Trend Airshield Issue

[Glenn Clabo]

I knew a bunch of you have the Trend Airshield and really like them so I ordered one. Well I tried to plug the charger into the battery and it's a no go. The charger connection just pops back off:mad: .

I'm also just a little concerned that the battery and charger are VERY generic. There is no indication that they are from Trend and frankly are not built anywhere near like the quality of the Airshield. Do you think AllPro Tools may have sub'd them out?

I tried to call Trend tech line...no answer:mad: :mad: . Sent email...guess what hasn't happened:mad: :mad: :mad: . I sent an email to AllPro Tools with no response there either:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: ...and finally got someone to tell me someone would get back to me after getting through over the phone.

[Mark Cothren]

I had the same problem and contacted All Pro immediately. They sent me a new one out and it arrived the next day along with return postage for the faulty battery.

I'll see if I can locate the guy's name that I communicated with and let you know.

[Mark Cothren]

Brandon Martin
AllProTools.com
(888) 425-5776

[Glenn Clabo]

Thanks Mark...I'm waiting for him to return my call. When did you buy yours?

[Glenn Clabo]

George,
Mine doesn't even seem to go in far enough to do that. When did you buy yours? I'm trying to get some info for when/if I get called back. I believe a company who has a known issue should do just a little bit of homework, like check it's stock, before sending the problem.

[Mark Cothren]

May 2005 is when I purchased my Trend. You should reference each of our experiences to Brandon when you talk to him.

[George Conklin]

Glenn,

Incoming PM.

George

[Glenn Clabo]

Thanks George! Ya got to love this place, eh?

Update...
George somehow found a contact at Trend and I just discussed this with him. It appears that this has been a problem for "months" but they felt they had it licked. Clearly they haven't...however, they are going to make it right.
I'm not in that line of work...but I think would have made sure every battery was checked before a $250.00 item was shipped. But I work in the submarine world where you can't just wait for compliants...the people would would complain may not be able to.

[Bob Noles]

Glenn,

I hate reading this thread as mine is in route from these same folks. :confused:

[Carole Valentine]

Glenn, I had the same problem. They sent new batteries and they were worse than the old ones...would hardly stay plugged in at all, the connector was wobbly and the connector was also about 1/8" longer than the old ones so you had to remove the padding from the battery compartment to use them. They had sent the UPS man to pick up the old ones BEFORE the new ones ever arrived. Thank goodness I did not let him have them! Then in December, they (someone named Terry) called and said they had never gotten their batteries back. I explained why and told them the problem with the new ones. I had photos of the new next to the old and I sent those to them, at their request. They acknowleged the problem existed and said they would get back to me on the issue, but I have never heard from them. The one on the left is the old battery and the one on the right is the "new" one.

[Rob Littleton]

I had the same problem.

I took mine to the AWFS show in Vegas where I met an Airshield rep. They had no problems immediately swapping a show model out for my old one. Apparently, they were aware of the battery issue and had fixed it and thought the old type had been recalled.

I also had the issue of a cracking shield around the base of the face mask. They were aware of this too. Unfortunately, the new unit they gave me is beginning to show signs of cracking around the base of the shield too. This bothers me a lot as, to me, it seems to be a weakness in design or materials.

I'd be interested in finding out if any others have this problem. I hate to bug people as they were also in the customer service in the first place but also, I really don't like what I am seeing.

Anyone else?

Thanks

[Glenn Clabo]

Thanks Carole...just wondering...when did all this happen. It really is beginning to bother me that they knew what was going on...and choose to let us complain. I wonder how many people have a rubberband rapped around thiers? I almost did that myself.

[Bob Noles]

After reading all of this, I just placed a request to cancel my order. I hope it is not to late.

I think I want to take a harder look at the Triton instead.

[Mike Ramsey]

Dang, dang, dang! Was thinking about getting one of these for my
birthday in March, guess I will wait..

[Howie French]

I received my Airshield about 1 month ago, I did not have this problem.
I just went into the shop to look at the battery.... It's the "new" one, the one on the right in Carole's picture.

Howie

[Jim Ketron]

I love my Trend, and it has helped me with not breathing the dust! But they need to do something with the packs they don't last very long and they could use better cells and a better charger to improve this!
I got 4 sets that were made and a new charger that charges the packs in about 30-60 min rather than half a day plus they last about 5-6 x longer!

[Glenn Clabo]

"I got 4 sets that were made and a new charger that charges the packs in about 30-60 min rather than half a day plus they last about 5-6 x longer!"

Jim...Can you tell us who/how/where you got these? I think the Airshield is actually a well made and very important "tool"...if we can solve or get around the battery issue.<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[Chris Barton]

Dang, dang, dang! Was thinking about getting one of these for my
birthday in March, guess I will wait..

I am with you Mike. I too thought I would go ahead and buy a unit but, had planned to buy from my local Woodcraft. But, if there is this much trouble I think I will wait. For this kind of money I want the bugs worked out before I get it...

