Using Ozone to Counteract Off-Gassing Odor
An ozone generator with enough capacity to make a dent in finish off-gassing odor would create indoor pollution concerns, says the voice of experience. December 23, 2014
Question
Has anyone tried using an ozone generator to combat odors from overnight off-gassing? Do you have any other tricks to minimize this?
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor M:
I've used a lot of ozone generators for other purposes (deodorizing homes, apartments, etc.). Any ozone generator that makes enough ozone to fight off organic vapors is also going to be enough ozone to be dangerous, or at the very least, give you a nasty headache. If you haven't run an ozone generator before, trust me, it turns the whole area into the odor of a massive chlorine bomb (it behaves the same way as chlorine). My suggestion is that you get an exhaust fan mounted in your shop that you can put on a timer, or just leave running overnight. If you put it on a timer, kick it on a few hours before you come in each morning. If you have a ridge vent, be sure to leave it open for good inflow of clean air.
From the original questioner:
The manufacturer of this machine states that the timer should be set to shut it off one hour before the building will be occupied. Apparently within an hour all of the ozone will convert to oxygen and dissipate. Nowhere did it say that it could be used for finishing odors so I wasn't sure if it would be safe. A finisher friend of mine told me that in the past he had some sort of device that removed the odors overnight but couldn't remember what it was called. Researching on the internet this was the only thing I could come up with that may be what he had. I am trying to find some way to keep the smell minimal to keep peace with my neighbors.
From contributor M:
Activated carbon will definitely remove it, but that will get expensive quickly. I can also assure you (nicely) that the amount of ozone needed to remove the vapor odors from an overnight batch of doors (say, 10-50 doors) will take way longer than an hour to dissipate. We had apartments that we did this to that took half a day to off-gas with the windows and doors left open. Perhaps I'm more sensitive to it than most folks, but it was pretty harsh.
