Safety Glasses and PAPR Units

[Brian Baley]

Hi all,
I am starting to research some new safety equipment, I was hoping to get some input from those that have actually used specific products instead of "this looks cool" or "I would try this..."

I am trying to find the least amount of head gear to cover the most bases as it were... in other words right now I have a half dozen different things I use/wear all with their issues and difficult to combine.
The work I do is;
1. metal working: grinding, sawing, plasma cutting welding (mig/tig/stick), machining
2. woodworking: sawing, planing, sanding, etc.

I also wear glasses, but have corrective lens surgery, meaning in the shop I can generally get away wit 1.5x or 1.75x diopter readers/safety glasses for most of the above.

I have been looking at PAPR units like the 3M and Optrel units.
I like this idea a lot, but am trying to find as close to a "use for everything" match as I can.

For instance, I may be plasma cutting for 10 minutes (one welding helmet or shade 5 goggles + glasses), then welding for 5-20 minutes (different wleding helmet + glasses), then I might ne grinding for 30 minutes, then off to sanding wood, all in a 2 hour stretch.

So, currently I use 3M respirators, but this is a giant pain, I have glasses + head-strap respirator, then I take those off, to plasma cut and I cannot fit respirator under welding helmet, so I need to acquire some shade 5 1.5x diopter safety glasses, ok, not bad,
but it is anything but comfortable to breath, then I take everything off, put glasses on, then welding helmet, and now cannot have air filtration...

on and on and on...

So now, with welding I look at the Miller PAPR units, with flip-visor welding lenses... which seems pretty bulky to use for non-welding use...

Has anyone gone through this and what have you found out or settled on or can recommend ?
I realize I am chasing a bit of a unicorn here,
but I would like to hear how close I can get !

 

[Fixall]

You might have more luck with this in the Knifemaker's subforum. I know Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith , REK Knives , and several others in there have quite a bit experience with PAPR setups. They're pretty game changing by the way. Good luck finding a set up that works for you.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

First thing I will say is if you are using only glasses to protect your eyes while plasma cutting and welding for long periods, you are exposing your facial skin to extreme UV light. This is not good. The reason a welding hood goes all the way down the neck is to keep the rays off all your face, not just the eyes.

I like the standard PAPR hoods like the 3M style. Glasses are no problem since there is no sealed mask. Many of these type units have a welding shield that can be dropped down as well. Speedglas and Viking are two that come to mind. Personally, I don't weld for long periods, so I just switch to a good welding helmet.

 

[REK Knives]

Currently I'm using the 3M TR-600 PAPR. I haven't used Optrel but have had some dialogue with their CEO Grant Cooper. There are 2 main things to consider... the mask and the filter.

I've found some interesting info in my research. For example, did you know that most PAPR's that have a NIOSH rating will have an Assigned Protection Factor of 25? For example, this is directly out of the manual on APF's from the NIOSH website:

From what I found it's the mask that is the main limiting factor (although I'm sure the unit plays a roll as well, maybe Stacey can comment on this). For the 3m Versaflo series for example, the M200 series or M300 series helmet/masks would fall under the 25 APF rating, whereas the M400 series falls under a 1,000 APF rating (but it's big and bulky and makes grinding difficult when looking down and resting your chin on your chest).

It was good to have a conversation with Grant. I found that it doesn't seem like Optrel is quite as advanced as far as specs/testing as 3M is (just a general observation). He showed me some data that indicated that their Clearmaxx helmet is rated much higher than the 25 APF (they just have to stick to 25 officially due to NIOSH regulations) so that was comforting. But when it comes to their filters it was a little disappointing (more on this below).

For either you will likely need 2 masks (the swap out is easy, you just click one out and the other into the tube).

For example... with the Versaflo you could get this and this - both have a flip up visor if you need to take a drink or a phone call. Optrel also has a wide range of masks, you will likely need the Clearmaxx and then one of their welding helmets.

In reference to filters, I'm guessing you want the best option that covers 'everything'. Unfortunately there isn't one that covers everything across the board though. I settled on the TR-6530N for mine which covers particulates (HEPA rated), OV (organic vapors), AG (acid gasses). For Optrel you can stack 2 filters together so you get particulate coverage and also Organic Vapors. I'm not sure but I don't think they have one for acid gas.

Also, I'll say this... I've never smelled ANYTHING with my filter/mask combo.

Anyway, hope this all helps.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Agreed, the hood is what you want. Any source of air will make it work for our needs. HEPA filtering the air is good, but if the air supply comes from outside the dust environment, just a simple floss filter will do the job. There are a number of ways one can build his/her own air source.

The price of these hoods is crazy high for a new unit - $1000-2500. Shop EBAY and other places for used hoods. They are pretty plentiful. I have found $600 hoods for $50. You may have to find a hose (or make one) but that is not a problem when you consider the huge savings in a used hood. It is a good idea to buy some extra shields in case it breaks ( which they do eventually). Extra lenses ( plastic sheet) are easily sourced, and you should have several extras for when the lens gets too scratched up to see clearly.

As Josh said, you can get extra shields for welding that can quickly change to the needed task. This is particularly good for TIG and plasma cutting. Arc welding needs a light activated shield, which is very costly
You could probably modify a spare regular shield to take a light activated welding lens setup by taking apart an old welders helmet or buying a new module.. Heck, you should be able to rework a cheap HF welding helmet with a heat gun and a little well planned cutting and make it fit your PAPR hood.

Below are some hoods that work well. The bottom two photos are a very low priced unit that I haven't used, but seems OK for our use and the price is very low ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/334153981164?epid=1300276826&hash=item4dcd211cec:g:UboAAOSwxmJfovMl )

This is the type hood I recommend. We don't need the neck/chin shroud. The TR-X00 series ( TR-300/600/900) or a similar hood from another manufacturer is what works best.

Here is a PAPR with a welding hood attachment. You can see how easy you could convert a regular welding helmet to fit a PAPR hood.: