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| Building a powered air purifying respirator |
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| engineheat:
I'm interested in building a DIY powered air purifying respirator. I'm not going to use it for doing any hazardous work. I do plan to incorporate a HEPA filter and active carbon filter. Are there off the shelf sheets one can buy? As opposed to buying commercial filters that comes in fixed sizes and are designed for proprietary respirators/purifiers. I guess I will also need a battery pack and a portable impeller that can deliver high enough air pressure? Lastly, (and this is one powered respirators appeal to me so much), I heard you don't need to create a perfect seal with your face since the powered respirator will create a positive air pressure. Is that true? Any advice would be appreciated. thanks |
| thm_w:
I would consider off the shelf filters, they are not terribly expensive, you can use them with existing low cost respirator, and if you buy from a reputable supplier you'll know its genuine. https://www.3mcanada.ca/3M/en_CA/p/d/v101067018/ Of course, if you want some large backpack mount unit, that would have better restriction than these small filters. But its really not clear what you are going to do. Even in that case I would try to find an off the shelf HEPA filter, eg Altec or Levoit 300. Carbon you can buy sheets or just buy the loose activated carbon pebbles, they are commonly used in aquariums. For the fan, you want one with high static pressure. Centrifugal style is generally good. |
| SmallCog:
This video (although not for a mask) may be of interest to you Whilst googling for it I found this Reddit discussion that mentions a standard filter used in vacuum cleaners that may be worth looking into https://www.reddit.com/r/BigCliveDotCom/comments/mtam4i/easy_to_get_standardized_hepa_filters_for_diy/ When I originally saw the BigClive video I was thinking that an automotive air filter from a very common vehicle (engine or cabin) may be a good option (although I've not looked into how good they filter) as they're readily available and unlikely to disappear from the marketplace like some random filter available on ebay might do. Example of a cabin filter https://www.rycofilters.com.au/N99-MicroShield |
| Rick Law:
One can get those large 30+ inch by 20+ inch HEPA filters for HVAC then cut it down to size. If say you just want 5x5 inches, a 30x20 will cut to 24 sheets 5x5's. Saves money too. |
| PaulAm:
If you are only concerned about dust, look for a 3M Air-Mate powered respirator. They're pretty cheap on the used market. I see one on Ebay for around $55 now. I used one with an open helmet + face shield when doing wood working. The air hose connected to the helmet and filtered air came down over your head. No restrictions and no breathing dust. The filters are HEPA rated. Worked great. You used to be able to find the power units for the 3M Breathe EZ respirators cheap and they used standard 3M cartridges, anything from HEPA to chemical hazard filters. That was all pre-Covid though. Finding the rest of the pieces affordably was a challenge. |
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