Heavy Industry PAPR Kit – TR-300N+ HIK

I bought this unit because I work in very high dust environments. Such as: residential demolition, wood working, HVAC, welding, concrete mixing, mortar mixing... I have terribly bad allergies and I am constantly exposed to large amounts of fine particulate, which are hazardous over long term exposure. The unit is just as simple to use and more comfortable than the standard 3m full face respirator. I chose to upgrade, because I perspire a lot while working in general and even more when wearing the full face respirator. This unit when you start it up and then put it on according the manual, eliminates labored breathing, one way flaps getting stuck and provides great airflow across your face. I am 6’ 1” tall and the hose doesn’t put any tension while bending down or squatting. The battery charged with in about an hour or so. The filter is solid and relatively easy to change. My only recommendation is to get a hard hat liner and consider purchasing the backpack accessory for this, so it doesn’t cause the all to common plumbers crack. Otherwise, 3M has done a great job on designing this product.

Using mask while working in dusty or hazardous condition is not pleasant. All non-powered mask restricts the airflow and becomes uncomfortably hot while prolonged use, so I often took the risk to go maskless. After having bad allergy after doing a wood project, I realized my lung is not a replaceable part and invested on Versaflo. Boy, it is the very best one can have, the constant filtered airflow in the helmet keeps the breathing effort normal as well as keeps the head cool and visor from misting. The air pipe goes from the back of the helmet to the waist pack so there is complete unobstructed view. The only downside is the helmet weight, which is worn like a cap so all the weight ill be carried by the neck muscle, which may be an issue is someone has neck pain or spondylitis. May be in future, 3M may come up with a design where helmet weight can be supported by the shoulder, that will make it even better.

Like many others I purchased this to use during wood turning. Turns out I use it every time I'm in the shop. Whether using the table saw or bench grinder, I have this on. I believe these units have gone up in price as everything else as to when I purchased it. The battery lasts as long as I want to stay in the shop (8-9 hours) and only takes about 1-2 hour to fully charge it up again. Be careful to not use compressed air to clean out the filters, it will rip holes in the filter, instead I just went to using a shop vac to suction it out. This helmet is very comfortable and not too heavy after hours of use. Every wood worker should invest in this unit.

So far, I used it once and worked great. Everything was included in the package which surprised me for an Amazon purchase of respirator. The only thing maybe was that the head spacer did not have glue to stick to helmet. Other than that works great.

Came complete and well packaged. Took an hour to top off the battery, tested for six hours at home and going grocery shopping lots of looks but was comfortable and cool no fogging my glasses. recharge took less than 2 hours. Only downside is the belt. I have a 44 inch waist and I had one hole left to use. Good news any dress belt or cowboy belt less than 2 inch wide will fit through the belt loops on the pump. Had plenty of charge left on the battery, I only need it to go out for groceries so it will serve my purpose.

One of the charging stations from the respirators that were purchased does not work, can a charging station be sent?

So first thing, when you go to use it at first, yes there is a little smell and takes a bit to it out. I bought this to do renovation on a house I bought, taking out carpet, re-doing the blown in insulation, so loved the idea of this to not worry about things in the air getting in lungs or eyes. The carpet in the house was way bad. When I first used it, since I was getting used to the "fresh car smell" (so to speak), I didn't realize how great it was working... Until I took it off. It was like the smell from the carpet slapped me across the face! It also took me a while to get used to not having to hold my breath and squinting when ripping sections of carpet out, but was so nice when I got used ot it. Down side, as people mentioned... crazy price on replacement battery. I found that it recharged pretty quick for my needs, never really ran it dead yet. Another expensive item, I'm a bigger guy, the belt that comes with it wasn't big enough... All the belts I have are too thick to use (it is REALLY thin slots). I contacted 3M, and they quickly replied with a part number to order an extention for the belt... a 36" belt is, get this, $70.76!! I have since done some other work and just grabbed a good rated mask, and in 10 minutes, now that I'm used to this, I was tired of how much harder it was to breath, plus missed the fresh airflow over face. Tip, Not sure if it was in the docs, but SAVE the purple screen protector and put it back on when you store it, help make sure it protected when stored.

Very comfortable. East to put on and take off. No fogging of clear visor. The first week we used them it was 90° in the shade. It made a sanding job that would have been complete misery very tolerable. 9 hours of battery runtime before needing charged. We usually run the fan on high. Optional ear muffs are great. Put in earbuds first and music sounds great. They also keeps grinding and sanding dust out of your ears. Always use pre-filters over the main filter. We made our own.