[TheForge] DIY Electrostatic paint gun

[Jerry Frost]

There's a danger I haven't seen brought up so far. Are sparks going to be an
issue? I wouldn't want to be painting something and have a spark touch off
flamable paint/solvent fumes.

I'm not sure if you'd even have to come close to the grounded target to
cause a spark. Would it be possible for the paint itself to carry enough
charge to spark on contact with the target?

Frosty
------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Freeman" <FREEMAB at pt.fdah.com>
To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 5:08 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] DIY Electrostatic paint gun


> No.
>
> But I've seen how certain scientific apparatus that uses the same
> principle works, and there's not much to it, really.
>
> The nozzle must be given one polarity, the object being painted, the
> other.  I don't know whether it matters whether the "paint" is
> positively or negatively charged relative to the object.
>
> One VERY serious issue is voltage.  High voltage is needed to provide
> the desired effect.  High voltage CAN be dangerous.  However, the
> current need not be high at all.  Microamps might do (I haven't tried to
> figure it out).
>
> If I were to try this (which I'm thinking of doing, but don't know when
> I might get to) I would start by using as a voltage source one of those
> room-ionizers commercially available.  They have a needle that points
> out into the room, the source of the ions.  (I'm not sure where you'd
> find the "ground" on the thing.  It probably is the electrical ground of
> the house electric, but I don't know that for sure.)  The advantage of
> these devices is that they are intended for household use.  You can
> probably get a little buzz from them, but nothing lethal.
>
> Another alternative would be the flash attachement to an older camera.
> These charge a capacitor from a battery.  I don't know that the voltage
> is high enough ( they can give you a surprizing shock), but if it is,
> it's certainly a safe source.
>
> I would be inclined to avoid such things as the corona discharge P/S
> from a laserjet or xerox, as those things may very well put out lethal
> current.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Bruce
> NJ
>
> >>> sjs at chargin.org 10/1/2004 12:54:58 AM >>>
> Has anyone ever made or seen plans on the net on how to setup your own
> electrostatic paint system? Ive looked into whats available here and
> its
> quite expensive, I know little about it but its a high voltage/low
> amps
> setup which puts a strong electromagnetic field infront of the nozzle
> of the
> spraygun, the item to be painted is negatively charged and the
> positively
> charged paint jumps onto it just like powder coating. Seems to me the
> "black
> box" etc wouldnt be hard to build yourself. Maybe theres more
> complexity
> than I understand in the system? Anyone got a lead for me, Ive done a
> bit of
> googling without much success...
>
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