all that is needed, if you do have to make up a small filter unit it shouldn’t cost more than a few quid anyway as a box could easy be made from offcuts.

[Warren Beard]

quote Phill Fenton:

Get your wife to dust and Hoover on a regular basis, problem solved and at no cost to you 😕

Ooo, if she joins up here she might see that :lol1: you’ll be in trouble then (:)

Martin you are right and what I was thinking, I’m just over stressing a bit as I want the move to be as painless as possible and didn’t want to start having issues with dust but I do suspect it will be better than here and I make do here so should be fine, just want all my options ready available if I did need it.

expect a lot more of these dumb questions over the next few weeks 😉 :lol1:

cheers guys

Warren

[Craig Gibson]

Don’t brush or use vacuum in my print room, have a central vacuum point in it, no recycled air, all dust and air removed from room. Works great and cheap

http://www.beamcentralsystems.com/domestic/default.asp

[Graeme Harrold]

Warren, look at the extraction cabinets used for spray tanning……..might again be overkill, If you build your own there are plenty of fleabay sellers offering pond pump filter material in sheets. This should be enough to trap dirt, and is also washable.

On the hoover front, you are more likely to recirculate dust than remove it, so have a look at Built in vacs. These beauties get rid of the dirt/dust as the exhaust can be located out side the building.

[Martin Cole]

quote Martin:

A mat to wipe your feet on before you go in

Best advice yet Martin…!

I have been to sign companies where the printer is in amongst everyting else,and don’t seem to have probs.

In an ideal world, a clinical print room would be fantastic, but certainly not a must.

Most important thing in business Warren apart from cashflow is keep your overheads down…..and before you buy anything ask yourself

‘IS IT A WANT OR IS IT A NEED’

good Luck 😀

[Peter Normington]

Martins are correct,
But just for info, extraction fans do not help with keeping dust down, in fact quite the opposite, the reason being, is that if you extract air it must be replaced. so the replaced air carries in dust.
for a clean environment, you first need to bring in clean air, via a filter.
if then you need to extract anything, you are not sucking in muck.
All automotive spray booths work on this principal,

Peter

[David Rowland]

We use a small 8inch inline pipe extractor fan… cost me about £40 if memory is working…
it takes the air and fumes outside thru the wall… the room still gets smelly but its needed.

the server also lives in that room to keep it warm

i was doing the air in and air out… the air in doesn’t have a fan on it, not really needed.

One thing, around the doors and so forth dust with gather… as air gets sucked out it will try and get dust and stuff back in the room lol..

its not perfect clean room, it will do.. and it works.

Laminate or vinyl style flooring is a must… recommend that if ur doing a small room

[Warren Beard]

cheers all, like I said I don’t want to suck air in to the room but try clean the air inside it but only if I have to, it was just a pre-emptive question. If a good idea I was hoping there was a cheap fan like thing with a filter, nothing fancy.

I’m sure it will be fine as it will be better than home and I get away with that.

Sometimes it’s hard to decide if you "NEED" something or just "WANT" something.

I don’t need a Steeltrak to cut my Dibond as I can keep using my straight edge and stanley kniffe :lol1: ……. I do want one though :lol1:

[Warren Beard]

quote Dave Rowland:

Laminate or vinyl style flooring is a must… recommend that if ur doing a small room

so is a painted concrete floor not good? It’s not a big room (3.3m x 5.4m) I could put something down, what’s best?

[Martin Pearson]

I wouldn’t have thought a painted concrete floor would be ideal Warren and would probably be looking at putting some sort of covering down. Concrete floors do seem to hold dust and dirt quite well making it harder to keep clean. Also they tend to be very cold so from an insulating point of view to help keep heating costs down I would look at putting something like Lino down possibly with an insulating layer underneath.

[David Rowland]

currently using paintted concrete in the uv print room, it does get dirty quickly… its not going to be terrible tho

[Graeme Harrold]

Painted concrete can be mopped easily where as un painted will generate additional dust and is harder to keep clean.

[David Rowland]

sometimes it work mopping, but have u ever used one before!?

[Martin Pearson]

quote Dave Rowland:

sometimes it work mopping, but have u ever used one before!?

Graeme is in the Army, if he worked his way through the ranks he will have loads of experience using a mop :lol1: :lol1:

Painted or not painted it’s not the best of surfaces.

[Peter Mindham]

I agree with Peter. I have a friend with a paint shop. He has a fan with filter blowing air OUT to create a positive pressure that does not suck air and contaminants in.
Warren, could you not build a small dias to put the printer on and cover this with linoleum etc. It would ensure cleanliness in that area and you could also put a lip on it in case you had any spills etc.

Peter