Blister,
Do you have the Sundstrom 570SR with the Sundstrom 500 respirator?
D.
Do you have the Sundstrom 570SR with the Sundstrom 500 respirator?
D.
Powered Respirators
- Thread starter Rewound
- Start date
Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:
Yes
Yes but have you seen the price of a new set of lungs! Let alone the price of anti rejection medication if you even qualify!,,,,,,!,,,,!
Paul Hannaby
Established Member
The trend respirator offers no protection to the head and has no rating. The power cap has a bump cap rating. I don't claim to be an expert on that but it's a different standard to hard hats and sounds like it's a lesser rating.
What face shield do you use that has a high speed rating and which rating does it have?
Agent_zed
Established Member
I'm not using anything fancy just the cheap one from toolstation but it is B rated which is rated for 120m/s impacts, but even the more expensive ones seem to be B rated so I figure it should be ok. More expensive ones will most likely have perhaps a better optical rating or have a better shape etc. A lot of my safety specs are only F rated which is 45m/s.
It can get a bit confusing with all the various letters and numbers. but these 2 sites for example have more info.
https://www.safetyspecs.co.uk/british-standards
https://www.seton.co.uk/how-to-choose-safety-glasses
I note that you are in Canada, so lung transplant and associated medication would cost a fortune. Here in the UK we have the NHS....
Not that is any recommendation to not use dust protection!!!
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
If you qualify, transplants are paid for here too if you live long enough to get one, although some medications would be on your dime. Each province is a little different as each runs their own show.
Pete
Thanks, Pete.
My comment was given ‘tongue in cheek’. Nobody should act in such a way that, potentially, they put themselves in need of expensive medical treatment, no matter who picks up the bill.
My comment was given ‘tongue in cheek’. Nobody should act in such a way that, potentially, they put themselves in need of expensive medical treatment, no matter who picks up the bill.
I'm struggling to believe the prices of these things, seems like a total rip off to me. Just look at the prices of some of the spares. The Powercap for instance, 4400mah battery - £108 I bought a 10,000 mah battery a couple of years ago, gets used all the time £16
And then look at the price of some of the more upmarket ones with belt mounted filtration units - £1000 - just stupid made up prices.
I might just make my own, can soon knock to gether a belt mounted air filter unit, connect via a flexible pipe to some sort of face shield/ helmet, even a motor bike helmet!
Just looking at the powercap (the only one I could afoard) . It claims 8 hour run time for a 4.4ah battery Im thinking this is suggesting a fan around 2.75w
that is just a computer case fan!
I could soon mount two of them together and double the air flow of the powercap still only running at 5.5w (that is just over 1 amp) bog standard powerbank can easily do 2 amps.
Make a case and fit a couple of p3 filters - thats half the job done.
And then look at the price of some of the more upmarket ones with belt mounted filtration units - £1000 - just stupid made up prices.
I might just make my own, can soon knock to gether a belt mounted air filter unit, connect via a flexible pipe to some sort of face shield/ helmet, even a motor bike helmet!
Just looking at the powercap (the only one I could afoard) . It claims 8 hour run time for a 4.4ah battery Im thinking this is suggesting a fan around 2.75w
that is just a computer case fan!
I could soon mount two of them together and double the air flow of the powercap still only running at 5.5w (that is just over 1 amp) bog standard powerbank can easily do 2 amps.
Make a case and fit a couple of p3 filters - thats half the job done.
Paul Hannaby
Established Member
It seems that anything under the PPE category has over inflated prices. Part of that may be due to the legacy of Covid, I know the disposable P3 masks I used to buy are now 3-4 times what they cost pre-covid so I have switched to a more economical brand. The high end belt pack respirators have always been eye waveringly expensive but they also seem to be the only ones that offer TH3 rating. Perhaps worth the extra for another 3% of protection!
In Canada our medical is free! We do not even pay a monthly fee.
Inspector
Nyuck, Nyuck, Nyuck!
Depends in which province you live in Lefley. When I lived in BC I paid a monthly fee (about a hundred a month) until our union negotiated for the company to pay it. If you were poor then the province covered it. When we moved here I found out there was no fee. So each province is different.
Now let’s get back to talking about powered respirators.
Pete
Now let’s get back to talking about powered respirators.
Pete
You don't pay a dime in bc. Employers pay everything. Changed years ago. And I just ordered a. 3m system.Depends in which province you live in Lefley. When I lived in BC I paid a monthly fee (about a hundred a month) until our union negotiated for the company to pay it. If you were poor then the province covered it. When we moved here I found out there was no fee. So each province is different.
Now let’s get back to talking about powered respirators.
Pete
Keith 66
Established Member
20 years ago the Nicad battery pack on my Racal Airstream respirator failed, at that time the explosion proof battery pack was over £100, I sawed & split the case & found ordinary nicad cells inside, Got 4 new ones for £16.
More recently the battery failed again, A new 7.2v 4000mah NiMh battery pack that will fit inside the case is today about £17.
As for the cost of a top of range respirator, We know they are expensive but as yet there are no cheap far eastern knock offs about.
My Dad had a Trend airshield for a while & I tried it when he passed away. Flimsy & cheap with a tiny battery, I went back to the Airstream.
More recently the battery failed again, A new 7.2v 4000mah NiMh battery pack that will fit inside the case is today about £17.
As for the cost of a top of range respirator, We know they are expensive but as yet there are no cheap far eastern knock offs about.
My Dad had a Trend airshield for a while & I tried it when he passed away. Flimsy & cheap with a tiny battery, I went back to the Airstream.
It seems to me that powered respirators are as ridiculously expensive as everything else associated with wood turning.
D.
D.
Not compaired to a new pair of lungs " If you can find any "
You are absolutely right that this kit is £££.
I especially agree with your assessment of the batteries. I have a fancy Fluke portable oscilloscope and they charge nearly £300 for a replacement lithium battery pack for those. It;s only 4 cells for heaven's sake !
The comparison with computer fans isn't fair though. Those really are a commodity item built in huge numbers, but they are also designed to move highish volumes of air against very little resistance. Put one or even two against the resistance of a P3 filter, part clogged, possibly a corrugated flex hose etc and I expect that it won't do well at all. You need a differently shaped turbine that creates higher pressure. Probably a squirrel cage - like you find in some laptop fans perhaps but substantially bigger. They are not rocket science but someone has to design them, invest seriously in injection moulding tooling and manufacture in much lower volumes than computer fans.
Funnily, if more people were buying them, there would probably be more price competition. A few more COVIDs and maybe we'll see prices starting to come down !
Any idea what type of fan is needed ? a name, a type. I am seriously interest in building one of these things, I have a 3d printer etc that should come in handy.
I'm going to mock one up in the next few days with some 12v computer fans, P3 filtes , see if I can get some measurements of air flow rates. I will need to get some measurements from proper ones so that I have a goal to aim for, not sure how I will achieve that though.
Hi Blister
As a retired medical professional I appreciate the need to protect the respiratory system as a whole ( i.e.not just the lungs) from harm, and the need to spend as much as you can afford to do so, bearing in mind the nature and intensity of your work. I think the problem is more acute for those who work in very dusty environments every day for hours on end than for those , like me, aged 77, who do about 3 or 4 hours a week in my workshop.
My point about expense, however, ( which I think is still valid )was that just about everything needed for wood turning, tools, chucks, etc. etc., is priced very high, certainly in the UK. Stuff may be cheaper elsewhere.
D
Last edited:
Sundstrom's SR500 has a two speed fan that delivers 175 or 245 litres per minute.
The 3m versaflo tr300 and tr600 are specified at 2 or 3 speeds 185 / 205 / 225 lpm depending on the model.
Both have a feedback system that increases power to the fan and maintains flow as the filter becomes loaded. And an audible alarm when it can no longer maintain that airflow.
I don't know how the devices measure airflow, but to test performance, the sundstrom has a nylon bag with a simple "ball in a slightly larger tube" pressure gauge. The fan is connected to the bag, air blows in and leaks through the fabric of the bag, and the pressure read from the gauge.
It might be worth downloading the manuals for these three, but i'll look and if the fan is visible without dismantling, I'll put up a photo.
This is taken looking into the air outlet of the Sundstrom SR500.
If you are familar with impeller types, it's recognisable as a single stage centrifugal impeller, about 5" diameter.
These draw air into the centre and "throw" it outwards, the same way that a workshop hvlp dust extractor works but the impeller is more refined and of different proportions (bigger diameter, slimmer, closed on both sides and backward curving blades) which greatly increase the pressure that it develops.
Similar style of impellers are used in power showers, some air curtains, air blade cutters, and many industrial processes.
Last edited:
