Originally Posted by
pntmachine
I never said they particulates were for trapping fumes I said they would protect the carbon cartridges. you are just guessing at capacity levels for sure as you have no way to verify contamination of nitro fumes thru the particulates or deminishing results of the carbon cartridges. You are assuming that they are diminishing from the fume and not the particle as well. Either way they will last longer than what has been mentioned but to what affect. Do you take them off right outside the building when you are at your pit table or when you enter your car to drive home. I am not trying to knock the OP for wanting to protect himself because I know the feeling of a weekend of indoor racing but I do use these masks for a living and have a good idea how long they last. Pntmachine (paintmachine)
I know you weren't trying to tell us that the particulate filters can replace the vapor cartridges, I just wanted to clarify for the people in this thread. The way you had it worded seemed to suggest to just replace the particulate filters and forget the vapor cartridges.
While there are simply too many variables to give this guy an exact answer on longevity, I feel that 4 race days (figure 6-7 hours of exposure) is a quasi-realistic answer. The instructions for the 6001 say to use the filters until you reach your established change schedule, or when smell, taste or irritants are detected.
When I used to do automotive body & paint work, I talked with various 3M reps that said a 6000-series cartridge would only last 7-10 hours at 10x the PEL levels of basic paints/solvents. That's total exposure time, before the filter's effectiveness started to decrease. Not completely go boom, just start to reduce it's filtering abilities. My own usage and findings seem to correspond with this.
$15/month on 6001 cartridges is
cheap compared to some expenses we have in the hobby.