1st stage Sintered filter pore size?

Afishianado · Sep 1, 2010

anybody know the typical pore size for 1st stage steel sintered filters? I know that generally the smaller the better but at some point you will run into a flow restriction problem...What is typical for this application? It is fairly easy to get a range of these..I'm looking at 1 micron down to about .2 micron. What do you other DIYers use for your maintenance.

This site shows 2.5 microns is typical for respirable dust is the USA
Particle Sizes

Also can anyone recommend a source for these?

I am doing mostly Mares and Aqualung regs which use the flat disc shaped sintered filters

thanks all

Chris

halocline · Sep 1, 2010

I don't think you have to worry about dust, you're (hopefully!) breathing heavily filtered air. The filter is there to protect the 1st stage from debris that could end up in the tank, possibly from a wet fill. In terms of filtering the air quality to protect your lungs, I think you'd need something more sophisticated than any of the typical filters on a first stage. But, that's a guess.

SDAnderson · Sep 4, 2010

Afishianado:
anybody know the typical pore size for 1st stage steel sintered filters?

Also can anyone recommend a source for these?

Can't help you.
Trident sells a few that might work.

captain · Sep 4, 2010

Afishianado:
anybody know the typical pore size for 1st stage steel sintered filters? I know that generally the smaller the better but at some point you will run into a flow restriction problem...What is typical for this application? It is fairly easy to get a range of these..I'm looking at 1 micron down to about .2 micron. What do you other DIYers use for your maintenance.

This site shows 2.5 microns is typical for respirable dust is the USA
Particle Sizes

Also can anyone recommend a source for these?

I am doing mostly Mares and Aqualung regs which use the flat disc shaped sintered filters

thanks all

Chris

Matt is correct, it is just to keep out debris that could get trapped in the first stage or rust flakes from a tank. Microscopic particles will not affect the regulator and for the most part are removed by the compressor filter system. 40 microns would seem sufficent, if the particle is large enough to be seen by the naked eye you probably wouldn't want it getting in the regulator.

Afishianado · Sep 4, 2010

Thanks for the input everyone. I was thinking of going with the 40 micron....Mcmaster carr sells them in packs of 6, made of 316 stainless steel, for around $11. In the meantime I have ordered some of the ones that Northeast Scuba sells. They say they are suitable for SCUBA 1st stage regs and that many of the OEMs use them but it doesn't say what pore size the OEMs use or what pore size they are selling. Just that they are the "right" ones.

From what I can tell 40 microns seems much smaller than what is out there. One of the reg OEMs was touting some inline add on filter they offer that is the only one in the industry that goes does to 140 microns. I wonder if 40 Microns would be flow restrictive. I have a decent bench setup but not an real in situ flow meter...

Afishianado · Sep 9, 2010

I was told by a reg tech today that 5 micron was fairly typical.

1st stage Sintered filter pore size?

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