I have a 3M 7500-series respirator that I try to wear in the shop
whenever I'm making dust. I like this model and I like breathing clean
air. However, moisture from my breath always condenses inside the
respirator and eventually drips down out the exhaust valve. This
usually isn't a big deal, and hasn't ruined anything yet, but it's
definitely annoying when a nice big drop of water lands on an
already-sanded workpiece, on a cast-iron machine table, or on my bench
where workpieces or hand tools get dragged through it.
I've been thinking of trying to glue a little section of foam or
terrycloth around the exhaust port to absorb the water before it drips,
but it seems like that would just delay the dripping. It helps some to
just blow out through the mask and shake my head some to dislodge any
impending drips, but that gets kind of annoying also, and it's too
irregular to predict and too easy to forget until it has already
dripped.
Has anyone come up with a workable solution to this problem? I know
it's probably better to deal with occasional water drips than to deal
with dust-clogged lungs, but if I could prevent both problems, I'd
certainly like to do so.
Thanks in advance for any helpful ideas,
Andy
(Overall, I'm happy with this respirator - it definitely makes a big
difference in how my lungs feel after a while in a dusty shop! I don't
have any complaints about the comfort - the only things I've noticed
are that the filters occasionally impede my vision, and that I have to
take it off my face to answer my phone.)