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type of respirator

S

szicree

Well Known Member
I'm about to purchase a fresh air respirator and will probably go with the Hobbyair, but want to hear opinions about type of mask first. Does anybody have first hand knowledge regarding full mask vs. hood? Also, if anybody has a used unit they'd like to sell, let me know.
 
Hobbyair

Hi Steve,

I bought a hobbyair, full mask to use with AZKO two part epoxy primer. The unit works very well, is comfortable and absolutely keeps the fumes out. I would buy it again.

Michael Wynn
RV 8
San Ramon
 
Hobby Air is good unit. I have a similar, but larger, unit at work. I like a half mask my self. Paint is easily atracted to the lens of full face masks unless you have a nice down draft paint booth.
 
OK here it comes

I got my flame suit on...

I made my own fresh airbreathing system and finally decided it was safe to breath the air off my OIL FREE compressor...Thru an incecticide respirator...Worked realy well.

I was using Valspar Polyurethane, with the expectation that I would turn into a "pot plant" using a rather colourful expression.

Then my expert apinter friend said..."Nah I just use a respirator"...What? This guy has painted like dozen of vehicles.

but sure enough I could not even smell it through a standard insecticide respirator and I've still got all my teeth after painting the whole airplane.

Can't speak for other paint products and I did once wander back in the shop after painting (the fumes dissipate pretty quicky) a bit too soon and had the worse headache of my life instantly.

So its nasty stuff without a doubt, but I would have no hesitation in doing what I did again.

Frank
 
I believe isocyanates pass right through a filter-type respirator. I also think I remember reading that the nastiest components are odorless. Regarding using only a half mask, this stuff is absorbed through the tissues of the eye area.
 
I made a forced air respirator for under $50 that worked well for me.

It consisted of a bathroom fan wired to a switch and extension cord.

I fiberglassed a custom reducer between the fan's outlet and a one end of a piece of flexible 2" hose (the cheap corrugated stuff from Home depot).

The other end of the flex hose was run inside a helmet/facemask made from a splash shield, the hood from a poncho, and a bit o' duct tape.

I always put the bath fan in a location where it could draw clean air and never even caught a whiff of solvents when I was painting...
 
Kyle Boatright said:
The other end of the flex hose was run inside a helmet/facemask made from a splash shield, the hood from a poncho, and a bit o' duct tape.
Click to expand...

Very resourceful, yet funny too. If you have any pics of the rig I'd love to see it. I'm not real excited about spending $500 for a glorified fart fan.
 
I have a Citation with the forced air halfmask. I wear it under a hood. I get a large pack of the throwaway lense protectors to keep the lense on the hood clean. With the hood, my hair stays free of paint, doesn't get too tangled in the mask, I can wear the mask a little looser 'cause the hood traps the air and keeps the fumes from entering by staying pressurized. I recommend the better cloth hood as opposed to the paper one. I had a paper (Tyvex) one originally and it was fine, just not as durable.

Roberta
 
Here is a link to a respirator similar to the one I built:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/2951/air_supply.html

For mine, I didn't box in the fan, didn't include a pre-filter, and my hood/mask covered everything from the top of my head down to my shoulders. Something like the gear a beekeeper wears, except made from a clear plastic poncho hood and a face shield.

My respirator is in, um, storage at the airport and I don't have a picture handy...
 
Mine was made from a little shop vac from Home Depot, a painter's hood from an automotive paint store and a swimming pool vac. hose, & some clamps. The shop vac is called a "Stinger" and it is one of the few sold these days that blows as well as sucks. The whole setup cost about $120. You have to use a 2" pool hose; if you use the 1/5" hose the air blowing thru it screams like an F-15.

Read a more complete description at http://www.matronics.com/searching/...ITNUMBER=5?SERIAL=18135927990?SHOWBUTTONS=YES
 
szicree said:
Very resourceful, yet funny too. If you have any pics of the rig I'd love to see it. I'm not real excited about spending $500 for a glorified fart fan.
Click to expand...
Steve, you can borrow my Hobbyair w/full mask if you want. Contact me off-list if you want to borrow it.
 
tool club

For those of you Rv'ers that all live in one place why don't you "donate" the use of your tools to the club and charge new users say $500 to join and use verything available.

I bet you'd get all the money back you spent on tools over a fairly short time.

Of course if you terminally lazy like me then it would never happen...They would be MY tools and mine alone..Ha!

