Goblin filter not cutting it after two months

Hey all, I'm hoping some experienced peeps can offer some direction here.

I have a small grow going in a cedar wardrobe. Just three plants as that's all that can fit in there along with the goblin filter I'm using. It's a 6" and has a 6" inline fan hooked up to it and is ducted to an exhaust in the back of the wardrobe.

I have been running the filter 24/7 since the smell started to permeate my basement. I run it the entire time the light is on because it pulls heat out of the cabinet as well. Without the filter pulling heat out, temps get ridiculous when the lights are on (100+ degrees F).

These last few weeks (I'm in week 9 of flower now) the smell is very noticeable at the top of the basement stairs and I am even starting to notice it elsewhere in the house coming up thru the vents from the basement.

The cabinet could probably be made more air tight. Maybe the smell is seeping out of there thru small cracks? I guess the first thing I wonder is why this powerful fan and big filter aren't "catching" the stink and filtering it before it can seep out?

If the problem is that the filter is depleted, does two months seem like a reasonable life span for such a filter?

Is it worthwhile to replace the prefilter, which doesn't appear to be dirty? Or to try taking the filter apart and refilling the carbon?

This is only my second grow and I have a ways to go before I consider this a smooth operation. I appreciate any guidance or ideas you all may have and will do my best to provide whatever other info would be helpful.

Thanks!!

No expert but id check for leaks ??? That's all i know mate........

"the cabinet could probably be made more air tight. Maybe the smell is seeping out of there thru small cracks"
^^^ that's what you said not me .ha

if you shake it can you hear stuff move around if so then it may have not been packed enough
ive ran the same filter for over a year
the first one i had lasted 4 months roughly but it was cheaply made and had too much slack in the carbon i added some and the filter works better ( wish i would of thought of it before i bought another but i have a backup now )

Which one you got?

if its the one with the little silver fan ..... those fans suck ....... or should i say they dont suck after youve ran them a while ..... i went through those pretty quick .... finally got a big inline ....... the cab should have negative pressure if the fan is running ... a cigarette or any kind of smoke next to the intake would let you know how much negative you have and a hand by the exhaust on the outside would let you know how much air is moving through your filter
.... if you have negative pressure and the exhaust has air moving out of it then something is wrong with the filter itself.... when the scrubbers work they knock the smell out ........ i can smoke a bowl in my closet and the only time my oldlady can smell it is when i actually come out and she smells it on me

What have your humidity levels been like? High humidity levels will cut the life span of a carbon filter big time. Im never able to completely kill that skunk smell even after ozone generators and air fresh sprays.I can never invite company over.

Thanks for the replies so far! Erm, unfortunately I scrapped the boxes that the filter and fan came in so I'm not sure which one exactly I have. I got them at my local hydro store. The fan is a big black thing. When I smoke in front of the cab with the door open, my smoke is sucked over to the filter and it doesn't smell up the basement. When I stand behind the cab and smell the exhausted air, I don't smell weed. I've wondered if I'm just used to the smell and not noticing it in the exhausted air but I'm pretty sure all I'm smelling is a "filter smell". Humidity has been around 40% the whole time with a dehumidifier running.

Is it possible the cab needs to be more air tight? It just seems to me the fan/filter should be catching all that stink before it seeps out thru minuscule cracks in the box itself. I mean I don't have light leaks so any air leaks are gonna be hard to seal, it would seem.

The hydro store guy is no help, he's happy to sell me a new filter or the stuff to refill it, or a new light that would let me use the filter for smell removal only instead of heat removal too.

For now I'm going to put some ona around the basement but going forward it almost seems like I need to rethink this entire setup. I have fairly frequent visitors and can't really deter them.

I was talking to a guy yesterday and hes been useing ' activated carbon' for fish filters , there cheaper than the hydro stuff and he swears buy it. The slinkiest skunk smell just dissapears.. Hes on he some where ill find him for you

your fan is on 24/7 ?
do you have a speed controller on it ?
i have a 640 cfm on a 6" filter and if it almost like you need to slow it down some or the smell doesnt have enough time to get caught

@althor
i said id find you for this^^ guy with your fish carbon filters . Thanks

tekdc911 said:

your fan is on 24/7 ?
do you have a speed controller on it ?
i have a 640 cfm on a 6" filter and if it almost like you need to slow it down some or the smell doesnt have enough time to get caught

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Yes it runs 24/7 and I wondered about fan speed... But there's no speed controller on it. Anything I can do to play with the fan speed without a controller?

you could cover part of the intake
youd have to keep a eye on temps

i dont think that would do much but it wouldnt hurt to try

indawindica said:

What have your humidity levels been like? High humidity levels will cut the life span of a carbon filter big time. Im never able to completely kill that skunk smell even after ozone generators and air fresh sprays.I can never invite company over.

Click to expand...

Its something that you say that Inda because thats how i am. No one come to this home EVER. I see thats one of the sacrifices of being a grower. Good stuff though and makes alot of since. Too much humidity can interfere with the full potential of the scrubber. #Good note for us all!

ReeferMom said:

Thanks for the replies so far! Erm, unfortunately I scrapped the boxes that the filter and fan came in so I'm not sure which one exactly I have. I got them at my local hydro store. The fan is a big black thing. When I smoke in front of the cab with the door open, my smoke is sucked over to the filter and it doesn't smell up the basement. When I stand behind the cab and smell the exhausted air, I don't smell weed. I've wondered if I'm just used to the smell and not noticing it in the exhausted air but I'm pretty sure all I'm smelling is a "filter smell". Humidity has been around 40% the whole time with a dehumidifier running.

Is it possible the cab needs to be more air tight? It just seems to me the fan/filter should be catching all that stink before it seeps out thru minuscule cracks in the box itself. I mean I don't have light leaks so any air leaks are gonna be hard to seal, it would seem.

The hydro store guy is no help, he's happy to sell me a new filter or the stuff to refill it, or a new light that would let me use the filter for smell removal only instead of heat removal too.

For now I'm going to put some ona around the basement but going forward it almost seems like I need to rethink this entire setup. I have fairly frequent visitors and can't really deter them.

Click to expand...

I think what im going to do is get a 6" inline carbon exhaust and (2) small exhaust fans one with filter. So id have (3) fans (2) to extract heat and one for fresh air intake connected to a black jacket insulated duct (1) more 6" fan. Maybe a skinny cooling fan for power control of humidity, temps, and odor as a remedy. Seems like itll work. I wont ever know until i try.

gardengardian7 said:

I think what im going to do is get a 6" inline carbon exhaust and (2) small exhaust fans one with filter. So id have (3) fans (2) to extract heat and one for fresh air intake connected to a black jacket insulated duct (1) more 6" fan. Maybe a skinny cooling fan for power control of humidity, temps, and odor as a remedy. Seems like itll work. I wont ever know until i try.

Click to expand...

that's not gonna work. the output fan has to be stronger than the input fan or you will have positive pressure because of the filter

WORDZofWORDZCRAFT said:

that's not gonna work. the output fan has to be stronger than the input fan or you will have positive pressure because of the filter

Click to expand...

Give us a little more discription.

WORDZofWORDZCRAFT said:

that's not gonna work. the output fan has to be stronger than the input fan or you will have positive pressure because of the filter

Click to expand...

More air would be sucked out than in?

you need more sucked out than into the area. the filter is gonna cut the air flow of the output fan down.

WORDZofWORDZCRAFT said:

you need more sucked out than into the area. the filter is gonna cut the air flow of the output fan down.

Click to expand...

After doing a quick research scan your right. I appreciate the heads up.