Warning: That cheap paint booth filter pack I bought off Amazon clogged in 2 days

I know we all cut corners sometimes (myself included) but I grabbed a 4-pack of those no-name booth intake filters for $28 last Tuesday. First job was a Dodge Charger in bright red. By the second fender, the airflow dropped so bad I had orange peel on the clear coat. Had to stop mid-job and run to the local supply house for name brand ones at $18 each. The cheap ones looked like a dirty vacuum bag. Has anyone else had a supplier switch their filter stock without warning? I'm wondering if mine were just old stock dried out.

2 comments

2 Comments

martin.jamie13d ago

They looked like a dirty vacuum bag" - that's actually pretty normal for a working filter, not old stock.

the_jason13d ago

I get what you're saying @martin.jamie, but I see it a little differently. A working filter might have some dust on it, but these looked way past that - more like something that had been sitting in a warehouse for years collecting all kinds of grime, not just normal use. In my experience, proper working filters tend to have a more even, light coating of dust, not this thick, clumpy mess. So yeah, I'm leaning more toward them being old stock that got dirty in storage rather than anything that was actually being used. Take that with a grain of salt though, your mileage may vary based on what kind of system you're running.