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Homemade Carbon Filter Club

stihgnobevoli

Active member
Veteran
you dont need much carbon to clean the air. the most important part is that air can flow freely through the carbon. anyone tried breathing air though the carbon filter? i got lightheaded and almost passed out. maybe co2?
 

Iceman420

New member
i don't get it are you guys using a fan to push air through the filter? or pulling it from the scrubber? mine is in my box and takes up alot of room. How should i mount it?
 

dabbler

Member
I've used similar methods as what has been previously described but I have used garden wire mesh so I could get the exact width for my cab. Using mesh, a pair of tights and some activated carbon from a pet store, I've avoided paying out £££s. Just measure the depth required and bend the mesh to suit - easy!!!



Here's a shot of the bracket I made from the same wire mesh stapled to the side of cab:



And a shot of the inside of the scrubber:



You can just see the scrubber at the top of the pics:



I'm at day 58 of 12/12 and no smell whatsoever - all for less that £10 - every grow show have one!!!
 

kish

Member
Okay, here is my take on it..kinda ghetto with the duct tape.
But it sure does the job..


pencil holder scrubber inside a 30 gal rubbermaid storage tote
 
it's my scrubaru

it's my scrubaru

Here's a bump for this thread... this one is almost done. Going to caulk the seals before I panty-hose both inner and outer layers, then I'll pill it up with carbon. I've got 3/8th's of an inch width to fill. I also have to open up the cap to flow air, and attach my 92mm 70CFM fan so I can unscrew it without too much trouble. The fan will be exhausting my micro grow, set in the wall with the filter inside.

34njtl3.jpg
 
I want to replace the duct tape roll with plastic, and also fill around the bottom and top with foam so as not to waste carbon where it's not getting any air.

4v6cg3.jpg
 
P

Poe_Ettic

I want to replace the duct tape roll with plastic, and also fill around the bottom and top with foam so as not to waste carbon where it's not getting any air.

4v6cg3.jpg

i have to figure this one out this is way cool. Do you have anymore pics of how u did this one?
 
i did sugar bears scrubber, but used 2 mesh pencil holders instead, and it works great!! Fits perfectly in the top exaust port of my DR80, with a mini 4" fan from walmart./ on the exaust. Definitly reccommend using panty hose as outer filter, great airflow
 
Wedge, I looked for another mesh pencil cup, but couldn't find one big enough. The hardware cloth is the next best thing, IMO... let's just hope I don't get a run in my 'hose!
 

Joey56789

Member
I'm having a problem with mine. I can't use Panty hose as my filter is too big and square. I used fibreglass screen door material. The carbon I bought is coming through the filter a bit. I either need to find some bigger carbon, or some finer material.

The carbon I bought is in a light blue cardboard milk carton looking thing, and is made by MARS fishcare North America. Some of it is pretty fine, as you can imagine if it's coming through screen door material. Is there a brand that has a little bigger carbon pieces?

Thorough pre-washing. Wrap final setup in panty hose or filter media.

FreezerBoy, you mentioned filter media. What do you mean, and where can I find it?

Though there are only little pieces coming through. Should I just pack the filter, and let whatever comes through go through?

Anyway, here is the filter... It took me a while to come up with this. I hope you guys like it.

First get some hardware cloth. I chose the half inch vinyl covered type. The vinyl covered is nicer to work with. For the interior cube I went with 6x6” inch sides (the pic is of an earlier attempt). Just cut out a + shape with each segment 6x6”. The outer cube is 7x7”, and is made the same way. Then just fold the sides up. You want to bend it so the sides are nice and straight.



Then take some plywood to make something to mount the hardware cloth cubes to. Cut out one piece of half inch ply in a 6x6” square, with a 4.5” circle in the middle (4.5” is the size for a 120mm fan). Then make a 7x7” with a 4.5” circle and glue them together. Then drill a hole to fill it with carbon.

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Staple the small cube to the wood with a few staples on each side. You want to make sure the cube is square at this point.


Some small twist ties hold the sides together. The hardware cloth is very rigid at this point. It is surprising how strong it is.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/attachment.php?attachmentid=1767&d=1235018660
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Joey56789

Member
Staple the screen door material, one on each side pulling tight.


Then staple around the rest of it.



To keep the sides of the screen material together, I sewed it up with some extra strong thread. I just kind of weaved it through. Then I cut off the extra screen so it wouldn’t get in the way of the carbon.



Repeat everything for the outer cube, but I just folded the extra screen over instead of cutting it off to make the seams stronger.



The 120mm fan just attaches to the back of it with 4 screws.

The good thing about this design is, first, it is all surface area. All five sides allow surface area for carbon filtration, unlike the can types which have solid bottoms. Second, the micro grower grows in a square world. The can types are great for hooking up to duct work, but cabinets are square. PCs are square. Rubbermaids are square (kinda). The interior of this scrubber is 6x6” on all 5 sides. That’s 180 square inches of surface area for carbon. That’s the equivalent of a can filter with a 4” core with a carbon area that is over 14” long. When you add ~1” for the end cap and ~5” for the reducer, a can type with this much carbon area is 20 inches. Even if you create a cylindrical filter that filters on all sides, you won't get as much surface area in the same amount of space as you would with a square filter (assuming you have a square space to work with).

Third, you have complete control over the size and thickness of the filter. You could make it as small as an 80mm PC fan. I'm sure you can make it too big, but you could go bigger then I did. Too big and I think the hardware cloth would bow out a bit. I made mine with .a half inch thickness of carbon. You could make it an inch or more by varying the size of interior cube compared to the exterior cube. It gives you a lot of flexibility, and you just aren't limited to the sizes of ducts and PVC pipes (or whatever) you can find in Home depot.

Edit: I forgot to add price list

Hardware cloth $10
fiberglass screen material $6
smallest zip ties $2
carbon ? (I haven't filled it yet and don't know how much it's going to need)

I already had:
Scrap plywood
Staple gun and staples
 

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Joey, why not make your filter cylindrical? A cube filter will not evenly distribute the air/pressure, and you'll end up having dead spots. Plus, switching would fit your design, and allow you to use pantyhose!

Purp, you can grab hardware cloth (mesh) at any Home DePot or hardware store. I used 1/4 inch.
 
Joey, why not make your filter cylindrical? A cube filter will not evenly distribute the air/pressure, and you'll end up having dead spots. Plus, switching would fit your design, and allow you to use pantyhose!

Purp, you can grab hardware cloth (mesh) at any Home DePot or hardware store. I used 1/4 inch.

itsmysubaru...i dont think i made my self clear on that last question ha sorry bout that was a little stoned:laughing: ...but im actually talkin about the silver wire that is shaped into a cylider in the above picture..thanks man
 

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