Upon further investigation......Trend Airshield Pro

[Roger Chandler]

As I posted earlier, I am going through some sinus issues [infection and taking antibiotics].......some, related to turning and allergies.......some partly due to my own negligence! That is what I want to share with you today........

The negligence part is this..........I did not keep proper track of the state of the filters on my Trend Airshield Pro unit. I have been wearing it, especially for sanding and a lot of other times as well, but when I turned the last cherry goblet, I did not wear it for most of the turning, just the sanding part.

After losing the last several days to being sick and having to reschedule my demo on goblets, today, I went to the shop to take a look at the situation with a little closer inspection as to what might have brought this on........I had been suffering with seasonal allergies any way, but I took the time to actually open up the Trend pro.........removed the filters and was I surprised! Not in a good way!

I had allowed a build up of dust particles in the filters that I was unaware of because of negligence in checking carefully. When I looked at the inside of the filters, they were almost completely blocked! The outside was fairly clean, but the insides were blocked! Now that is probably due to the fact that I at times take my air hose and blow off the helmet, and a lot of the surface dust gets blown away. In retrospect, that looks to be something that can lead to a false sense of security.

Because the filters are a bit pricey [in my opinion ;)] I have been reluctant I guess, to change them out. Well, this came back to bite me.........and I share with you so that you do not make the same mistake! Now, I pride myself in trying to work safely, but I blew it on this one........and I think have learned a valuable lesson.........follow the recommended instructions and pay attention to those filters............your health depends on it!

Now, I am embarrassed :o to share this, but we all learn from one another and hopefully my mistake will help prevent someone else from making a similar one! I have put new filters on my Trend Pro unit, after blowing the thing completely out and then wiping it down with a clean cloth. I will start my next turning session with a clean unit and hopefully this will prevent any other issues.

I use an overhead air cleaner as well, and a dust collector when sanding, but I think the fact that I had clogged filters and was breathing through those filters is what tipped the scales on me as far as the respiratory issues goes..........now I will try not to repeat this mistake ever again!

I hope my experience benefits all of you and that you will take a look at those filters........from the inside, taking them out for inspection! Be safe everyone! :)

[bob svoboda]

Thanks for sharing, Roger. I'm heading to the shop to check my Trend's filters!!

[charlie knighton]

i have the old style trend, you can wash the filters out with water on that unit and reuse, i have about 3 sets and periodicly change them out and let dry/sit

[Brian Kent]

Thank you very much for the reminder. Several years ago I combined a respiratory flu with extensive sanding of walnut burl and my lungs hurt for months. I have been using the 3M half-mask ever since and would not go without it. I also need to get another dust collector or a duct over to the lathe while sanding.

[Steve Peterson]

Roger, how many hours would you estimate that you had on the old filters before they became useless?

I have an Airshield Pro, but I rarely feel the need to use it at the lathe after building a full enclosure with a 6" blast gate. I can be power sanding a bowl and watch the cloud of dust heading straight for the Clear Vue cyclone.

There are other places that it is really useful. I have started wearing it when I mow the lawn or use the week whacker. It eliminates the runny nose and allergy symptoms that I used to get.

Steve

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, how many hours would you estimate that you had on the old filters before they became useless?

I have an Airshield Pro, but I rarely feel the need to use it at the lathe after building a full enclosure with a 6" blast gate. I can be power sanding a bowl and watch the cloud of dust heading straight for the Clear Vue cyclone.

There are other places that it is really useful. I have started wearing it when I mow the lawn or use the week whacker. It eliminates the runny nose and allergy symptoms that I used to get.

Steve

That would be hard to estimate, Steve. I can say this particular set of filters has been in about a year and many projects done with them in the unit. I also have a very dusty environment........a smallish building with low ceilings.........and even though I have done what I can to help with that, with the overhead air cleaner and the dust collector, I still get dust all over the place. I have used compressed air to blow the dust off the helmet numerous times............I think that is where I went wrong.........the outside dust gets blown, but the inside dust seems to accumulate.

This is not a problem with the Trend AS pro.........this was me, doing things wrong. I think I might be able to take the filters out of the unit and blow them out without too much air pressure a time or two, but if one uses too much air pressure, then I think it could degrade the effectiveness of the filters.

When I put the new filters on this morning, I noticed how much more filter material seemed to be in place than on the old ones I took off........I don't know if that is due to my blowing it with compressed air, or a time and usage factor which degrades the filter........likely my blowing it off with too much air pressure.

I will get this all figured out, and eliminate this issue in the future. I think the Trend is a great unit, and I am glad I got it!

[Darryl Hansen]

I notice the same thing on my pro. I found a piece of filter material in the A/C dept of a box store. It is used to put in the floor vents in your house. It is about 4"x9" and I cut it to fit over the normal Pro filters. It acts as a pre filter. It does seem to work and the regular filters seem to stay cleaner so something is happening. DH

[Steve Doerr]

Roger, thanks for the update and glad you are feeling better. I recently got my pro and was using it with about 60 aromatic cedar pen blanks that I was turning and sanding. Prior to the pro, I would be stuffy and stopped up after using cedar. I also noticed over time that I was becoming more and more sensitive to cedar, and other woods. I was absolutely amazed that I could not even smell the cedar when I was doing all of that turning and sanding while wearing the pro. Like you, I too am "frugal" and try and keep my filters as long as possible by cleaning them off or even using a pre-filter. Your experience reminds us that even cleaning the outside or using a pre-filter can give us a false sense of security. We fail to realize that we do not see the inside of the filter that has been catching those extra fine particles. This is a great word of warning to us all.
Steve

[Roger Chandler]

Roger, thanks for the update and glad you are feeling better. I recently got my pro and was using it with about 60 aromatic cedar pen blanks that I was turning and sanding. Prior to the pro, I would be stuffy and stopped up after using cedar. I also noticed over time that I was becoming more and more sensitive to cedar, and other woods. I was absolutely amazed that I could not even smell the cedar when I was doing all of that turning and sanding while wearing the pro. Like you, I too am "frugal" and try and keep my filters as long as possible by cleaning them off or even using a pre-filter. Your experience reminds us that even cleaning the outside or using a pre-filter can give us a false sense of security. We fail to realize that we do not see the inside of the filter that has been catching those extra fine particles. This is a great word of warning to us all.
Steve

Steve...........I brought these clogged filters in the house to show my wife [ a registered nurse, who worked for years in ICU, CCU and now in cardiology] and showed them to her...............she was convinced that my issues were wood dust related last week, anyway, and just looking at them in the bright light shows that even though the outside was mostly clear and the inside did not have a lot of surface dust, what you could see was a layer of dust in the center of the fibers that obscured the light and let me know that I used these filters much too long.

I won't make that mistake again! My health is not worth the overstretch on my frugality!!! I will spring for new filters as often as I need them, now!

[Fred Belknap]

Thanks Roger. The one in mine are the original, I just ordered new ones. I think my pro is about two years old.

[Steve Peterson]

Thanks for the info. I think I need to order a new set of filters also.

Steve