Thread: Brilliant new respirator! Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?

Some thing has happened to your link Ben. When I click it, I get redirected to a story about the soup kitchen from Stienfield.

Regards Phil.

(On Edit) I googled it, this takes me there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ndzbYqqD1Q

WOW I want one now! This solves nearly all the problems and I guess wouldn't cost near as much some of the present day "clean air" solutions.
Graeme



Ps More information can be found here http://www.braidwoodmade.com.au/PDF/gills.html

Looks like a more upgraded, nicer version of this, which I have and has been around for a long time. This one if for dust. It works! Called:

Resp-O-Rator
Model JR-7

resporator.jpg

Thanks Phil! I just cut and pasted your new link! No idea how it came up a a soup kitchen? Net gremlins!

That's a good find PLD. I will keep that one in mind if gills breather takes too long.

Originally Posted by Ben Dono

Thanks Phil! I just cut and pasted your new link! No idea how it came up a a soup kitchen? Net gremlins!

That's a good find PLD. I will keep that one in mind if gills breather takes too long.

Well, like I said, the one I have has been around for quite a while. I have one problem with it. After I use it a while I have drool running down the front of me! I don't know why, but with that on I drool a lot. It comes out the little valve on the bottom. The other little thing is I find nose plug uncomfortable. Been going to get one like the swimmers use, might be better, I don't know. I hope Gillsbreather gets off the ground and is successful. It is a fine looking product, but I bet it will cost a lot more than the Resp-O-Rator. The Resp-O-Rator is great if you are only worried about dust.

From a home workshop point of view I can see that this may have some real benifits. BUT please don't try to sell it for a purpose that it clearly is not any good for!

Anyone who wears a wet nappy in a fire deserves a kick in the ar..! This guy claims to be a full time firefighter but I do not know of any land based fire service that allow it's members to have facial hair or a beard or be unshaven for that matter. If you can't get a seal with your respirator then have a shave you bum! The respirator in question looks to be no more than a P2 mask, it may also be adequate at filtering organic solvents (depending on the filter) but there are many reasons why an atmosphere maybe irrespirable including hot gases, oxygen deficiencies, toxic gases and smoke. A P2 mask will onlt give (some) protection from the particulates in smoke. It mentions "lethal atmosphers" but believe me, the only system to wear in "lethal atmospheres" are a compressed air self contained breathing apparatus with a full orinasal face sheild.

WRT wearing it to give some protection from inside a burning structure or a "terrorist attack" what a joke! You may as well stick with the wet nappy buddy!

Great for the shed or factory, no more, no less.


Simon

Originally Posted by PLD

Looks like a more upgraded, nicer version of this, which I have and has been around for a long time. This one if for dust. It works! Called Resp-O-Rator

Makes me wonder how this guy is going to go with a patent application. They dont look that different.

It's just a guess but he looks like he has an Rural Fire Service uniform on. They are still highly trained here in OZ. I can guess their would be times when they are in the thick of it and need the traditional full face mask and other times where a simpler respirator would help with the long hot hours spotting out fires.
I think that would be up to their OH&S department to sort out.
I think the wet towel was a creative licence to make a point...

Yep, I agree it looks like it would be better suited to workshops. There are many instances where P2 is completely appropriate and I'm guessing he will be including filter options much like 3M's line up.

I'm seeing the use of these much like any other tools we use. I don't own one hammer. I have many from a tack to a sledge. I have different gloves for various tasks. I have different size routers and drills each for a specific task.
Why not a respirator? Some times I'm quickly grinding, marking out, a quick weld back to layout... Sometimes I get frustrated putting the same three items ( respirator, ear muffs then glasses) on and off again and again. The only one a will skip on if it's a brief moment is the respirator. This little setup fits nicely in that category as it's about as quick as it gets.
The drool situation would be interesting for commercial shops! Hahaha.

