Sentry’s 300 Series Sucks In A Good Way

July 5, 2011

So the FedEx driver delivered our new Sentry Air Systems 300 series portable welding fume extractor a couple days back. I, Eric, have been so slammed that I didn’t get to put it together until yesterday. The little box with a huge snorkel tube looks like a cute little Dr. Seuss robot thing staring at you as if to say, “Are you sure you want to do that?”

The Sentry - with a slight addition...

This thing sucks. No, really, it does…
From their website:

“The Model 300 Portable Welding Fume Extractor is a simple and highly efficient respiratory engineering control for a variety of welding applications, including MIG welding, TIG welding, maintenance welding, production welding, clean room welding, occasional stick welding, spot welding, brazing, and more.

This source-capture system includes a flame-retardant, self-supportive flex arm for easy and varied placement. Other benefits include an exceptionally low noise level, small footprint, portability handle, heavy-duty casters for easy maneuverability, quick change pre-filter, and a variable speed controller.

The Model 300 Welding Fume Extractor comes equipped with patented filtration media that is customized specifically for welding fume control. In most cases, HEPA filtration is utilized and is up to 99.97% efficient on particles 0.3 microns and larger. Other options include ASHRAE [up to 95% efficient on particles 0.5 microns and larger] and ULPA filtration media [up to 99.9995% efficient on particles 0.12 microns and larger].

This system has been tested by a third-party industrial hygienist to measure this unit’s efficiency according to the Hexavalent Chromium OSHA Standard 29 CFR1910.1026. Results indicated an exposure limit five times lower that OSHA’s Hexavalent Chromium regulation during four hours of MIG welding*.”

Yadda, yadda, yadda…lots of engineering mumbo-jumbo that’s way over this guy’s head. All I can say is this little (13″ Dx 13″ W x 14.5″ H) unit is the best thing we could have asked for in our shop. You see, our metal shop is open to other areas of ADX, so the smoke/fumes that come from our welders can get a bit annoying. Much more importantly, our members’ health is a huge concern for us, and the fumes from welding operations (Hexavalent Chromium – with a name like that it can’t be good) can be downright harmful. When I weld, I stick my nose right down in the work so my poor eyes can see what I’m doing. The 300 came out of the box, and in no time flat I had it fired up and tried it out. Well, I did a little test weld with the MIG, looked up and there was absolutely no smoke in the air. Zero, zip, nada.

This little box did it’s job and we are thrilled to have it in our shop. If you come to ADX to weld, you are going to use it. That’s right, we will make you use it because we care about your health. If you have your own shop you should have one of these as well.

Check out a clip of our Sentry in action below…and weld on!