Powered respirator?

[Vormulac]

Hi folks,

I'm idly thinking about upgrading my respirator to a powered type, and was wondering if anyone had any experience or comments on the North 'Compact Air Plus' respirator? I don't even know if it's suitable for woodworking, I'm just looking around really.

Cheers!

V.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi V

Perceived wisdom appears to be to buy the Trend.

Expensive, but it does what it says on the box.

Cheers
Neil

 

[woodbloke]

Neil wrote:

Perceived wisdom appears to be to buy the Trend

Agreed. I have the Airshield and its a good piece of kit - Rob

 

[Mike.C]

Hi V, I agree the Trend Airshield is the way to go.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Scott]

Yup, Airshield!

 

[Steve Maskery]

I have two. I have an old TurboVisor and a new Powercap Lite. They are both good, but in different ways.

The powercap Lite is, indeed light. It's quiet and comfortable. It's downsides are that the visor is fixed (so you have it on or off - nothing in between), and I'm not sure how easy it is going to be to clean; it's based on a baseball cap.

The TurboVisor (and I don't know if it is still made), is reasonably quiet, very comfortable, and best of all, the visor swings up, so you can lift it to see what you have done, wiithout having to take it off. It also has disposable face skins, which extend the life of the visor itself. It has a useful but fairly unattractive French Foreign Legion neck cloth hanging out the back.

It's heavier though, and was considerably more expensive (>£100, several years ago) than the Powercap Lite costs now.

Both do what they claim to do.

My beef with the Airshield is the balance of it. When I tried it on (OK a long time ago, but I don't think the design has changed much) it felt VERY front-heavy. Both the TV and the PCL are well-balanced.

JSP sent me a Powercap Lite for free, just so you know.

Cheers
Steve, who's been called a wuss today because he said a Yellow Fever injection hurt.

 

[Woody Alan]

I have recently bought a Trend airshield and despite some early misgivings about build quality (which I have aired on here), I have used it both in the workshop and this weekend outside when routing a load of far eastern ply for shelves for the workshop. I have to say it performed very well I could see all I needed to see and when concentrating on the job in hand didn't really notice it's prescience. I have not tried the alternatives unfortunately, so cannot speak for them.


Cheers Alan

 

[Vormulac]

Ok, taking into account that I do accept the wisdom of those promoting the Trend (believe me, it looks good to me too!), does anyone have any experience of a similar unit called the Airlite? Possibly by Racal or 3M?

Cheers!

V.

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Powercap when I need to do noisy stuff.

Two general points, though:

Particularly if getting a model with rechargeable powerpack, do get a second or backup power source. I've got a rechargeable and normal battery holder as a backup - real pita to have to stop what you're doing or chew dust when the juice runs out.

Also, is it just me, or is it normal to try and adjust glasses, scratch chin, take a swig of tea etc as soon as soon as it goes on?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Vormulac]

Also, is it just me, or is it normal to try and adjust glasses, scratch chin, take a swig of tea etc as soon as soon as it goes on?

:lol: That sounds like me, whatever I go for will have to have a transparent cover over the faceshield as I'm sure there'll be fingerprints and coffee all over it within moments of it going on for the first time...

V.

 

[dunbarhamlin]

:lol: yup, that's the idea. Of course, when you've finished a long session you then get a surprise when you put a hand up to your face and feel skin.

 

[wrightclan]

Powercap when I need to do noisy stuff...

Particularly if getting a model with rechargeable powerpack, do get a second or backup power source. I've got a rechargeable and normal battery holder as a backup - real pita to have to stop what you're doing or chew dust when the juice runs out....

Cheers
Steve

I have the Powercap, with just the normal battery holder. I just bought NiMH 'C' cells, and charge them in a normal battery charger.

I've had it for about four years, and have used it and abused it greatly for more than just woodworking. I've used it extensively for breaking up and reinstating fireplaces and lining chimneys, so it has had to deal with soot, concrete dust, brick dust, stone dust, flying debris, wood dust, and MDF dust. I just vac out the filters at the end of a session, and it's good to go again. I've only had to replace the visor once. For the money, a very good piece of equipment.

Brad

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Well if you will be sensible

I think I tend to loose track and don't realise (or forget) I really do need to plug it in, so I find the back up really handy.

Agree it does seem a really good piece of kit - it makes macassar, coco (both of which I really like but nose/throat/lungs don't), khaya (yuck) or mdf just smell/taste like fresh air.

Have you found decent ear protection which works with it? I'm using the plastic slugs at the mo.

 

[wrightclan]

I have just cheapo no-name ear defenders, and they fit just right at full extension.

Brad

 

[Vormulac]

Thanks for all your help guys.

By way of an update, I have just received my Trend Airshield. Pretty good deal I thought, the mask, with a spare battery and next day delivery for £149.
I look forward to breaking it in

V.