Powercap vs. Trend - sort of...

[Forrest Forschmiedt]

So, I'll try to express this as fairly relating my experience and not as a rant.

After doing more woodworking recently, I'm feeling the effects and had to admit I need a better respirator than a paper N95 mask. Time to stop making dust until the safety/health situation could be improved. Especially as it gets cold and the garage/shop door can't remain open with a big fan.

After reading lots of posts and reviews I settled on the Powercap unit from Peke for $495. It seems the price has gone up significantly over the past couple years, probably due at least in part to the covid situation. Oh well, we must do what we must do.

Peke showed the unit in stock on their site so I ordered it.
After the weekend and a few days I got no update on shipping or order status. Long story short; email, chat, phone call, finally got a response after posting a public message on their fb page.
They were out of stock and expected stock in 7 days and would process orders after that, which sounds too open ended to me.

Well, I don't know about you but this is a busy time of year and I need to keep making sawdust. So I cancelled the Peke order and ordered the Trend unit from Amazon for $440, which showed several in stock and with free two-day delivery.

Note: this is only one experience with Peke. This year is unusual (to say the least) and this is the holiday season. I only post this to say that, if you are in any rush to get safety equipment, you might want to open a dialog and make sure you can get what you need before blindly ordering online like I did.

 

[Dan Stromberg]

I've been looking at the Powercap and the Trend too (and the Versapro for good measure, but there's a wee bit of a price jump there). Somebody had posted on one of these threads that the actual protection level between the two are nowhere in the same ballpark (the Trend was much better). I don't remember the specific stats, but it was eye opening. Trying to research the stats on various respirator types is enough to give you a headache...

 

[Forrest Forschmiedt]

I haven't seen where the Trend had that much better performance than the Powercap. The specs on paper show both at .3 microns and 98% efficiency or some such. Both also claim 160 lpm air flow. Specs on paper are just that, though. If someone has some real world testing or data that tells a different story, I would be curious to see/read it.
All other things being equal, I liked the comments on lighter weight and better balance for the Powercap. I also like the battery chemistry; Li-Ion vs. NiMH in the Trend, which gives longer battery life and lighter weight for a given output.

All that said, either one should be significantly better than what I've got now.

 

[GRJensen]

I have the Trend Airshield Pro, and have been considering the Powercap.

The Trend is top-heavy, and makes it awkward to lean forward or bend over to check to your work. After I wear the Trend for a couple of hours I can feel it in my neck.

I tried the Powercap on in Peke's booth at the the Ohio Valley Symposium last year, and think it would be much more comfortable to wear.

 

[Dan Stromberg]

I found the thread I was referring to:

https://sawmillcreek.org/archive/index.php/t-249332.html

Specifically, the post on 9/21/17 at 5:05pm near the bottom of the page, where the author writes:

DAN - hope you don't mind me commenting. I gather you've got a Versaflo; good news, as you may inadvertently have dodged a bullet of sorts...I have read all the comments, and a key point being missed (and not immediately evident from marketing information) is the APF10 offers significantly less protection than the Airshield Pro; they are not like-for-like.

EN12941:2008 is the harmonised European test standard for powered respirators, and rates products not by filter efficiency but by 'inward leakage'. That is because, on a complete respiratory headpiece, good filters are useless if other areas of the respirator let dust in. The ratings in that test are TH1, TH2 and TH3, and the differences are fairly huge: TH1 = 10% inward leakage, TH2 = 2%, and TH3 = 0.2%.

The Axminster APF10 Evolution carries the lowest rating, TH1P (P denoting they are Particle filters, not vapour). When you are comparing this with the Trend, you are comparing being left exposed to 10% of airborne dust, or 2%.

If I've misunderstood something, I will gladly stand corrected (and educated). Just wanted to reference my source. I'm trying to understand this better.

Dan

 

[William Rogers]

Here is another thread where I posted my findings regarding protection. See my post.

https://www.aawforum.org/community/...-papr-vs-3m-versaflo.14351/page-2#post-160463

 

[Forrest Forschmiedt]

Well, I'm feeling better about getting the Trend unit vs. the Powercap.

Another thing I see is that parts for the Trend are much more widely available when I need replacement filters, face shields and service parts.
Once again, none of the other info matters if you can't actually get the equipment or parts.

 

[Ron Solfest]

Not sure if they have them in stock, but I’d also recommend looking at the Peke CleanAir PAPR. It cost more than Trend or Powercap ($750) but wear battery and motor/filter on belt so you don’t have the weight in n your head. I purchased one this summer and like it a lot.

 

[Forrest Forschmiedt]

My Trend Airshield Pro arrived last Saturday and I have already used it for several hours. The weight and balance of the unit are fine for me.
I don't think I will try ordering anything from Peke again.