If you are spraying in an approved booth, there is approved lighting, for side, and down illumination. Having it very bright helps in being able to see your passes.

If you are not using an approved booth, whatever you use for lighting can be unsafe.

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If you are spraying in an approved booth, there is approved lighting, for side, and down illumination. Having it very bright helps in being able to see your passes.

If you are not using an approved booth, whatever you use for lighting can be unsafe.

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I spray in my shop, with a few curtains and fans. I use a mask with a carbon filter.
My lights and fans are not flame/explosion proof.
I'm fully aware of EN and IEC standards for the above, but this is just me at home.
Would you be concerned about spraying WB finishes this way and appreciate the explanation?

 

I don't know how much room you have in your garage but you can pick up a decent used spray booth from an auction house, used machinery dealer or company going out of business( a lot of those recently) from $300 to $2000 depending on the size. Make sure it comes with the exhaust fan, lights and stack. If you do much finishing at all it is worth the investment. You probably paid that much for your table saw or compressor if you have a good one.

As far as lighting, spray booths have lights in the top and the sides. The side lights are usually angled 45 degrees downward so you can see the glare as you spray to keep a wet edge and prevent dry spray and streaks. Also daylight colored bulbs if you are doing color work in the booth.

For solvent based finishes explosion proof is mandatory on all electrical and you shouldn't mess around without it. With a water based coating you don't need explosion proof fixtures, as long as you have proper air movement across the front of the booth a quality respirator should suffice. Water based coatings although non-flammable do have hazardous chemicals like propylene glycol and aziridine which are very hazardous to your health, wear the respirator.

 

+1.:yes: Over the years I've had some very illegal booths and some that were in compliance. I will reveal what I did in my improper booths for lighting, which should not to be construed as a suggestion for what can be done. Since WB poly is relatively safe, I used no fire system, or explosion proof fans or lighting. What I did use was your basic 2 lamp 4' fluorescent units and set them up on the sides (usually standing up). If they cold be mounted horizontally, that's the way I did it. I used T-12 cool white lamps. The daylight seemed to cast a blue look. HD and Lowes usually has the fixtures for about 10 bucks. I also mounted them overhead. I wanted as much light as possible.

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Back to point on lighting.
It's a matter of angles and light intensities. Much is trial and error, and just playing with the need as you go.
I painted cars for years, You need adequate lighting above normal to see flaws. When I did paint cars, I had 4, 4 tube units overhead, 2 2 tube down each side and down low. 1, 2 tube in front and 1, 2 tube in the rear, movable. This is a car mind you, and the same thinking holds true. Adequate lighting is essential from all angles .
Also much is dependent on what you are trying to achieve.

NOW on the safety issues.
I've painted lacquer and polyurethanes. They need proper ventelation. and explosion proof lighting is a concern.
When you are messing with most""" waterbased""" poly products, it's a non issue. Safety masks are dependent on the product. Fans/vents help, but this is NOT car painting here.

On these water based products, they are forgiving.

 

lighting

After 30 years in the Design Studios of General Motors working with clay models in various stages of refinement from "rough as a cob" to slicked to a high gloss finish and covered with a "stretchable vinyl paint film called Di-Noc here's what I learned.

The slicked down clay holds the "paint" to allow one to see the reflected light from the overhead lights. The lights were tube type flourescents covered with diffuser panels mounted on a grid of metal supports. The grid created horizontal bars that were reflected in the surface. The variations in the surface, clay, made the horizontal bar move up and down, diminishing or expanding depending.
We sometimes oiled the "paint" to add more reflectivity to better see the surface, which would be similar to a wet paint coat.
The ceilings were far above the cars and slanted toward the windows which were full room length and about 15 feet tall.

So what's that got to do with a paint spray booth?

Possibly nothing, but here's what I came up with.
Spraying panels or surfaces that are vertical are more difficult to see the reflections. By having the lights directly overhead you don't get the light reflecting in the surface as you would if they were further back and high up, say at a 45 degree angle. Spray booths are necessarily confining in order to contain the vapors, so the lights are closer than optimum. Having full length light tubes will create the horizontal bars needed to read the surface. I would make them as continuous as practical...8 footers rather than two 4 footers in a row.
Horizontal panels will reflect the light directly overhead more readily. You can experiment with a shop light that's hanging in your shop and a high gloss panel like a piece of Formica or a finished cabinet door. Determine the angle and distance from the light which best shows the light tubes reflected in the surface.

Your body may cast a shadow in the path of the light, so be aware of that as you would stand in front with a spray gun...
more experimenting. bill

 

Thanks everyone, that was good advice.

I'm off to Lowes this evening for a few ballasts and flourescent tubes.

Woodnthings, thanks for your detailed description and I need to remember some of your previous tips.