Loading…

I spent $400 on a new respirator that was a total waste | Foundry Workers - Topic Shares

I spent $400 on a new respirator that was a total waste

For years I used the basic 3M half mask with the pink pancake filters, and it worked fine. Then I saw a fancy powered air purifying respirator at a trade show and thought it would be a game changer for those long pours. I dropped about four hundred bucks on it. The battery life was way shorter than they said, and the belt unit kept getting in the way when I was moving molds. After two weeks, I went back to my old setup. Has anyone else tried a PAPR in a busy foundry and made it work, or are they just not suited for our kind of work?

3 comments

3 Comments

green.victor6mo ago

Man, that trade show demo magic got you good! They always make it look so easy, like you're just floating around a clean room. Then you get it on the shop floor and it's like trying to pour metal with a jet pack strapped to your hip. My buddy tried one and spent more time untangling the hose than actually working. Some gear is just a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist.

price.jake6mo ago

Yeah, the "solution looking for a problem" line hits hard. It makes me wonder if those PAPR units are really designed for a static environment, like a lab, instead of a place where you're always bending and wrestling with heavy stuff. That belt and hose setup seems built for someone standing at a bench, not for crawling around a flask or dodging a crane. Maybe the tech just isn't there yet for our kind of moving, cluttered work. Did the sales guy even ask what your shop floor was like?

ross.river5mo ago

I can see the other side though. For runs that go six or seven hours straight with heavy fumes, that battery might cut it if you keep it charged between pours. The belt could work if you run it up high on your chest instead of your hip, keeps it out of the way for bending. I rigged a carabiner clip to hang mine off the back of my pouring jacket and it freed up my legs a lot. @price.jake might've had a point about the demo salesman not walking our floor, but with a few mods the PAPR saved my lungs on those extra long shifts with bad ventilation.