respirator questions.

[Hilel Salomon]

Hi Folks,

Am back to turning and will post my very mediocre hf. In the meantime, my trend airshield cracked-after being dropped several times, and I had to replace the black crown?? (the plastic headpart that holds the filters and batteries) P&R had one and was great to deal with. The reasons I chose to get a part were: it was quite cheap (23 bucks) and I have two airshields with lots and lots of batteries. I have looked at other respirators, and although I know the 3M adflow is supposed to be the best, I haven't got !000+ dollars lying around. There are often sales of the airshield pro, and I was wondering if those of you who have one are satisfied with it?
Also, there have been numerous posts on how to make your own spare batteries, and I'm wondering if one can do this with the Pro?
Thanks,
Hilel.

[Gary Herrmann]

I seem to remember someone posting about the 3m airflow. There is a guy who will build one for you from a mixture of new and used components and will take your current respirator as a trade in. I believe the cost savings is substantial. I've thought of going this route on and off.

Hopefully someone who knows which site/guy/phone number I'm talking about will chime in.

[Harvey M. Taylor]

I have the Trend Airshield Pro and wouldnt be without it. When you think the air is clean, just look for a small shaft of light[I have lots of them in my shop] and look at the dust floating around. The Pro has 2- 8 hr. batteries with a charger. Why would you want more time? Home-made ones might not mesh with the motor in the respirator.Works for me. Max

[Darryl Hansen]

I believe the Trend Pro only has one battery in the black helmet. I is good for over 8 hours and recharges through the helmet. The earlier Trend did have two batteries that had to be charged independently. The "new"
Trend is far superior to the older model for many reasons including better filtration. there are a couple of places that will build the batteries for you. If you cracked the new model Trend why not contact Trend directly. Ibroke the headband and they replaced it rapidly.

[Mike Minto]

I have been using the Pro version for a couple of months now, while I don't like anything on my face, I wear it when sanding and polishing almost as much as my wife would like me to wear it. The airflow keeps it from fogging, and the air seems clean to me when I breath it. It does seem a little loose on my head - which is kinda big, I'll have to admit - maybe I need to fiddle some more with the adjustments. AllProTools seems to have the best price for the unit. A worthwhile purchase. Mike

[Hilel Salomon]

Thanks for your answers. The place where I ordered the headband, PandR (in VA) is an authorized dealer and sent it to me immediately. Nice guy as well.
The reason that I would want more than 8 hours is that I'm both lazy and impatient. When the batteries run down, I just fit two more packs and am good to go for another 16-18 hours. The idea of stopping what I'm doing and recharging batteries doesn't appeal to me. As I've said before the only thing I like about turning is turning. Sanding, prepping, sharpening, etc. are-as far as I'm concerned-the penalties for my love of turning and buying tools.
Anyway, where can I find the people who do provide extra batteries-I think that Trend's spare parts are very expensive.
Regards, Hilel.

[Rick Prosser]

I have been using the Pro version for a couple of months now, ... It does seem a little loose on my head - which is kinda big, I'll have to admit - maybe I need to fiddle some more with the adjustments. .... Mike

There is a head band adjustment knob on the back of the headband. Pull it away from your head, then crank it tight, then push it back in to lock.

I have been using my Pro for months and really like it. I would like to get a second set of batteries if someone knows a cheaper supplier.

[Greg Just]

All-Pro-Tools has it on sale for $229.90.

http://www.allprotools.com/Trend-AIRSHIELD-Powered-Dust-Mask-p-17796.html?gclid=CJW3ob-G0ZkCFRAMDQodfCU0yQ

I don't have any association with this company - just passing along the information

[Jim Underwood]

The Trend Pro is just a little more for $269... better CFM and the battery lasts longer (as well as having better filtration?)

http://www.allprotools.com/Trend-AIR-PRO-AIRSHIELD-PRO-p-17824.html

In fact, I just ordered one of these, since the price was so good.

I'll have a Triton for sale now...

[Ryan Baker]

I have been using my Trend Pro for a little while now. When I first got it, I found it quite top-heavy and somewhat uncomfortable. But I found that getting the headbands adjusted just right makes a lot of difference. I'm getting pretty used to it now. It's especially great when doing really dusty jobs like sanding. I looked hard at the 3M airstream, but i'm somewhat glad I didn't go that route. The Trend pro already creates a pretty good breeze -- the 3M must be like working in a hurricane.

The Trend Pro comes with one 8 hour battery (that really gets 8 hours) that can be charged right in the helmet, but it takes 14 hours to charge it. I got a second battery for mine, so that I can have one to swap out and keep going when the battery runs out. There is a stand-alone charger (at a silly price) that will charge the battery out of the helmet instead. This works quite well.

As for rebuilding the battery packs, i'm sure it isn't a whole lot worse than rebuilding the packs for the normal Trend. I haven't tried it, but when my current battery packs give up, that is probably exactly what I will do with them. You need a lot fewer batteries though since the run time is so much longer.

The Trend Pro price has dropped to not that much more than the standard version. For the improved features, it seems like an obvious choice. The filters are expensive, so i'm hoping I get some decent lifetime out of them.

[Greg Just]

The Trend Pro is just a little more for $269... better CFM and the battery lasts longer (as well as having better filtration?)

http://www.allprotools.com/Trend-AIR-PRO-AIRSHIELD-PRO-p-17824.html

In fact, I just ordered one of these, since the price was so good.

I'll have a Triton for sale now...

Jim:

You are correct - I meant to point out the newer Trend Pro. For $40 it is a great deal at $269

[Darryl Hansen]

these folks will rebuild any battery pack http://www.primecell.com/

[Darryl Hansen]

The newer version of the Trend is vastly superior to the older one that airprotools has on sale for $229. Go the extra for the Trend Pro @269. Better filtration, better battery life and the better airflow and balance is worth the extra. The filtration ports are on top rather in front which should provide better filtering. Also the filters are longer and there are two finer than on the older model. I have had both versions.

[Mike Stephens]

Don't want to hijack but am curious. How long do the filters last? Can you clean them or do you have to replace them? At $40.00 for the 2 I would hope that they can be cleaned. If not it's going to be huffing saw dust for me.:eek:

[Jim Underwood]

I have a question for y'all too.

Where do you keep your respirator when not in use?

I'm thinking about this scenario.

You get a brand new respirator and all is fine when you first put it on. You work for several hours, get dust all over the place, then...

You take it off, and run the risk of getting all kinds of dust inside it. What then?

What kind of procedure do you use once you're done for the day?

[Ryan Baker]

Normally, mine just gets left on the bench, and I haven't had any problem getting dust inside it yet. But it does come with a storage bag to keep it in. Or you just put it somewhere out of the direct mess (or actually clean up).

You can't clean the filters. You can blow the bulk of the dust off of them, which certainly helps. They say not to use compressed air to clean them. I suppose this really means that a direct blast will probably damage the filter material. A gentle dusting doesn't seem to cause any trouble. I usually blow off the whole helmet with compressed air when i'm putting it away for the day, which keeps me and the filters cleaner. The life of the filters will depend very much on how much you use it and how dusty you are when you do use it. I've had mine for about a month or so and haven't seen any deterioration in the filters yet. Even expensive filters are better than coughing that stuff up and getting lung diseases.

[Hilel Salomon]

Thanks for all of your posts. I certainly appreciate the site which rebuilds batteries and may use them for some drills I have. I'm quite tempted to buy the pro, but one cause for hesitation is that I generally like to have two of everything so that I don't have to lug an item back and forth between VA and SC. I also would absolutely need at least one spare battery for each.
Good luck All,
Hilel.