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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?
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green.victor17d 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.
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price.jake17d 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?
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