Safety- Respirators and the building process

I am always very careful with the building process.....I always wear gloves, I only use water based paints and an spray booth. I wear my respirator for painting, wood dust, sealing, and epoxy (i have sensitive lungs). I have a 3M 6000 series respirator, and I use the organic solvent filters (6001) i think as well as the P95 inserts. I store my respirator in a ziplock when not in use. I never now when to change my filters. Am I safe in assuming that if I can't smell the substances I'm working with, that I am protected and the filters are good?
I ask because after a couple of hours with the respirator on, my lungs ache a little, but I never smell any of the fumes I'm working with and the spray booth does a good job as when my wife comes down to the finishing area she can never smell anything (Alcohol, windex, or simple green from the painting process)

just wondering what others experiences are.

MS

If in doubt change it but yes i think rule of thumb is if you can smell it then you need to change it...

Besides worrying about the bad stuff getting in, you have to consider the filter media becoming "clogged" and creating additional strain on your respiratory system. Particularly when using it for dust situations.

being a mechanic we deal with all kind of bad stuff, if you can smell the solvents yes you are in need of filter replacements. not sure if you have these but they make a particle filter that snaps on the outside of my respirator cartridges with some felt like pre filters in them. these help the filters last longer and they are cheap to change. i swap these out often since most of my home stuff is wood dust and stuff like that. if after a while you are feeling like its harder to breathe then the filters are nearing their end. the organic cartridges will tend to swell and restrict before they allow smells in. if in doubt at all change them, its cheap insurance compared to lung problems. lost my mother in law to COPD and its not pretty.