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Up Topic Welding Industry / Welding Fundamentals / Favorite Welding Respirator?
- - By XPERTFAB (**) Date 01-18-2010 15:42
Bid a job yesterday for 84 CJP welds 14" long in 3G to reinforce beams in an underground parking garage.  No big deal.  NR-232 or NR-233 wire, just awaiting approval from engineer as to which.  Discussed ventilation while welding with GC and he said "your on your own" as he claims to have no money in budget for this.  Based on experience, this is a bit too heavy duty for my Lincoln Miniflex smoke extractor.  As I would like to be able to avoid tethering myself to litttle rolling oxygen cylinders latter in life, I would like to solicit your opinions on purpose built welding respirators as to what brands you may be using and how well they perfom.  The last welding respirator I bought about six years ago no longer has filters available for it.  I am in western Colorado and our welding suppliers here do not stock any of this kind of stuff so everything on this sort of deal is a mail order type of purchase so good input from other users is how I base my decisions.
I am looking for something a little more compact to fit better under the helmet.  Nowdays, I am pretty much Jackson Halo X guy as it fit me well and is very light in weight.  But it certainly "tighter under the hood" then my old Fibre-Metal  I have used for decades.  Your comments and opinons well appreciated.  Oh Yeah! I am told that I am to supply respirator to welding inspector for their use in this project.  As the inspector is female, the ability to fit smaller faces with delicate skin would be an importance.  Really don't mind providing this respirator as I have worked with her before and she is "Awesome!"  You will never chip another CJP cover pass with her around as she likes to do this to relieve boredom.
Parent - - By joe pirie (***) Date 01-18-2010 16:22
talk about breaking down work conditions, that weld better be clean by the time I get to it, pretty embarrasing
for the welder if theres alot of porositry or such under the slag . that is the welders job to properly clean and
visually inspect his work prior to the inspector being called in. I chipped a lifetime of slag as a welder im sure as hell
not gonna clean someone elses weld to inspect it
Parent - By XPERTFAB (**) Date 01-18-2010 17:14
Your right Joe regarding cleaning for the inspector!  However if the inspector is a she, and she says " I Like to slag the cover pass to see whats going on" then I am no different then most American males, I do as she asks!  Who would want to get on the wrong side of a female inspector who will be looking over your shoulder all day?  Morale of the story............make sure your damn good at executing your work and you won't be embarrassed by any surprises under the slag when the inspector does her thing.  A little bit of throwback of the deal of working to impress the girls............ thanks for your input!  Now how about those welding respirators? 
Parent - - By Metarinka (****) Date 01-18-2010 16:44
OSHA dictates that it's the duty of the employer to buy all required PPE. If your contracting though usually you're on your own.

also for both liability and safety you need to have a lung capacity test AND be fitted for a mask.  worked a few jobs that required welding some nasty stuff, every time I was fit and given a pulmonary test then the mask was bought for me.

Also are you looking for a powered air purification respirator (PAPRS)  or a passive filter?

usually the powered ones are used for welding.
Parent - - By XPERTFAB (**) Date 01-18-2010 17:26
I am thinking the passive sort of filter would be more in line as I will be able to extract most weld fumes at point of welding.  However, I am a little leary about the ability of my extraction equipment to absorb smoke at a pace equal to generation.  In other words, there is likely to be points where they could be smoke build up in the atmosphere that will in some short time be extracted by the equipment as it will be set to run continually.  It is for this time and as additional procaution against accumulation that I am seeking respirator useage.  I am in complete agreement on the OHSA requirements, but when the economy set the tone for the project budget this sort of GC cooperation goes out the door.  Literally, we consider ourselves lucky to have the snow removed from the worksite or in this case the ice accumulation within this parking garage owing to freeze/thaw cycles.  I am very willing to look at all option put forth to me including reasonable priced powered filtration options.  Hope this  provides some additional situational insight.
Parent - - By Lawrence (*****) Date 01-18-2010 18:22 Edited 01-18-2010 18:26
Most of the major brands make a resparator that can fit under the welding hood.  Removable Cartridges are available for a variety fumes/particulate

The most important part (and your not gonna like this)  is that to choose the best and be assured that you are truly protected, you will need to be fit-tested with your hood on going through the motions you will be going through while welding and inspecting.

Every hood and every face are different, having a good resparator seal can be tricky for welders, especially when working out of position.

