Hey so basically the title says it all, but I will give some info on my setup to better my chances of receiving help. I have a cabinet that is about 1' deep, 2' wide, and 5' tall. Currently I have two plants about 5 weeks into veg and my room just reeks of plant. It's not really the biggest deal but I am a bit concerned about what that smell will turn into during flower. more on the setup; only got one 2" passive intake (meaning to cut a second) and two 120mm pc fans for outtake. I rigged these so they are about a foot apart and then I have an elbow on each with a carbon filter hanging down in between which they push air into. My filter is a diy similar to the cheap walmart one only a bit bigger. I know this is getting kinda long but my only thoughts are could it be because i rinsed the carbon first? It was a bit dusty :/ I feel like the only other option would be too much air getting pushed through the carbon... but with pc fans I don't know that's possible. hopefully somebody in here can shed some light soon... I'm flippin my lights later today so the smell will only increase
unfortunately computer fans dont have enough power to push through a carbon filter. you need a small industrial fan for a carbon filter.
Not at an expert on this but will share with you what I know or have read. Axial fans or comp fans as many refer to them as are great for small cab grows, but I've read are useless once a scrubber has been added. It's also best to have the air be pulled through the scrubber than pushed. Some will debate and say it can be either way, which may be true, but most of what I've seen, read and been told is to have the air pulling through. Maybe an upgrade in exhaust fan may help with the scrubber being more effective. My advice on the scrubber, spend the money on a real one and you'll be thankful with the difference. I have friends that grow that have done the diy kind and all have said they wish they just bought one to begin with. Either way you go with this, best of luck with your problem and hopefully others will share their insights on it for you.
I appreciate both of your input and suggestions... but I just want to say that I have built an almost identical filter to this one and had it work great on a different cab, but that had a cheap inline fan. However, there is definitely air getting sucked in my intake and it feels like air is coming through the filter, besides the fact that it has nowhere else to go as the cab is sealed pretty good. So any ideas other than get a new fan/filter?