Filter A2B2E2K2P3 for OA Respirator

01 · WHAT THE LETTERS MEAN

Each letter is a different family, and the number is the capacity

The marking is not a trade code, it is the standard. A covers organic gases and vapours with a boiling point above 65 °C; B, inorganic gases and vapours; E, acid gases and sulphur dioxide; K, ammonia and its organic derivatives. The 2 after each letter is the capacity, medium. And P3 is the highest class of particle filter, holding back suspended solids and liquids. A filter only protects against what its letters carry.

02 · COMPATIBILITY

The thread decides, not the brand of the mask

It fits any mask with an Rd40 threaded connection to EN 148-1, which is the standard on the vast majority of full face masks, panoramic visors included. It also fits RSG T-AIR powered air-purifying respirators. If your mask has an Rd40 thread, this filter goes on: there is no need to hunt for the "brand" filter.

03 · WHEN TO CHANGE IT

The ten years are shelf life, not service life

The ten years from manufacture apply to a sealed filter in storage. Once it is opened and used, the carbon starts to load and the calendar no longer sets its life: that depends on concentration and exposure time. Change it when you notice smell, taste or irritation during treatment, or when breathing gets harder — that last one is the particle filter clogging. Between uses, store it closed with its caps on: the carbon keeps taking from the air even with the mask in the cupboard.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The transport seals come off before use and go back on for storage; nothing that forms part of the filter body is taken apart. And check that it screws fully down and seats against the mask gasket: a correct filter badly screwed on does not protect.