Carbon filters suck!!!

yesum · Oct 2, 2016

On the carbon being different. I think the pellet type is less effective than the granular type. The pellet type have been treat, powdered, then formed into pellets.

That is what I read anyways.

For the OP I would say change out the old filters and be sure you have negative pressure in the room.

FireIn.TheSky · Oct 2, 2016

CAN uses pellet carbor and it works well. I think the biggest thing is they vibrate them to minimize ait gaps.

redlaser · Oct 2, 2016

Like others have mentioned, use ozone on the exhaust, give it enough room/ time to mix with the smelly air.
I put an ozone generator at the beginning of twenty feet of ducting going out, it then goes into a 3'x3' wooden box/ homemade fan silencer, then 10 more feet of ducting before going through a large carbon filter to hide the smell of the ozone and any weed smell left

budbasket · Oct 2, 2016

Bet its a leak/not enough pulling from the fans to create negative pressure. I love phresh, super light and has always lasted 18 months-2 years.

morningdewd · Oct 2, 2016

same problem here highly overated MD

Easy7 · Oct 2, 2016

Both ozone and carbon have tell tale smells. Ozone smells like ozone and carbon smells,like yeast.

Did you make sue the CFM are rated for the fan filter? Sounds like a lot of unscrubbed exhaust.

bucketswithsoil · Oct 2, 2016

what about a actual ionizer...???

YetiOG · Oct 2, 2016

chomsky said:
None of the filters are over a year old. Room is mostly sealed. I do have an ac unit that kicks on at night to drop temps here towards the end of 12/12 but that's only at night. Ozone sounds like a good bet.

Charcoal filters dont suck at all. Everyone uses them and they work very well.

The problem is the actual is not filtered right?

Do you properly match the fan and filter? If it's not then that's your problem

YetiOG · Oct 2, 2016

YetiOG said:
Charcoal filters dont suck at all. Everyone uses them and they work very well.

The problem is the actual is not filtered right?

Do you properly match the fan and filter? If it's not then that's your problem

A.C. not filtered... spellcheckenese

chomsky · Oct 3, 2016

YetiOG said:
Charcoal filters dont suck at all. Everyone uses them and they work very well.

The problem is the actual is not filtered right?

Do you properly match the fan and filter? If it's not then that's your problem

Dude yes I have them paired properly. I'm growing four plants in a sealed room venting at night when the CO2 is off. My whole house in my neighborhood smells like a weed factory. And if you read earlier I have one brand-new filter and two others that are less than a-year-old. Maybe I'm just growing some super funkadelic crazy insane smelling hyper weed.??? Maybe nothing can be done???

chomsky · Oct 3, 2016

YetiOG said:
The problem is the actual is not filtered right?

I do agree with you there. When the AC vents at night it does push out the leftover smell in the room. But I have two carbon filters scrubbing that room. Regardless, during the day when there is no venting outside with two scrubbers going in the room it still smells like a weed bomb went off.

YetiOG · Oct 3, 2016

chomsky said:
Dude yes I have them paired properly. I'm growing four plants in a sealed room venting at night when the CO2 is off. My whole house in my neighborhood smells like a weed factory. And if you read earlier I have one brand-new filter and two others that are less than a-year-old. Maybe I'm just growing some super funkadelic crazy insane smelling hyper weed.??? Maybe nothing can be done???

Is the ac filtered? If not it's just blowing stink out lol

YetiOG · Oct 3, 2016

chomsky said:
I do agree with you there. When the AC vents at night it does push out the leftover smell in the room. But I have two carbon filters scrubbing that room. Regardless, during the day when there is no venting outside with two scrubbers going in the room it still smells like a weed bomb went off.

I've filtered a 8x8 with just a filter on the ac exhaust lol no filter in the room. It was a room full of OG and there was no smell outside. It was a small can 33 and no smell in the house.

Maybe things aren't sealed. Also maybe the filter brand might not be good I've only ever used can.

