I'm beginning to get a little bit of an odour issue with my grow, i built my own carbon filter partly based on a design i found on the net, can't remember where, and my own ideas. I used a 4" 90 degree piece of pipe with a rubber seal on one end which is the end which leads into the box in which i have my plants. On the other end i have some wire mesh forming a vertical tube, round which i have a layer of carbon cooker hood lining. On top of the mesh sits a plastic tub with holes drilled in the bottom and this is filled with activated carbon pellets and a top layer of filter lining. All that i think is fine, BUT i think i don't have sufficient airflow, i am currently using a 4" bathroom/kitchen wall extractor fan, which i think really isn't enough. If i was to get some ducting coming coming from above my plants to the filter via an inline fan appropriate to the size of my room and then on to the filter, should that solve my problem, i am on a really tight budget, so a proper filter isn't an option, in you guys opinions d'you reckon that my filter will work if i just increase the airflow?
Do you have any more fans in the grow room for the plants? Maybe the smell hasnt come down is your carbon filter might be flawed, no offense just saying. You should look up ryokos activated DIY carbon filter. Just type it on google and its only 25 or something, cuzz am on the same boat man i cant spend any money,
its pretty much the same sketch as the one you mention, except its on a 90 degree pipe so it comes out of the side instead of the top, and instead of duck taping the top, i have a small box with carbon pellets and then a layer of filter foam stuff in its place, all held together firmly. there is a desk fan blowing the plants themselves. im convinced it must be the fan i am using, like i say its a 4" bathroom one for clearing steam or whatever
Yah definitly put a regular fan you would use in your room just for circutation. Do you have an intake with the exhaust with carbon filter?
there is no air in, but the box is not sealed so it can get it from the room the box is in, presumably so long as the amount being pulled through the filter is greater than that which naturally goes out of the box then that should be fine and there's not too much smell should come out through those small gaps. at the moment its literally just my filter attached on to the bathroom fan which just sits inside the box on the wall. not sure exactly what you're trying to get at with your question, lol
On the assumption that my filter works, which i am hoping it does, would this fan provide sufficient airflow to 'de-smell' a 1x1x1 metre box? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/domus-100mm-i...ryZ43555QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Im still unsure if my filter works, but it is essentially the same as the ryoko's diy filter, except with 90 degree pipe instead of straight, so that i can use it on the side of the box instead of on top, and it also has a layer of carbon pellets and cooker hood lining on the top as well instead of ductape, and in the 90 degree bend at the bottom is filled with the pellets too, so im thinking with enough flow it should work, but i don't know. The smell is getting ridiculous and im due to start 12/12 tomorrow so its only going to get worse, its causing me a bit of an issue cos i am in a back to back terraced house, which means i have a neighbour on 3 of the 4 sides, and one of them is right next to where my grow is.
sorry for bumping this up again. could any body tell me if that fan is likely to solve my problem, because its really causing me an issue and i want to order it as soon as possible if it will work
Hi Chris, I'd be a little wary. Your grow is 1 square metre, and ideally you want the fan to exhaust that volume 3 times a minute. That requires a flow rate of 180m3/hour. That fan is rated at 107m3/hour, which will be dramatically reduced with the addition of a little ducting. Bear in mind that this fan will have a reasonably hard life, even if it's only running when the lights are on. To me it looks like a cheap & nasty bit of kit, and the line drawing, rather than a photo of the actual fan kind of backs this up. I think it'll struggle to do the job for any length of time. Not a lot else on eBay at the moment either, sadly.
well, i have gone for the 150mm one, is there likely to be a problem if the airflow was greater than 180, cos it looks like its 107 or 300 and odd, with ducting in it should reduce it like you say, but would that be alright? also judging from my description, which probably isn't much help without photos do you think its likely that with the addition of the more powerful fan i should have a working extraction/filter systen?
Yep, no problem. As long as the cooker hood filter ain't wrapped to tightly, or something equally daft, then...umm... "Probably." (Non-committal, fence sitting pansy that I am) Can we get an update when the fan's in place please?
i'm still waiting for it to arrive, id already paid for the other one, and then i had to post payment again, and its not come, i've only just got on the net again, so i've only been able to get in touch today, much hassle. but i did reduce the size of my box, at the time the 1x1x1 was hypothetical for when i had shrunk it to make it easier to control, i did that by building a frame inside the box and putting mylar all round, after doing that the problem has reduced. i waited a little longer before switching the light too, that happened on the 21st, ill update my grow journal with some new photos soon. the problem was solved temporarily but is now returning but the fan hopefully has been paid for. is over ventilation possible, am i going to need an air in, because that will pull out 300, and 180 is the recommendation.