3M catridge/filter combo recommendations

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mpitfield

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I recently picked up a 3M full face respirator however I forgot to order the filters. I primarily use it for painting, both rattle can as well as HVLP Duplicolor automotive lacquers, and with epoxies. I looked at Duplicolor's site and skimmed through the SDS specifications but I have no training on materials handling and do not understand what I am reading when looking at the SDS.

Does anyone have a recommendation for the type of 3M filter I should be looking at?
 
First one, organic vapor/p100

Usually a good choice given VOCs are the solvent of choice in most paints we work with. However check which other chemicals you are using and make sure that they are covered by the OV/P100 filter, and remember filters are only meant to last a specific length of time in a chemical environment before becoming compromised, and without testing or knowing the concentrations you are dealing with the filters become single use, obviously if you can smell the chemical through the filters they are compromised.
 
And don't pay those prices for them either. Ace Hardware carries the 60923 P100 Organic Vapor/Acid Gas cartridges for like half of what Uline is charging, and they are available on Amazon too for a much better price.
 
First one, organic vapor/p100

Usually a good choice given VOCs are the solvent of choice in most paints we work with. However check which other chemicals you are using and make sure that they are covered by the OV/P100 filter, and remember filters are only meant to last a specific length of time in a chemical environment before becoming compromised, and without testing or knowing the concentrations you are dealing with the filters become single use, obviously if you can smell the chemical through the filters they are compromised.

And don't pay those prices for them either. Ace Hardware carries the 60923 P100 Organic Vapor/Acid Gas cartridges for like half of what Uline is charging, and they are available on Amazon too for a much better price.

Thanks guys, your posts were very helpful! I may have a follow up on the "other chemicals", but to be safe is there one filter that covers the same thing as the P100, as well as what chemicals we might expect for painting and epoxies? Keeping in mind painting includes cleaning, which is currently acetone.
 
The "P100" is a particulate filter. The cartridge consists of a particulate filter (P95 or P100) and the chemical filter which is usually activated charcoal. The organic filter will trap (within reason) all the common household chemicals you have mentioned. The other filters (acid gas, etc) are for compounds that would never be a product you can buy off the shelf.

As mentioned by rharshberger cartridge filters will lose their effectiveness. Humidity is the enemy, water will fill up the carbon pores faster than organic solvents. Once opened store the cartridges in a zip-lock bag and keep track of time of use. OSHA recently approved cartridge the organic/P100 filter even for indoor use with very dangerous isocyanate spraying environments as long as a change out schedule is observed and complied with. 8 hours is the recommended changeout for a spray booth environment, that is a very concentrated solvent situation. Your home use will be far far less. Google NIOSH and respirators. Everything you will need to know will be at your fingertips.


More important than cartridge selection is facemask fit. Wearing the facemask and covering the cartridges with the palm of your hands you should not be able to breathe any air in. Got a keep a tight seal around your face. That means a clean shave..... But unless you are spraying 2-part urethanes you will be very safe with the basic organic/P100 filter.
 
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The "P100" is a particulate filter. The cartridge consists of a particulate filter (P95 or P100) and the chemical filter which is usually activated charcoal. The organic filter will trap (within reason) all the common household chemicals you have mentioned. The other filters (acid gas, etc) are for compounds that would never be a product you can buy off the shelf.

As mentioned by rharshberger cartridge filters will lose their effectiveness. Humidity is the enemy, water will fill up the carbon pores faster than organic solvents. Once opened store the cartridges in a zip-lock bag and keep track of time of use. OSHA recently approved cartridge the organic/P100 filter even for indoor use with very dangerous isocyanate spraying environments as long as a change out schedule is observed and complied with. 8 hours is the recommended changeout for a spray booth environment, that is a very concentrated solvent situation. Your home use will be far far less. Google NIOSH and respirators. Everything you will need to know will be at your fingertips.


More important than cartridge selection is facemask fit. Wearing the facemask and covering the cartridges with the palm of your hands you should not be able to breathe any air in. Got a keep a tight seal around your face. That means a clean shave..... But unless you are spraying 2-part urethanes you will be very safe with the basic organic/P100 filter.



Good points!
We used to have to wear gas masks in the Army everytime there was incoming scuds during the opening days of the invasion of Iraq, and we were all scared enough to make sure we had clean shaved faces. We had to get in MOPP gear and all, and if out in the open, had to pack into conex containers in the 135 degree heat. It was miserable, but every time I place my half face respirator on me, I press my nitrile glove clad hands against the openings of the cartridges and suck to make sure I have a good seal.
I don't even consider doing "respirator required" tasks until I have a clean face. As little as two days stubble is all it takes for me to render my respirator unusable. In a pinch, I have heard you can seal it to your face with stubble by smearing Vaseline around your cheeks and chin, but I have not had to go that route yet.
 
Oh, and I actually came back to this thread to mention that there is a customer service number in the spec. sheet that comes with the cartridges, and it links you to a lady that has a comprehensive database of chemicals that the cartridges are suitable for at her fingertips.
I called it because I was using a lot of CA, and she said it seems to be good for that, as there were a bunch of CA types, and they all seemed to be covered by the cartridges I was using.
 
There's a snap on filter attachment that allows you to place a particulate filter on top of the organic gas filters. It works nice if you are want to get multi-use out of your respirator without having to constantly be screwing filters on and off the mask.
 
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