Check out green gator a buddy said they work good

chomsky · Oct 3, 2016

YetiOG said:
I've filtered a 8x8 with just a filter on the ac exhaust lol no filter in the room. It was a room full of OG and there was no smell outside. It was a small can 33 and no smell in the house.

Maybe things aren't sealed. Also maybe the filter brand might not be good I've only ever used can.

Check out green gator a buddy said they work good

The room is healed and I'm using Phresh 6x24 filters.

YetiOG · Oct 3, 2016

chomsky said:
The room is healed and I'm using Phresh 6x24 filters.

Dunno maybe try a can filter and matching fan I've never had a problem even using well under the recommended size, though at one time I was using the can 33 in a 4x4 which was well overkill

yesum · Oct 3, 2016

I have had a filter stop working before the second grow finished. Under a year.

You said the room is sealed but with the smell coming out it is clearly not sealed.

vancityj · Oct 3, 2016

You might need a slight amount of constant negative pressure (exhaust) in the room if there is none. I assume your room is ballooned out slightly allowing smell to drift out through cracks. Stupid question, but do you run more intake than exhaust? I run a small exhaust fan on a dialed down speed control that might put out 100-200cfm which keeps the smell contained in about 300sqft. Prior to running this constantly, when it was off, you could smell it in the yard. If you have a forced air furnace, it will likely suck/displace stinky air from your grow area into the common areas, unless you have constant adequate negative pressure. I usually can't smell it upstairs, and never outside.

Easy7 · Oct 3, 2016

I would not run three exhaust as it's 3 times more likely to fail. I would run one fan, a big one for the size you are operating. Going through a muffler and an inline filter.

What sort of ducting are you running? If it's thin it could have holes after the filter. Joints might not be airtight either. You could try burning some sage to see where the smoke and smell goes.

JKD · Oct 3, 2016

This is cut & paste from http://www.airscience.com/carbon-filter for its simple explanation but is available from other sources as well.

Hope it is useful.

Adsorption Efficiency
The ability of a filter to function efficiently depends on a number of factors including temperature, humidity, residence time, filter age, evaporation rate and chemical concentration.

Temperature

The temperature of the gas is very important because the higher the temperature, the lower will be the adsorption capacity, especially for a gas with a low boiling point.
A relatively high temperature can even generate desorption, with the filter releasing previously adsorbed gas molecules.
Generally temperature must be kept below 40°C.

Humidity

Relative humidity is an important factor that can affect the efficiency of the filter.
The molecules of gases with low boiling points will be less adsorbed, because the molecules of the water vapor will be adsorbed in their place, leaving less free surface in the pores for the gas molecules to impact the carbon.
Generally, relative humidity must always be kept below 60%.

Residence Time

Residence time is the time needed by the air to cross the filter, during which it stays in contact with the carbon itself.
This is the time during which gas molecules can be adsorbed by the pores of the carbon before leaving it.
This time should be as long as possible.
To maximize time, filter thickness must be sufficient and the air speed crossing it must be kept to a minimum.
This minimum is influenced by the fact that the air speed across the front opening of the fume hood (face velocity) must be kept at a rate sufficient to ensure containment of the fumes within the enclosure.

Filter Age

Normally the filter, if not properly stored before use, becomes less efficient with time because of “poisoning” of the charcoal due to the presence of gasses in the atmosphere, as well as the effect of humidity in the environment.

OG Tree Grower · Oct 3, 2016

I think I know what the problem is now that I have a clear picture in my head of your grow room. You need negitive pressure all the time , smell will always get out of a sealed room through cracks, opening and closing doors ect. I've even had a place with a double entrance to try to "seal" the grow but it's just not possible. You have two options, create a lung room and vent your scrubbers into that or use a small 6" scrubber and fan to vent outside on an idle. or like others have said , ozone and vent outside.

Carbon filters suck!!!

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