Health issues & Powered respirators

[keith66]

Back in the early 90's i was doing a lot of heavy duty GRP repairs, this involved large amounts of grinding & huge amounts of dust.
Not wanting to breathe the stuff i had invested in a Racal Airsteam powered respirator. This proved to be very effective and i wore it out, i am now on my second one. This is now at the end of its days.
Now a few weeks ago i was doing an epoxy sheathing & fairing job on an elderly coastal four rowing boat, halfway through the fairing the respirator packed up so like an idiot i carried on.. This has resulted in 2 weeks of an awful cough, culminating in an episode yesterday so bad that i stopped breathing. After what seemed a very long time fighting rising panic i managed to catch a breath through my nose & all was well.
Needless to say this scared the hell out of me & i was straight down to the doctors. He reckons my chest is pretty clear and that the dust was likely to have aggravated a viral cold that is going round.
I am now looking to buy another powered respirator, The Airstream is a good product & has saved me eating a lot of dust over the years however they are very expensive. I am wondering if any of you use anything similar & what makes you recomend?
If there is no alternative i will buy another Airstream anyway!

[Lewisboater]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/trend-airshield-pro.html

About half the price...

[David G]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

You need a doctor before you need a new respirator. And you need the respirator. Good luck!

[Thorne]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

Can we see more recommendations? I can't use most respirators due to wearing glasses, which tend to fog badly no matter how they are cleaned or coated. I'm guessing that the price difference of roughly $50 makes the Pro a better deal than the slightly cheaper Trend Airshield.

[artif]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

We use the Scott Spirit powered air respirators, you can get pre-filters to save costs on repalcement filters. I dont wear glasses but you shouldn't have problems with them.

[Lewisboater]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

The helmet above is positive displacement, battery powered and vented so there is fresh airflow. Your glasses shouldn't fog up unless you are doing something and using the wrong shield... ba da!

[sdowney717]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

An asbestos worker. Would that work and be cheaper than $400?

[John Meachen]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

I tried an Airstream and found the hard hat part a bit ponderous,even though the respirator did a good job.I bought the smaller Airlite and now it has reached the end of its life and needs replacing so I will watch this thread with interest.I would prefer it if any replacement has batteries that aren't NiCads as I have too many dead batteries and lifeless tools as a result of batteries ceasing to function.

[artif]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

An asbestos worker. Would that work and be cheaper than $400?

Those are misery if worn for any length of time, compared to a powered respirator.
Compressed air with an inline chiller is the height of luxury for hard/ long duration, but a bit cumbersome around the home workshop.

[Phil Y]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

I think Larks and Peter Sibley have shown us pics of some slightly home made set ups, perhaps they will chime in. Seems like the ideal is forced air pumped from a clean space. But that means you are dragging a hose around with you.

[Bill Perkins]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

I have one of these half masks that work with glasses .http://axispro.net/?categoryID=2/

[Dave Hadfield]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

This thing actually works, although you have to be comfortable with a snorkel type mouthpiece. I used it when I stripped Drake.

Google: Resp-o-rator

Dave

[CundysHarbor]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

I've used a 3-M battery powered respirator with HEPA filter and organics filter. It is very bulky but the air is beautiful.

[PeterSibley]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

I think Larks and Peter Sibley have shown us pics of some slightly home made set ups, perhaps they will chime in. Seems like the ideal is forced air pumped from a clean space. But that means you are dragging a hose around with you.

I'm still using my much rebuilt Racal Airhat, the same thing as Keith's . The only original components are the blue plastic box, the hose and end moulding and the motor . A new hood ( made from an ordinary protective shield) with a velcoed on skirt and new nickle metal hydride batteries, a big improvement.

So I'd conclude the old one is rebuildable unless it's been driven over .

A friend uses another home made setup, a mask, hood, a very long hose and a remote blower. It;s proven excellent for really nasty situations .... like burning off antifouling .

[Larks]

Re: Health issues & Powered respirators

Here's mine, a tyvec suit, face shield taped to the hood of the suit, cheap old spray painting blower (basically a vacuum cleaner) with a long hose taped into the back of the hood to blow fresh air into the suit from outside. It worked much better than I could have expected and I did away with the dust mask: