Rhossydd
Established Member
Axminster APF 10 Evolution Powered Respirator
I bought one of these at the start of the year and thought people might like to know a little more about it. The pictures, details and prices are all at:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ap ... tor-101809
I didn't want anything with leads or separate battery packs that could catch on other kit in my small workshop, which ruled out the 3M Versaflow. I found the Trend airstream a bit heavy and unbalanced, also Axminster's demo model had the reported fault with the head adjuster being broken, so not a good omen for long term reliability. The JSP Powercap fitted nicely, but seemed expensive until Axminster released their own specified model of it at a lower price than the JSP was selling for anywhere.
The initial surprise is the box it's supplied in. Think of something like a 2.5L emulsion paint pot from B&Q with a press on/off lid, but very much bigger and deeper. It's not the easiest thing to open and close, but it is functional and will contain the helmet, charger and spares without trouble.
The next surprise is how small it looks out of the box. The Trend Airshield and the 3M Versaflow are both substantially bigger. The APF10's visor looks narrow and deep, compared to the flatter, broader other two. Secondly the cap is simply a bump cap with a cloth cover and doesn't have the bulk or shiny plastic of the other two.
Unusually the battery doesn't need charging before use. The instructions suggest using the battery flatten it, then charging for a full sixteen hours. So in practice you can get on with using it straight out of the box which is a nice change for rechargeable kit.
Whilst the battery pack can be charged in place, it unclips easily to charge in a more convenient fashion.
The charger also appears to be 'smart', so indicates when the battery pack is fully charged. Hopefully preventing any possibility of over charging.
As standard it comes with an impact resistant visor, an extra option with other suppliers of the JSP Power cap. Replacements are £29, so using a disposable overlay makes a lot of sense as they work out at just £1.69 each. Unlike the self adhesive screen protectors on phones and tablets, the overlays are held on with two bits of double sided adhesive on each edge. At first this seemed a potentially bad feature, but so far it hasn't fallen off or got dust behind it and won't suffer with air bubbles. It also looks like they'll be easy and quick to change.
The first lesson is to switch it on before trying it on. If you don't, you'll find the visor may mist up almost immediately, especially if it's cold.
Size adjustment is a small buckle on the back of the cap and is easily adjusted to a comfortable fit and hasn't slipped in a month's usage.
It doesn't take much practice to find an easy way to put it on, getting your face through the face seal is easy enough and there's plenty of room for glasses. The face seal fits over beards nicely too.
Once on, the deep U shape of the visor starts to make sense as there's no obstructions in your peripheral vision.
Next you may notice the noise from the fan, it's a light background hum. Once any machinery like a lathe or grinder is running, you won't hear it.
I find the whole kit fits securely, is well balanced and doesn't seem at all heavy to wear. I've not been aware of any tendency for it to tip forward or sideways when moving around, peering into hollow turnings or looking for something in the pile of shaving on the floor.
So far it seems the claimed 8 hours between charges is quite achievable too.
In use I soon forget it's on. The flow of air down my face isn't a problem unless it's very cold. If this makes your nose run you discover that you can't just tilt it up like a conventional face shield to blow your nose. At that point I've given up for the day as being too cold to work.
What has stuck me is just how much easier my breathing has been (I suffer mildly from asthma), even with what I'd thought of as benign jobs like roughing English air dried woods where dust isn't much of an issue, I'm finding breathing easier with less tendency to cough or clear my throat. Even when grinding tools life is more comfortable.
You don't realise what hazards these tasks produce, even using extraction at source as well, until you don't suffer the subtler side effects.
It isn't perfect though.
Using ear defenders with the helmet isn't a very satisfactory experience.
My Peltor set have too small a headband and as a result are firmly in contact with the rigid cap hence conduct and amplify the sound of the filter fan. Another cheaper pair allow the head band to be positioned horizontally behind the head, which is better for transmitted fan noise, but are less secure on the head and hence don't provide such good isolation.
As the cap is available as a spare part and I don't need head protection, it may be possible to hack a spare cap to allow a good set of defenders to fit well. I'll see what sort of problem it becomes with further use.
In theory the standard of isolation from dust isn't as high as it's competitors, but that's mainly down to possibility of reverse 'dirty' air entry around and through the face seal if you take a sudden and deep breath in. If you're not in the habit of taking in big gasps, that won't be such a problem. However because it's comfortable and easy to wear you're more likely to use it, win some, lose some.
The build and quality of materials overall isn't that great, but you are buying the cheapest way into this sort of respiratory protection. I wouldn't expect some of the parts like the air filter covers to survive that well if it fell onto, say, a concrete floor. A lot of the bits are listed as spares, so it may be that in the long term repairability may be good though.
Final word
I'm happy I bought it and now use it every time I start turning. I will also use it when routing and some other machining tasks too.
I bought one of these at the start of the year and thought people might like to know a little more about it. The pictures, details and prices are all at:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ap ... tor-101809
I didn't want anything with leads or separate battery packs that could catch on other kit in my small workshop, which ruled out the 3M Versaflow. I found the Trend airstream a bit heavy and unbalanced, also Axminster's demo model had the reported fault with the head adjuster being broken, so not a good omen for long term reliability. The JSP Powercap fitted nicely, but seemed expensive until Axminster released their own specified model of it at a lower price than the JSP was selling for anywhere.
The initial surprise is the box it's supplied in. Think of something like a 2.5L emulsion paint pot from B&Q with a press on/off lid, but very much bigger and deeper. It's not the easiest thing to open and close, but it is functional and will contain the helmet, charger and spares without trouble.
The next surprise is how small it looks out of the box. The Trend Airshield and the 3M Versaflow are both substantially bigger. The APF10's visor looks narrow and deep, compared to the flatter, broader other two. Secondly the cap is simply a bump cap with a cloth cover and doesn't have the bulk or shiny plastic of the other two.
Unusually the battery doesn't need charging before use. The instructions suggest using the battery flatten it, then charging for a full sixteen hours. So in practice you can get on with using it straight out of the box which is a nice change for rechargeable kit.
Whilst the battery pack can be charged in place, it unclips easily to charge in a more convenient fashion.
The charger also appears to be 'smart', so indicates when the battery pack is fully charged. Hopefully preventing any possibility of over charging.
As standard it comes with an impact resistant visor, an extra option with other suppliers of the JSP Power cap. Replacements are £29, so using a disposable overlay makes a lot of sense as they work out at just £1.69 each. Unlike the self adhesive screen protectors on phones and tablets, the overlays are held on with two bits of double sided adhesive on each edge. At first this seemed a potentially bad feature, but so far it hasn't fallen off or got dust behind it and won't suffer with air bubbles. It also looks like they'll be easy and quick to change.
The first lesson is to switch it on before trying it on. If you don't, you'll find the visor may mist up almost immediately, especially if it's cold.
Size adjustment is a small buckle on the back of the cap and is easily adjusted to a comfortable fit and hasn't slipped in a month's usage.
It doesn't take much practice to find an easy way to put it on, getting your face through the face seal is easy enough and there's plenty of room for glasses. The face seal fits over beards nicely too.
Once on, the deep U shape of the visor starts to make sense as there's no obstructions in your peripheral vision.
Next you may notice the noise from the fan, it's a light background hum. Once any machinery like a lathe or grinder is running, you won't hear it.
I find the whole kit fits securely, is well balanced and doesn't seem at all heavy to wear. I've not been aware of any tendency for it to tip forward or sideways when moving around, peering into hollow turnings or looking for something in the pile of shaving on the floor.
So far it seems the claimed 8 hours between charges is quite achievable too.
In use I soon forget it's on. The flow of air down my face isn't a problem unless it's very cold. If this makes your nose run you discover that you can't just tilt it up like a conventional face shield to blow your nose. At that point I've given up for the day as being too cold to work.
What has stuck me is just how much easier my breathing has been (I suffer mildly from asthma), even with what I'd thought of as benign jobs like roughing English air dried woods where dust isn't much of an issue, I'm finding breathing easier with less tendency to cough or clear my throat. Even when grinding tools life is more comfortable.
You don't realise what hazards these tasks produce, even using extraction at source as well, until you don't suffer the subtler side effects.
It isn't perfect though.
Using ear defenders with the helmet isn't a very satisfactory experience.
My Peltor set have too small a headband and as a result are firmly in contact with the rigid cap hence conduct and amplify the sound of the filter fan. Another cheaper pair allow the head band to be positioned horizontally behind the head, which is better for transmitted fan noise, but are less secure on the head and hence don't provide such good isolation.
As the cap is available as a spare part and I don't need head protection, it may be possible to hack a spare cap to allow a good set of defenders to fit well. I'll see what sort of problem it becomes with further use.
In theory the standard of isolation from dust isn't as high as it's competitors, but that's mainly down to possibility of reverse 'dirty' air entry around and through the face seal if you take a sudden and deep breath in. If you're not in the habit of taking in big gasps, that won't be such a problem. However because it's comfortable and easy to wear you're more likely to use it, win some, lose some.
The build and quality of materials overall isn't that great, but you are buying the cheapest way into this sort of respiratory protection. I wouldn't expect some of the parts like the air filter covers to survive that well if it fell onto, say, a concrete floor. A lot of the bits are listed as spares, so it may be that in the long term repairability may be good though.
Final word
I'm happy I bought it and now use it every time I start turning. I will also use it when routing and some other machining tasks too.
