It will remove way more heat than it makes. It's fine to have it in there though I like to put them out of the way in the attic. No cons except noise. And anything you want should be in this thread- that's what it's' here for.
thanks man, ill get some pictures if theres any mods not covered and a shot of it in action Peace Aloha
So I had a need for another Lasko blower, and when I bought it I found that there had been a few minor changes to the design of the item. No biggie, since I planned to convert this blower as well, I took a few pics of the differences. Overall it is a little easier to convert this blower to a 6" inline type. First thing is the box lid/duct flange, you've seen me make this before. However, the I.D. of the flange is too small to fit over the new style grill, which is now a snap in piece instead of molded into the inner case of the fan like the old style. No matter, I convinced the grill to come out with a screwdriver. You can also see the rolled lip they added to stiffen the fan's legs. If you wanted to, you could try to drill the web holes right here, but I'm skipping that this time just to see how much difference it makes. When you take the grill out, it no longer clamps theses two surfaces together, but the fan still works and rotates fine. When I set the grill on the duct flange, I noticed it was only a slight amount larger than the flange. Little enough that I feel with some effort you can get the duct on, and it's definitely going to stay on with those lugs holding it. If it proves too large I can just remove it. I used my speed tape to attach it. I used silicone to glue it on- this type goes on white but dries clear. I rushed it into service and the joint failed, but this was good, the two thin layers of silicone remaining dried, and then I put another thin layer between and attached it again. Now it's on there for good. This new blower design makes it a little easier to do this mod, so I wanted to give sort of a pictorial heads up for anyone attempting to do it with this new design. Happy Circulating!
Can any one recomend a carbon filter setup that works with this blower? I've tried many designs and can't seem to make one work while maintaning airflow.
I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS, but if I were to ever build another carbon filter I would build this one DIY: Pro grade 400cfm Air filter Thread OP even mentions this blower in the first paragraph . Both of these tutorial are very well done. I would build them both if I ever have need again.
Any way you slice it, the filter will cost you airflow. Old Fart beat me to my recommendation- I'd also say that larger filters allow more flow than smaller ones, so go big. Thanks! I appreciate the compliment, and I'm sure JamesReed does too.
why do you cut the 2'' holes in the blade? im not seeing why.? couldnt you just hook our flange to the side and be finished? Thanks
Mech: If i opted to not drill the holes, would i also not need to tape up that part of the blower? Just wanna make sure I am understanding the full picture. Awesome DIY... cant wait to get my cabinet built. Edit: Two more questions... I plan on putting this bad boy in my attic as you have, can you hear the blower at all when standing below it? I need this to be as stealthy as possible, and just want to know what to expect. Also, Im kind of a power noob, and want to make sure Im as safe as possible... what type of extension cord should i use for this if Im running it about 10'? THanks a lot for your help to us all... Ill post pics when Im done =)
Thank you very much- I think this DIY has helped more people than anything else I've done. Essentially yes, you could just hook the flange to the side and be done. I put the holes in the original to allow more air to reach the "far" side of the fan-wheel, since the intake on that end is eventually covered with tape. At this point, I don't recommend the holes really. A great guy on here that goes by jamesreed tested it with and without holes (thank you, james!) and there is a slight benefit to the holes, about 15% more airflow if I remember. The thing is, several people have ruined the fans by botching the holes- so basically unless your sure you can make the thing balanced, don't cut the holes. It works just fine without. I omitted the holes on my second one- just taped the vents and it pulls just as well as the other for all I can tell. This thing has two outlets on it, so if you want to use them, then get a heavy duty cord, like at least 14 gauge, to supply it. Otherwise, any household cord will do to power it, it doesn't use much power at all. It has it's own breaker, also so hard to burn down the house with it. It's reasonably quiet, I have two in the attic there and while you can hear them if you put your ear to the wall, you can't if there is any background noise at all. They do not in any way make a suspicious noise. Bathroom fan is way louder. You definitley can hear them if you stick your head in the attic. Holes- sure, see above, and omit them. But tape up the vents- this forces all the air to come from the duct- if you don't tape the vents all the air will come from there, and the duct will move very little air. Be sure to post pics of your setups, guys/gals! Love to see the mods in action!
I can't remove the plastic blade piece no matter what I do. Other then removing the bolt, is there something else I should be doing?
If you removed the nut from the shaft that the blower wheel is mounted on, then you just need to pull the wheel harder. Perhaps some slip-joint pliers might help, the wheel fits snugly on the shaft. Post a pic if you can't get it figured out.