For me this one works best..  Fits under a standard Huntsman and the air pickup is *behind* the welders back, which is just that much farther away from the plume.

http://www.websoft-solutions.net/North_Safety_respirator_half_face_respirator_p/bp1201.htm
Parent - By joe pirie (***) Date 01-18-2010 18:51
They make a hood that has a special extended area around the nose and mouth area
for respirator use. and yes you do need to be fit tested to wear a respirator, ive
worked for contractors who went to home depot and bought respirators
and expected workers to use them with no testing of anykind. It is very important
that each and every worker undergoes the pulmory tests to insure that they are physically
capable of wearing a respirator. also you might want to check if the parking structure is equipted
with smoke detectors and or carbon monoxide detectors if running portable machines inside
parking area.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-18-2010 18:54
I agree with Lawrence,

Per OSHA 1926.103 for Construction, Respiratory protection, (OSHA 1910.134 for General Industry)
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10666

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_id=12716&p_table=standards

ALL respirators require a fit testing and medical evaluation to be legal for use on the jobsite.

Be sure to develope a OSHA compliant respirator program, because OSHA can roll in and ask for your paperwork and issue citations if all is not in order.

Just letting you know ahead of time, so that you can get prepared.
Parent - - By XPERTFAB (**) Date 01-18-2010 19:20
"so you can be prepared ahead of time"  is a great statement for sure.  This statement reminded me about that long forgotten requirement.  Round here we get a little complacent on the paperwork aspect because no one ever looks at it.  Ten years without even seeing an OSHA inspector gets you to acting as if they are extinct.  But just the  little boost from this last post will get us back in line.  Likely to have to travel some big distance to get a fitting for this set up.  Good excuse for a work/vacation trip.  Thanks!
Parent - - By devo (***) Date 02-01-2010 17:31
The 3M respirator is the one I find most comfortable, way better than north.
Parent - - By Tommyjoking (****) Date 02-02-2010 00:11
My favorite is none.....if I am subjected to a respirator I do not like it.....LAw is right in the fact that finding one that fits your face is CRUCIAL, otherwise it is truly useless, gotta stay clean shaven folks.  chris2698 ought to post here as he wears one day in and day out.   I use to do so much work that REQUIRES a respirator now that did not then.....guess I got some killer exposure going on.   Oh well they can blame it on my beer and smoking habit I rekon, which I acquired from job stress!!! LOL   For commentary all I ever used is the 3m half mask type...I was not impressed with the quality or the seal.

Tommy
Parent - By chris2698 (****) Date 02-02-2010 10:29
My job they supply some crappy mask that don't seal so I started buying these 3m half mask from the welding store with the 3m 2097 respirator filters. I recently got transfered from aluminum to carbon steel just as of yesterday thank god. Any way yeah these filters are dam good when i was welding aluminum I could sometimes get a week out of the filters if I wasn't inside a boat now if I was in the boat maybe a day and a half and in really tight quarters a day or even a half of a day. Now on carbon I should be able to get about 2 weeks out of the filters with good ventilation. These filters will filter out the dust and the welding fumes and smoke so you are breathing in nothing but good ole clean air. There not hard to breath through unless the filters get clogged then you just replace them. I am 30 years old started wearing this brand of filter when I was about 29. I never did get fitted to see if my lungs could handle the mask but if you are older then me I'd recommend to see if you're lungs can handle it hell I probally should have got tested but I didn't. I did find though that welding aluminum the fine fine aluminum floating around seemed to clog the filters faster then say carbon. I just figured because the aluminum was so light that it was to stay air borne more.

I do feel though if you could get some kinda 2ft in diameter or so high power blower near a good opening and run some really long blower bag into where you are working both with the 3m respirator you should be good to go. The mask helps a ton but you need some good fresh air in there with ya. The mask fit under the shield like a glove. I use to use a fibremetal shield they worked great with them and I now use a Jackson shield with the flip up lense like the fibre metal.

Half mask run about $10.00 or so maybe able to fine them cheaper. The filters are about $7.50 depending on where you get them.
The mask can be bought in Small Medium and Large. I usually get about a month to a month and a half out of the mask till it stretches all out and the straps don't stretch anymore, it's mainly the mask stretches like i buy a medium it will stretch then to a large for me over time.

Hope this info was useful

Tommy you're ok you have the layer of TAR from the cigs to protect you're lungs LOL

Chris
Parent - By BudgetWelding Date 02-27-2010 16:37
Get a 3M respirator with the welding-specific 2091 filter. It's about twenty bucks and it fits under your helmet.
Up Topic Welding Industry / Welding Fundamentals / Favorite Welding Respirator?

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