Making sense of half face respirators - a useful PDF

[barri]

3M 7502 mask minimum cost in first year $105.45 (but an additional 8 pairs P2 pads has $80 tied up)
and that gives me protection level A1P2. Ongoing costs of $42 per year minimum.

FF an update/alternative on your research and thanks for a great post. I was after the 3M 7502 as well with the same cartridges you mentioned. PaintAccess has a special with the 7502 plus the 501 cover and filters and cartridges for $55 delivered to Victoria. The cartridges and filters are not the 5925 and 6051 but you can buy a pack of them at Bunnings for $24 which includes a pair of 6051 and two pairs of 5925, which is a year's worth. No need to tie up your money buying 10 pairs.

So in my case that's $79 in the first year and $24 per year after that. I find that quite reasonable for good A1P2 protection.

When I read your figures I was concerned how much this was going to cost me, particularly in the first year, but It was that pack at Bunnings that eased my mind. I hope this helps someone

[crowie]

Just a side issue Brett,
If a person, such as myself has "no sense of smell" after a badly broken face and the "rule of thumb" is smelling what you're wanting to filter;

HOW do you start to smell what you're wanting to filter when you can't?

Add to this COPD [COPD is a long-term disease of the lungs which causes shortness of breath. COPD is an umbrella term for conditions including emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic asthma which is irreversible. While there is no cure for COPD, there are things you can do to breathe easier and improve your quality of life particularly if it is identified and managed early.] as a result of the chemicals we used in the RAN in the 1970's without any idea of the usage precautions or long term health effects.

Cheers, crowie

[FenceFurniture]

Not sure Peter. I think the only thing you would be able to do is replace the "A" part of the filter at least every 6 months. Or use the masks that I use and replace them every 6 months. It really depends on how much stuff you are using that will fill up the "A" part of the filter. The "P" part of the filter is pretty easy - if you can't breathe in properly through it then it needs replacing.

[tony_A]

Following on from an earlier post in this thread I tried some cheap perfume on my organic vapour filter and it not a trace was detectable. Some 2 months later when I went to use the mask there was a very noticeable smell of perfume when breathing through the filter. This reinforces the manufactures comments that volatile fumes can migrate through filters when they are not in use and such filters have a short shelf life once they have been used. Even after light use. If you are using your mask on hazardous volatiles it would pay to read the directions from your own vapour cartridge manufacturer. For us low frequency users it would appear that smaller cartridges changed more frequently would be better than large ones that have higher capacity.


Tony