CFM ratings/affects for carbon scrubbers

[BudLove]

Hey all,

Quick question - though it may seem dumb, I honestly am not sure of the answer and am hoping one of you out there in grow land knows.

The CFM rating on a carbon scrubber - what exactly does that mean?

Example: I have a scrubber rated for 200cfm. Does that mean if I push 300cfm through it, it just wont clean it all? Will it only ALLOW 200cfm to escape through it?

Just trying to nail this dumb item down as I previously had a 200cfm rated scrubber and had to purchase a new vortex 6' 400cfm fan... I've already hooked it all up but am wondering if I just screwed the pooch on this one and need to purchase a higher cfm scrubber. OR... if I can just leave it and it will magically work

Thanks for any input!
BL

 

[darkhollo]

The CFM rating for a filter is based on the contact time required for that filter to properly "clean" the air. Suck it through too fast (aka too high of a CFM) and the air won't be in contact with the carbon long enough, therefore not removing the odor.

Not sure about too slow of a fan, maybe just not being as efficient as it could be.

-dh

 

[Microwido]

Dark is right, there is a max and min CFM for your carbon scrubber. Know what those #'s are and stay within them. You say yours is rated for 200cfm, is that the recomended air flow, max or min? I am guessing thats recommended, and your max will be around 300 and your min around 100.

Buy a "Speedster Fan Controller", about 20-30$ shipped and then you can control the CFM of your fan to make it however fast you want.

You will know when your pushing too much or too little air through the filter. The sign will be your not getting rid of all the smell. I had this exact problem once.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

I just bought a can fan and filter. The recirculation and exhaust rating are quite different on the filter

 

[mikecar312]

yamaha, whats the recirculation and exhausting cfm ratings for your filter and what size?

 

[BudLove]

Ok right on.... I guess my concerns about the odor are minor, as the exhaust is going into an attic space which then filters slowly outside due to typical attic air flow.

I suspected that the carbon content and overall size of the scrubber dictated it's CFM rating and therefore if I pushed more through the scrubber than it was rated for it would simply not clean all the air.

However, my true concern was based in the overall airflow and not so much the scrubbing... obviously the carbon will remove 'some' of the smell, but more importantly will still allow the additional CFM'ed air to move freely through it.

Thanks all!
BL