Hello All

I am by far no paint and body type of guy. I am however going to be doeing some painting on my 67 Fairlanes door frames etc. I am wondering what a real good mask is too buy to protect my sinuses. I need the best because I just had another sinus surgery and would like to offer myself the best protection out there while painting or even sanding. I do not have a clue what to buy and thought this was the place to ask . I have looked through some prior threads but decided It may be better to ask on a new one in case there is a new and better product out there to help me. By the way I already have been told to let someone else do the job for me but hey that would not be much fun...
( My wife gave me a very generous budget on a good mask.. )

Any suggestiond greatly appreciated..
Luke

 

Air purifying respirators no longer protect you adequately. Got to have a supplied air respirator system now and a full face shield and Tyvek suit and gloves if you're going to paint anything with isocyanates in it - which is most paint/clears nowadays. There are surprisingly few hobbyist level NIOSH approved supplied air respirators. Search around the internet/E-bay for "Hobbyair" and you'll find one of the most popular. There's another fellow on E-bay right now selling his own manufactured systems. They're not NIOSH approved, but look to be of good quality. Also, I blundered into http://autobody101.com and searched their archives and found much info on painting masks (home built booths too)- from professional systems to insane do-it-yourself "duct tape a fan in a box and plumb it over to an old motorcycle helmet" level of systems. You can't be too safe these days with auto paint. As the saying goes, there are old painters and there are bold painters ...

 

There has been tons of information posted on the various forums about the dangers of modern paints, particularly the ones with isocyanates. That being said, a lot of people still do not use the true 'fresh air' breathing systems. Economy fresh air systems tend to start out around $500. No charcoal respirator or cartridge filter facemask, to my knowledge, has been approved for the new auto paints but that doesn't stop pro's and DIY alike from using them.

I saw the body shop Forman coming out of the paint booth at my Ford dealership's body shop, after putting the clear coat on my hood. He was wearing a cartridge filter. I asked him why he didn't use a fresh air system and his response was that with good ventilation it wasn't necessary. Sad, since he was (is) a younger fellow.

Do I think painting one or two vehicles a year will kill you using a canister filter, I hope not, especially since some of us have done it, but each person's system is different. Are you the one who is going to have the immediate adverse reaction and who knows what the consequences will be down the road. A fresh air system is the safest way to go.

I would recommend checking products you intend to use very carefully as many good primers are still available that do not use isocyanates. Some auto companies are now using water based auto paint and some of the older technology didn't use them.

 

Use a fresh air mask. I have a friend who only wore a paper filter mask. He painted lots of cars that way. Now he goes to the local bar at night and tells jokes to the Budwiser horses all night. He can't hold a normal conversation, and he is only about 50. Fried brains I guess.

 

thanks everyone... I am considering useing a SCBS self contained breathing apparatus or Scott pack.. (what I wear into a fire)You see I am a firefighter and my buddy works for the company so I can get a used one for nothing. I can fill it at work . I would need a 1 hour bottle though. Or a couple of the 30 min. Not sure if anyone knows what I mean but if so can you think of any problems. The price is right for me anyway...

 

SCBA system sounds like the best possible solution, just out of reach financially for most hobbyist. However, I get this weird mental image of a fireman in hat and full gear, clunking around in a ghetto paint booth with paint gun in hand....your setup will of course be handy if your booth ever lites on fire .

 

Huntsman
Have you ever used the water-based paints?? I have been looking at some stuff from a company called AutoAir color. Looks like it would be easy to use (shoot it straight from the bottle,self-leveling,no orange peel, can be sanded...etc)
Eastwood even sells it now. just wondering what everyone else thought of it.
thanks
jim

 

No, I've only been doing some reading on it. I'm like you though, it would be good to hear from some who have used it.

 

my only thing to add about any of the masks that you use is to make certain it's fitting correctly and not with any leaks. Since you're on the fire department I'm sure you guys prolly do this with your masks?? Most of the respirator manufacturers can help you with this either with candles to find out if the mask leaks by being able to smell the burning or to help you find a place that uses professional equipment to fit test the masks. It's not something I would want to chance

 

I used to be a firefighter and wish I had one of those scba's. What a boon that will be for you- perfect. It's been over 20 years now but the older units had the otion of demand or pressurized- of course you would want to use pressurized. I plan on using my CPAP machine that I use for sleep apnea. I'll have to rig it a bit to get the unin far enough but won't be a problem.

 

Not telling you what to do here Roger, I am just posting this for the many others getting the notion to paint their own vehicle, and may be using your idea or others. ..

I have sleep apnea and am using the nasal/mouth jet fighter style mask with my b-pap machine. It has holes in the mask to depressurize it some, it case of choking while I sleep. Be careful with this type mask setup for spraying iso based paints, because you will be inhaling some iso's, if your mask has the vent holes... Risky breathing protection imo,

I own and used the fresh air system for painting my truck, the Hobby Air ll . It works great, I sat the pump OUT of the painting atmosphere, used the hood with the full tyvek suit/nitrile gloves. I breathed fresh air ALL the time, and had no exposed skin. The very least breathing protection mask I would use would be a charcoal mask with prefilters, if the filters are changed daily and if the proper face seal is used. ..

The problem with charcoal filtered masks is this, once a diyer gets to painting, it consumes every thought just to do that job. They can lose their facial seal, or even have filters on the mask stopping up and be sucking in air around the facial seals, and will not notice it. That is because of the hectic job of painting, and the smelling senses get desensitized once in the paint room a while and one will not pick up on the leak in their mask.....

. We see the painters on Overhaul, Rides, etc use these a lot. That is because they also are using professional cross/down draft booths while painting. The saturation of iso's in the air is diminished because of the amount of air exchanges per minute. The diyer guy is his garage with a home made positive pressure/exhaust system like that I put in my garage, will not have that luxury, so the overspay mist is a lot more consentrated ! ...

When dealing with iso products, one needs to remember the iso's will attached themselves to skin also, especially the wet moist eye tissue. This is just my opinion guys but think about it, is a paint job on a truck that you may only have around for a year or two in your life, worth the risk of damaging your health for the rest of your life ???? ...

 

Greg (79)your absolutely right and please know that I will know what i am doing when i put my set up together and would not ever recommend this for someone else. I spent some time at a design table for breathing systems in FD role. The design for the cpap mask prevents suction feed of surrounding air which is the primary danger in pressurised systems- just like a suction paint gun. It is for a quick fender repair and my mask will be over pressurized to keep out surrounding air. All of my other projects will use safer paint (I will still use a fresh air system but it won't be as hazardous as this new stuff). I'd love to get back to laquer in a way...

Anyone up on polyurithane paints? I used some of this in the early 80's when in the Air Force.

I didn't mean to advocate for my system and really appreciate your post Greg.