TOOK ME ABOUT 45 min to read all 11 pages AGAIN!! just ordered blower from buy.com and it is the new style- running high temps with 2 400 w mh lights and need to get it under control!!! What do I do with the exhaust from the fan though?? I know one guy ran it through his vents to heat the house, smell would be a factor -- wouldn't it?? Any ideas?? THANKS SOOO MUCH FOR THIS DIY!!!
Harbor freight has some blowers I have been looking at to maybe do a similar type of project on. They have a 6" which 300 CFM at 1.24A and a 8" at 1500cfm at 1.4 A.
You can run it up into your vents like that, but yes some flowering girls would definitely perfume your house. Vegging girls don't really put out much smell. Personally, I run the exhaust duct into the attic, and just let it make the attic smell funky. You can't detect it inside the house until the last 2 weeks of flower, at which point I hook up a carbon filter or ozone generator. In any case, try to get the exhaust out of the room that the grow chamber is in- otherwise you just re-intake your heated air. If you mean like one of these- Then I have to warn you that won't make a good blower. You need a squirrel cage or a centrifugal type. Either of those two will do a good job of overcoming the drag of ducting, but the axial type fan shown above will not. Make sure whatever you use will be able to move air against the static pressure you present it with. Most "inline" blowers will have some specs detailing how much CFM you can expect at different static pressures. Like lighting distances, it's exponential. The more the static pressure goes up, the more the fan performance really goes down- you need a stout blower to pull against a lot small-diameter ducting. As far as that type of fan above, the Stanley blower will move much more air for less money.
Sorry for the necropost, but this thread just saved me from buying an axial blower and being enormously disappointed. Thanks! I just made one of these (paired with http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/232457-$15-00-carbon-scrubber-wal-mart.html ) to deal with house odors (litter box etc.), and it's awesome! Unfortunately I didn't read through the entire thread so I ended up drilling holes (3x 2") in the squirrel cage and it's vibrating slightly (not visibly, can only tell if you put your hand on it, may do that anyway? I should have felt the baseline vibration beforehand, oh well), but it's been running just fine for 24 hours now and everything is cool to the touch. The output is impressive, but doesn't seem to change regardless of setting (1, 2, or 3) - I assume the static pressure is already maxed on low, so I just leave it there (of course this depends on the carbon scrubber). The model has changed again, more annoying to disassemble IMO (lots of hidden "clips" making you wonder why the thing won't come apart). I don't grow (too scared lol), so I live vicariously by reading everyone else's haha. I noticed a lot of questions about ventilating a closet grow without drilling any holes, and was curious if this could be useful. First I thought maybe a duct attached to the closet door, blowing out from underneath, that "docks" with the blower output when the door is fully shut. The blower could be up at the top of the closet (to draw hot air), then pipe it down and out. Would require two 90 degree bends and a couple feet of ducting, which may be enough to kill the output. I didn't test this. The next idea was to just put the blower on the floor, and use some sort of flexible duct to bring the output underneath the closet door. I made a plastic tube (cut and tape up a trashbag, though a bread bag may be a perfect fit but I had none to try) and taped it to the output of the blower, with the end of the bag outside the closet and shut the door. I "rolled up the sleeve" to make a cuff outside so the bag wouldn't flap around, and then turned it on. As far as I can tell, the output stayed the same (trashbag "duct" length is probably only about 1 foot max), and the bag didn't create any additional noise. Biggest downside is the blowers footprint, lose a lot of floorspace. I used some incense to test the air flow, and it's sucked in quickly at the bottom, but only just barely around the rest of the door (good enough). In retrospect I should have burned some inside the closet to test filtration efficacy, but you could always stick an ONA block in the opening of the bag just to be safe. Seems to work, but if you need stealth, you'd have to obscure the bag of course (maybe push it into a mesh laundry basket sitting in front of the closet or something). Yikes this got long.
Excellent tutorial. Just completed and wow there is some flow going through that bad boy. if anyone's unsure or too timid to rip into the blower my advice is just do it! measure 1 1/8" from the edge of the center circle on the piece that gets the 2" holes, i only had 1 3/4" hole saw but it worked just fine. Pre-drill with an 1/8" bit and take your time lining everything up and the holes should come out cherry. Exemplary guide Mechanibus! I would +rep but the combination of newb + @_@ so hey.