Just a thought.
Frank
9.7 hours till freedom
 
frankh said:
For those of you Rv'ers that all live in one place why don't you "donate" the use of your tools to the club and charge new users say $500 to join and use verything available.

I bet you'd get all the money back you spent on tools over a fairly short time.

Of course if you terminally lazy like me then it would never happen...They would be MY tools and mine alone..Ha!

Just a thought.
Frank
9.7 hours till freedom
Click to expand...

Frank,
You can do exactly this in many areas by joining you local EAA Chapter. Mine, EAA 663 Livermore CA . has a bunch of tools purchased for internal chapter use. We have a good set of the digital auto scales that have induced several people to join the chapter to use. Our yearly dues are fairly low and some guys look at it as a rental fee! Then they come to a meeting and find there is a wealth of building information there to be had for the asking.
Bill Jepson
 
szicree said:
I believe isocyanates pass right through a filter-type respirator. I also think I remember reading that the nastiest components are odorless. Regarding using only a half mask, this stuff is absorbed through the tissues of the eye area.
Click to expand...

Steve...

You have got it right! The isocynides (sp?) will pass right through an organic respirator and the eyes absorb chemicals second only to your lungs. I came down with Epoxy poisoning while laying up fairings on my RV6. The good folks at Gougeon Bros. (West Epoxy people) educated me on health matters enabling me to complete the project after a very lengthy delay. A real sensitized person can absorb chemicals even through the skin so I wore a tyvek suit with gloves and then a recently purchased a Hobby Air unit with a full face mask. A pack of plastic face mask covers took care of the effects of overspray which you do have to try to minimize. This is overkill for epoxy but it is not too much for isocynides. It worked great, I recommend it and I have done a second RV project since then.

Dick DeCramer
RV6 N500DD 155hrs
RV4 N149KC Accident Rebuild
also Flying
Northfield, MN
 
When you buy a respirator make sure it fits your face correctly. I personally don't wear Wilson or Survive-air masks. They just don't fit me. I perfer 3M. If the fit is not good you'll end up breathing the paint in anyway. At work we have a Survive-air freash air system. I wore the included mask for less than a minute. It had to go. A 3M mask that could plug in to the Survive-air air pump cost me over $100 but it was worth it.
 
Full face mask

Always wear a full face mask, cover the head cause the scalp will absorb tuolene extremely well, cover the arms, legs and as much as the rest of you as possible.

If it's too cloudy in your booth, you are not evacuating air quickly enough. Increase your evacuation method. Your exhaust fan should blow into a wet towel which will absorb much of the waste.

Read the label on any paint and then decide if you want those carcinogens in your body. Shower as soon as possible when done.

Suit up while mixing, including gloves, and don't un-suit till you leave the booth.

People who wear Home Depot respirators are cancer victims waiting to be. Having gone thru that disease with a close relative, you gotta be nuts not to properly protect against the chemicals in paint.
 
KTM520guy said:
When you buy a respirator make sure it fits your face correctly. I personally don't wear Wilson or Survive-air masks. They just don't fit me. I perfer 3M. If the fit is not good you'll end up breathing the paint in anyway. At work we have a Survive-air freash air system. I wore the included mask for less than a minute. It had to go. A 3M mask that could plug in to the Survive-air air pump cost me over $100 but it was worth it.
Click to expand...
For a half-face, I'd recommend the old standard Comfo in silicone (fits better, IMHO), about $40. For full-face, I've worn the 3M and liked it. However, you can't wear glasses with a full-face - you have to get the special insert that looks like a pair of glasses, is very expensive, and never seems to work right.

As for cartridges, I'd recommend either a "super cartridge", which covers organic vapor and acid gas, or a plain organic vapor cartidge, combined with at least a N95 particle prefilter; N100 or P100 prefilter provides more particulate protection.

In addition, guys, remember to shave - a single day's stubble can reduce the efficiency of your respirator significantly. Also, go to a safety supply place that has the different sizes to try on - fit is important.
 
I went down to the Army/Navy Surplus store and found a full-face mining respirator. It came with a demand-feed regulator similar to a scuba device. I modified the regulator to covert it over to full-flow and it works like a champ. It is fed off of a "T" on my oilless compressor. The full-flow feature helps to keep me cool and will prevent any chemical infiltration since there is always positive pressure. You must make sure that the compressor is located up-wind. Total outlay was around $25. The small-diameter airline is much easier to work with than the larger "store bought" ones.
 
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