The Little Fan that Could

Being a distributor for national products such as Garmat USA paint booths and CEG tools brings with it certain obligations. One of them is to attend national trade shows such as NACE; the National Autobody Congress & Exposition and SEMA; Specialty Equipment Market Association, among others.

At the annual gathering called NACE it is customary for the “parent” corporation to gather together all of the sales representatives into a single meeting to review the year, introduce products, and hand out rewards. It is fun to get together with friends and associates for food and drink. Sometimes these meetings are about as much fun as a root canal, but other groups can be quite fun. Garmat USA is in more of the “fun” category than others.

When the official unveiling moment of Accele-Cure happened during product presentation several years ago at NACE, a general sense of fun took over. Comments were stated about ceiling fans in a paint booth and a general “you-have-got-to-be-kidding” attitude prevailed. After much ribbing and good fun was had, the presentation on this new product continued. Karel DeRegge, the owner of Garmat USA led the presentation; after listening to his explanation of how it works and how it has tested out (with video) the entire group went from skeptical to curious. It quickly became clear that maybe the product had some good engineering and design qualities behind it. Now, with thousands of units installed including many in the testing and training facilities of major paint companies, it is clear that these “silly little fans” do work exceptionally well.

It is worth noting that Karel is a very friendly and down-to-earth guy. You could find him next to you in the hardware store or grocery and he would greet you as if you were the most important person in the world. Karel would rather be in the R&D shop than anywhere else at Garmat USA.

He is the common-sense inventor of a series of patented, pit-less down-draft booths (Frontier, Chinook II, and Tier 1) and the fans we call Accele-Cure. He took our friendly ribbing in stride, and insisted that we all try the system for ourselves rather than just take his word for it. You can bet that Karel would like you to check out his waterborne solution and see if this system can help you with the new waterborne paint technology.

As with any tool, it is useless without a skilled technician using it. Accele-Cure is no different; it is a tool to help the shop and the technicians make more profit. The phrase “A hammer does not make the carpenter” is a good summary for any tool.

Don’t be misled by its simplicity and appearance; this system works hard and works very well. It has proven itself time and time again and we highly recommend it over corner and side type blower systems.