Paint Booth Clearance Times – Smoke Testing HSE

This HSE Research Report from 2006 reviews commercially available (party) smoke machines which could be used for determining the clearance times of paint spray booths.

” ……….. Seven different fog machines were tested for assessing the clearance times of spray booths and rooms, the results were compared to the Colt 4 smoke generator currently used by both HSE inspectors and HSL.

As anticipated, the Colt 4 Turbo machine was superior in performance to the cheaper units tested in this study; it produced the most smoke in a given time; produced the thickest smoke; and was capable of smoke production when disconnected from the mains. However, performance came at a price.

At over 10 times the cost of the cheaper units, it is impractical to expect small MVR bodyshops to purchase a professional smoke machine, such as the Colt in order to determine clearance times of its spray booths or rooms.

The commercial fog machines tested are all capable of filling a booth or room so long as the mechanical ventilation is turned off before doing so. However, with the exception of the Vivid fog machine, it would be necessary to wait for the units to reheat a number of times to adequately fill a booth or room. For this reason, coupled with the fact the smoke thinned noticeably over a period of 20 minutes, the Party Fog Machine and the Skytec are not recommended for determining the clearance times of spray booths and rooms. ………..”

Smoke Generators can be purchased here: https://levshop.co.uk