“We had SprayZone.net repairing some of our existing booths at the beginning and they also helped us retrofitting them for waterborne when the laws here in California went into effect,” Astts explained. “We were using portable heaters and we purchased their JETdry heating air system by installing permanent heaters in the corners of our booths to cure the waterborne better. Then last year we started buying booths and prep booths for them.”
By adopting SprayZone.net’s JETdry heating air system, Autowest has been able to cure their vehicles effectively while producing an exemplary finished product. The system is designed to accelerate the overall spraying and backing process. Each of the four towers located at the corner of the booth provides four nozzles at a minimum of 3500 CFM, greatly accelerating flash off and curing cycles, according to SprayZone.net.
When asked about the main benefits of working with SprayZone.net, Astts said, “They are very easy to work with. There isn’t a lot of red tape with SprayZone.net. When we ask for something, we sit down with them to make a plan and then it’s done. I’m not just talking to a sales person, because I’m dealing directly with one of the company’s owners, Napoleon Garcia, who is also their Marketing Director. If I want something, he does whatever he can to make it happen and he won’t up charge me for doing it. I have worked with other paint booth companies in the past, and whenever I asked them for something that wasn’t in their catalog, they had to get back to me. Sometimes I would wait a week and not even get a straight answer. With SprayZone.net, I get the answers right away, because I’m not dealing with a [low-level] employee.”
Paint booths are imperative to the daily operations of a body shop, but with seven locations, Astts wants to be able to buy them and forget about them. “SprayZone gives us excellent customer service and the equipment is guaranteed for three years, so we know that our booths, mixing and prep stations will always be working at a high level to meet our volume. We bought Ozones, the finest booths they have. We really like the grilled floors that allow everything to go through the bottom of the booth. That way, we don’t have to worry about things like dust collecting on the booth’s floor.”
Installation of the SprayZone.net booths was drama-free, Astts asserts. “They put them in five of our locations and it included everything. They did our air lines, compressors, mixing rooms, prep stations all at the same time. At one of our facilities, we bought a portable prep station from them as well, because it fit nicely into the layout of our San Jose shop. It’s a big shop, so it allows us to prep cars anywhere in the facility without dollying the cars all over the place.”
Astts is also very pleased with the Ozone booth’s cutting-edge technology, featuring SprayZone.net’s patented Speed-Touch LCD. Unlike most control panels which must be installed 3 to 5 feet away from the automotive booth or mixing room, SprayZone.net’s Speed-Touch LCD is designed to be installed inside the compartment. The Speed-Touch LCD is a digital touch screen that offers spray-standby for energy conservation, Spray-On with VFD technology, automotive pressure control and JETdry control.
Another innovation featured in Autowest’s SprayZone.net booths incorporate the manufacturer’s Dragon-Flame. Essentially it’s an air make-up unit made to work within the heater's curing cycle. It’s designed to work in any waterborne or solvent-based condition to consistently provide superior finishes. Working with the VFD, the Dragon-Flame is able to recycle on bake from 80 to 140 degrees in under seconds.
Astts greatly values his strong relationship with SprayZone.net, which includes the ongoing support and maintenance of his booths, prep stations and mixing stations. “They do all our filters and they are always double-checking my booths to see that they’re working properly. They make it very convenient and we have nothing but great things to say about SprayZone.net.”