[Bob Noles]

I hate to revive an old thread, but when I got home this afternoon there was a package waiting for me. Yep, the Airshield did not get cancelled as requested.

I went ahead an opened it up to check things out. The battery included is the new version as shown in Carole's picture on the right. I went ahead an pluged the charger in and think I will give it a test drive before passing judgement and returning it immediately. I sure do like the design and intent of the device. If it works as well as advertised and claimed by those that are happy with theirs, I am going to keep it. Looks like the answer to many many problems.

Thanks for allowing me to ramble :eek:

[Glenn Clabo]

Bob...After using the Airshield this weekend I love it. I was amazed at how much dust it filtered out during a 2 hour session and I actually forgot it was on after a few minutes.

Now...I am not happy with Trend or ToolPro's customer service and I just had my say to them just before I read your post.

When I get some time I'm going to look at how to build batteries for the Airshield. I did a quick check and I think we can have a longer lasting and much cheaper alternative. If I do...I'll pass it along.

[Dennis Peacock]

I got one and I like it. I don't wear one long enough to wear out the battery at any one time. Besides that who can wear one for 4 hours straight without a break.

[Bob Noles]

I got one and I like it. I don't wear one long enough to wear out the battery at any one time. Besides that who can wear one for 4 hours straight without a break.

Dennis,

Are you saying you need more shop time? :D

[Bob Noles]

Glenn,

I would love to see anything that you come up with. I may find true value in this after all. Please keep me posted.

[Earl Reid]

I was getting about3 hrs with my trend airshield. last summer i rigged a battery pac with 3 D alkali batterys, using connectors from Radio sack. I carry the battery pac in my shirt pocket. I don't know how many hrs I got, but it was about 6 months. I try to work about 20 hr a week. I will get a set of D rechargables in the near future.
Earl

[Gil Jones]

Rob, when you say, "cracking shield around the base of the face mask", are you talking about the flexible seal that contacts your face? Or the light gray plastic frame?
Carole (gee, I cannot see you behind all that lumber), my Trend batteries are like the RIGHT one in your pic (with the trend name on it). Both of my batteries supplied intermittent power, but when I disassembled them I found the wires were all loose inside. Repaired that and they work fine. They were a rather snug fit in the helmet due to the length of the connector, but that is also fixable inside the battery case.
I bought mine from Osolnik Machinery and Supplies, and these folks are great to work with!! Other than all that, I am soooooo glad that I have, and use the Trend AirShield.:)

[Fred Floyd]

I received my Triton powered respirator this week (after a 2-month delay). Everyone has that one on sale for $199.95 and Triton could not supply. However, the unit arrived and appears so far to be in working order.

Somehow I'm glad that I didn't buy the Trend model.

[Glenn Clabo]

Fred...
Give a review when you get a chance.

I really do like the Airshield because it's so functional...but if people knew how other sytems work they can make a good decision. I don't want people to make a judgement on my problem. The need to use a product of this kind is important and the purchase should be informed...not biased.

[Charles McKinley]

Hi All,

After reading this I feel my 3M AS-400 purchase was justified. It is about three times the cost of the others but it has performed flawlessly. The battery seems to last forever. The battery pack attaches to your belt so it reduces the weight on your head and has an OSHA approved hardhat. Not being able to put the trend on a hardhat was the deal breaker for me.

I bought it from Enviro Safety Products and had great customer service.
http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/html/Subcategories/airstream.htm

I have really bad allergies and an ocassional asthma attack and just wasn't convinced by the numbers that the others put out. That may be on me due to my inability to convert the metric units the other used to SAE units for direct comparison to the AirStream.

Remember it is not just your lungs but our eyes and head you need to protect.

Also 3M has been around forever and I don't see them going anywhere.

Someones sig line goes something like the bitterness of poor quality last long after the sweetness of a low price has passed.

[Mike Ramsey]

Charles, was wondering about the weight of the 3m and how it
would affect your neck after turning all day looking down?

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I might as well jump in here, I am looking for something along these lines, I can get the Triton unit here in Japan, and I've been lucky enough to get to know the Triton rep here from Oz.

Why is the Trend so popular, and why is the Triton not?

Cheers!

[Glenn Clabo]

My choice was made based on recomendations here and other places like the local boat builders. I was sold because it's a light weight, self contained unit, that gives me an excellant view. I have a big melon so it's hard enough to hold it up by itself so the lighter the better for me. I'm sure it's strictly personal...but for me the others I tried seemed more awkward...didn't give as good a view, had hoses and battery packs you needed to put somewhere, and you couldn't flip the shield up to talk.

[Cecil Arnold]

To attempt to answer Stu's question, it is my understanding from one of the WW mags. that tested both, that the Triton had some distortion that the Trend did not. In addition, Trend has the peel off covers that protect the face piece from flying CA that you don't want on your permanent view piece.