HS-E550LK Spray Booth

20 July 2020

Author | Adam Łokuciejewski

Most of us sooner or later decide to throw away a shoe box or a mandarin carton and start considering buying a model spray booth.

What is a spray booth? What are its tasks? Who should consider buying it? I will try to answer these and other questions based on personal experience with the HS-E550LK.

 

 

 

 

The spray booth is nothing more than a station for painting with airbrushes and sprays. Its main role is to extract chemical vapors and minimize dust deposits on the models. Equipped with good lighting, it facilitates the proper application of paint.

 

HS-E550LK is a popular and one of the larger portable spray booths available on the market at a price of about 120 €. It is made very decently, the plastics give the impression of good quality, and on the bottom there are rubber feet preventing movements.

 


Below are some technical data:

 

Input voltage: 100-240V AC (50/60HZ)

Output voltage: 12V DC (5A)

Air flow: 9m³/min

LED voltage: 12 V

Luminous flux: 2340 lm

Noise level: 53 db

Unfolded dimensions: 55 x 47.8 x 35.8 cm

Folded dimensions: 55 x 27 x 32 cm

Net weight: 3.8 kg
 

 

 

 

 

 

What can we find in the box? A booth with a replaceable filter, LED strips, power supply, flexible tube with a flat tip and elements for its assembly, a rotating base for painting (Ø19.3 cm) and instructions.

 

 

 

 

The booth is large, but thanks to this the working space as well. This gives the possibility of comfortable painting of the vast majority of kits It can be conveniently carried thanks to the handle located in the center of gravity of the device.

The transparent plexiglass wings are foldable, which is useful during transport, but it is hard to imagine that someone folds them after each painting. The wings have one more function - they let in daylight, illuminating the painted model.

The flat end of the exhaust allows the vapors to escape through a slot in a tilted window.

 

 

 

 

The HS-E550LK is equipped with a double fan guaranteeing an air extraction of 9m³ per minute. I have never produced such a vapor cloud that it would not suck in. The dry dust on the models has significantly decreased, but the dust inclusion itself is not necessarily. Some say that the fans sucking in room air also collect more dust from it. It's possible, but I personally did not notice the difference beyond the statistical error.

 

The exhaust is provided by one or two fans depending on what position we set the switch in. With two running fans it is very loud, while with one... also. For me, this is the biggest minus of this device, because living in a multi-family building in practice I do not paint after 10PM. For a small surcharge, you can buy the HS-E550BLK model, in which the rotation speed and light intensity are adjusted with a potentiometer. This is the only difference, but perhaps worth its weight in gold.

 

The built-in booth has three LED strips on the sides and at the top. They shine hard and cold. The color of the light is not a significant disadvantage for me, but if someone wanted, I think that replacing LEDs with warmer ones should not be a big problem.
 

 

 

 

 

Everyone who wants to improve the quality and comfort of their work should be interested in buying a spray booth. You can also build it by yourself, but that is a topic for another article. Is the HS-E550LK the best choice? I don't know because I have not dealt with the others. However, I am happy with it and have a sense of money spent well.

 

In my case, apart from eliminating unpleasant odors, reducing dust and lighting the workplace, the cabin fulfills one more task - a shadowless chamber for taking photos! You can see an example photo below.

 

 

 

 

 

And one more thing - your moms, girlfriends and wives complaining about smelly paints will appreciate this purchase no less than you :)

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

Pros:


• Large working area
• Effective vapors extraction
• Strong lighting
• Solidly made

• Transparent walls
• Convenient to carry thanks to its good balance
• The flat end of the exhaust pipe

 

Cons:


• Loud
• Too cold color of lighting
• Large and quite irregular when folded

 

 

 

 

Next review | Tamiya 74123 Sharp Pointed Side Cutter