I can see his application for police/ anti terrorist etc... I can say I have ever seen an assault Crew go in with a hazmat suit on....well not on the telly anyway! I have seen pretty typical respirators uses and positive air set ups ..who know what filters they have in them. To get the traditional ones on and off, you have to take off your gloves, unbuckle the helmet, off with the glasses and maybe a radio ear piece and reverse the process.
With his system, they go on and off like a pair of glasses. Again....the right tool for the job though. I'm sure their would be times when they need full face gear and times when a quicker solution would be appropriate.

How would they talk to each other with a mouth full of silicone? .... Or is it all commando hand signals?

Sorry but I don't think any respirator in even a DIY workshop situation is "brilliant", at best I would call them a "band aid" or "top up" solution.

Respirators should only be used as a last resort after every other control on the OHS "hierarchy of control" has been exhausted.
Anyone who doesn't know what "hierarchy of control" is can look this up for themselves.

Masks do nothing for skin and clothing protection so unless clothing is removed and a person takes a shower as soon as they remove their mask they end up breathing all the crap that is on their skin and clothing.
What happens is the human body acts like a chimney in that it heats the air around the body and produced air currents that rise up past the nose and mouth.

Walking around in a dusty environment actually sucks fine dust inside clothing and builds up a reservoir of dust inside clothing. After a mask is removed, every slight movement of the body continually puffs fine dust off/out of clothing which rides these rising warm air currents like a gas so the mask wearer becomes a mobile plume maker of contamination.

In addition the mask does zero for shed cleanliness so the whole shed becomes contaminated. This fine dust can take hours or even days to settle. Picking up objects covered in this fine dust and/or just walking around a shed are enough to inject fine dust into the shed air. This means if you only have a mask for duct protection you should wear it in a shed at all times until the shed is cleaned up.

Masks are useful as short term emergency solutions but in a workshop situation it is far better to invest in ventilation and high volume fume/dust extraction which vents outside a shed.

Outside a shed or in situations where dust extraction is unavailable a blower/vac that grabs dust at source and can direct exhausted air well away from the operator is a better solution.

After all this has been implemented then operators can think about mask for top up protection

I am fortunate to have access to a particle counter to test these things out.
This is why I went to a lot of trouble to invest in a decent dust extraction for WW and a high volume fume hood specifically for MW.
Fume hoods are easy to make and are not expensive and if a high flow rate is used it can be used to vent a relatively large shed of fine dust.

i dont know about the rest of you but i like to breath throug my nose whilst working

Actually Bob..... Your pretty much bang on there. It's not something that is discussed much in Aussie home workshops. It's on the list in the near future for me. A big cyclone on the outside of the workshop as well as fume hoods.

Bob, I still think there will always be a need for respirators in workshops. I don't think they could just be called a "band aid". They should be viewed as part of a bigger system.

Originally Posted by shedbound

i dont know about the rest of you but i like to breath throug my nose whilst working

+1
I'm no mouth breather.

I reckon using such a device would drive me nuts.

I do like the design with 1 or 2 reservations.

1. wearing a nose clip?

2. Despite the drool of the resp o rater with its exhaust valve low down in front - I think thats where it should go on the new one - not around the back.

Reasons.

Sucking clean air IN thru filters & tube etc isn't likely to put mucus and bacteria etc into the tubes that come from back to front mouthpiece.

Breathing back OUT thru them to the rear will!

Who'd want to wear that after 1 use? Not me!

Also CO2 buildup in the exhale tubes - if it gets to the inward tube by any method (leak) could result in elevated CO2 levels and blackout (*while using power tools).

Its preferable if the inlet air is separated from the exhale as far as possible - its possible to re-breath the same air charge 2 or 3 times and still get sufficient O2...but its not a good idea in that blood CO2 levels can go way up.

I understand the idea to get moist aur away from glasses and safety goggles etc - and agree with it... just how its achieved is all!

Any SCUBA type device usually has 1 or 2 exhaust valves down near the chin...maybe there's a better place to avoid fogging visual aids...but the shortest most direct route - separated by distance from the air inlet would be best.

It's pretty nifty all the same... not knocking it, even if it seems I am - just trying to maybe improve it somehow with helpful well intentioned constructive criticism?

Others mileage will vary no doubt.