Good quality (large) Carbon Filters for a reasonable price, Pelletized vs granular

W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
looking to replace a couple of my carbon filters, both are the older green top active air filters that use the pelletized carbon and roughly 2.6" bed depth. At the time they had the same specs as the CAN-FILTER but were less money, one of them is the same size/weight as a can 75 and the other is can 100 sized. I have noticed most manufacturers seem to have moved away from the pelletized carbon and thick bed depth, and are instead using much thinner beds (like 1.5") of granular carbon. I guess what I am asking is are these newer style filters as good or better than the older ones? I am sure they are cheaper to produce and ship for the manufacturer but how is their performance? Any good filters anyone can recommend? I would rather not pony up for a CAN 75 and 100 but I guess if I had to I could replace one this run and one the next. I also heard can filters was bought out by someone and their quality may have dropped, although I have a can 66 thats about a year old and works great. I saw active air makes a 10" blue top filter that's about the same height as their older green top filter (40 ish inches) for about $250. Thinner carbon bed and much less overall weight in carbon though. I also heard a company called kootenay filters is making good stuff but have no experience with them, could use some feedback on them as well. I am not looking for the cheapest filters out there, just ones that offer a good value or $ per LB of carbon, good flow etc.
 
Boatguy

Boatguy

Well-Known Member
watsongreenthumb said:
looking to replace a couple of my carbon filters, both are the older green top active air filters that use the pelletized carbon and roughly 2.6" bed depth. At the time they had the same specs as the CAN-FILTER but were less money, one of them is the same size/weight as a can 75 and the other is can 100 sized. I have noticed most manufacturers seem to have moved away from the pelletized carbon and thick bed depth, and are instead using much thinner beds (like 1.5") of granular carbon. I guess what I am asking is are these newer style filters as good or better than the older ones? I am sure they are cheaper to produce and ship for the manufacturer but how is their performance? Any good filters anyone can recommend? I would rather not pony up for a CAN 75 and 100 but I guess if I had to I could replace one this run and one the next. I also heard can filters was bought out by someone and their quality may have dropped, although I have a can 66 thats about a year old and works great. I saw active air makes a 10" blue top filter that's about the same height as their older green top filter (40 ish inches) for about $250. Thinner carbon bed and much less overall weight in carbon though. I also heard a company called kootenay filters is making good stuff but have no experience with them, could use some feedback on them as well. I am not looking for the cheapest filters out there, just ones that offer a good value or $ per LB of carbon, good flow etc.
Click to expand...
Foothill filters on ebay... Mine has been running strong for 3yrs.
They are refillable and also sell bags of charcoal
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Kootenay
Can fan was bought out a while back and has had alot of cheap shit coming out. They cheaped out on their carbon and carbon bed size too. Kootenay filters are literally the exact same guys that used to work at canfan and now started their own thing made the way canfan used to make their stuff. Their factory is just down the road from canfan.
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
Boatguy said:
I havent had to refill mine yet, but i have read about the need to shake them.
I will cross that bridge eventually. A 6" x 18 for $100 bucks is pretty hard to beat
Click to expand...
Hey if it works then all the power to you. I tend to go for the better brands. Have some vivosun ones...they're ok for a bit then they start letting smell through. Better to get the larger size then you need and run less cfm through it then it's rated for. I use them in the veg tents and they work fine in there.
I'm generally hunting for the stanky stank so a good filter is a must have for me.
You might get by without a shaker if you use a concrete vibrator. Like they one used to get air bubbles out of wet cement. Looks like something you might find in a sex shop. Lol. I could see using the rod to vibrate/shake the carbon in place. But for 100 bucks fuck that. I'd just buy a new one
 
Master Keif

Master Keif

Member
Throw some shoes in the drier?

Boots?

Or, if you can work with wood we can build a shake table that is hand-driven.
 
GrassBurner

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
I run panty hose as pre filters on my home made carbon filter. Been running it for 2 years, probably need to replace the carbon pellets. I didn't use a shaker, just crammed the shit in there and let it fly :lol:
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
Master Keif said:
Have you thought about opening them and rebuilding them?
Click to expand...
yes I have thought about that, I looked for bulk activated carbon online a little bit but had trouble finding big bags of it at a price that would make it worth it. I think I would need almost 150 lbs to do both filters, might be something I could source locally but have not made any phone calls yet. I am sure shipping is a big part of the cost of the online prices.
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
Jjgrow420 said:
Kootenay
Can fan was bought out a while back and has had alot of cheap shit coming out. They cheaped out on their carbon and carbon bed size too. Kootenay filters are literally the exact same guys that used to work at canfan and now started their own thing made the way canfan used to make their stuff. Their factory is just down the road from canfan.
Click to expand...
This is pretty much word for word what I heard, will check them out and see if any of my local places can get them and for how much $
 
GrassBurner

GrassBurner

Well-Known Member
watsongreenthumb said:
yes I have thought about that, I looked for bulk activated carbon online a little bit but had trouble finding big bags of it at a price that would make it worth it. I think I would need almost 150 lbs to do both filters, might be something I could source locally but have not made any phone calls yet. I am sure shipping is a big part of the cost of the online prices.
Click to expand...
Wonder if anyone has made their own? I mean hell, it's just charcoal in pieces right? 15 lbs of lump charcoal from Lowes is $15. It's not like charcoal is hard to smash into tiny pieces. Maybe I'll give it a whirl, time to replace mine anyways.
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
Master Keif said:
Throw some shoes in the drier?

Boots?

Or, if you can work with wood we can build a shake table that is hand-driven.
Click to expand...
I was honestly just thinking i would pack it a bit at a time and rock it back and fourth, they weigh 75 & 100 lbs full and I have noticed that they settle pretty well any time I have had to move one. I think the granular carbon they run at thinner bed depths is harder to pack than the 2.6" depth of the pelletized carbon. I was looking for CKV-4 carbon, An old pamphlet I have from CAN-Filters says thats what they use, and kootenay uses too.
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
GrassBurner said:
Wonder if anyone has made their own? I mean hell, it's just charcoal in pieces right? 15 lbs of lump charcoal from Lowes is $15. It's not like charcoal is hard to smash into tiny pieces. Maybe I'll give it a whirl, time to replace mine anyways.
Click to expand...
yeah thats something I would be interested in testing, although I have so many projects right now that need my attention so repacking my existing filters with proven carbon is about the extent of the time I could throw at it. I have been thinking about recycling the carbon in my old filters as biochar though, and a crazy thought about all the terps that must be caught in them after years of use passed through my brain in the trim room earlier. I have seen some diy's about making carbon filters online over the years, although most used some sort of fish tank carbon and not like royal oak from lowes.
 
H

higher self

Well-Known Member
Jjgrow420 said:
Kootenay
Can fan was bought out a while back and has had alot of cheap shit coming out. They cheaped out on their carbon and carbon bed size too. Kootenay filters are literally the exact same guys that used to work at canfan and now started their own thing made the way canfan used to make their stuff. Their factory is just down the road from canfan.
Click to expand...
Cookie Rider said:
Kootenay filter user here,
No complaints, top notch quality.
Click to expand...

How long would yall say the Kootenay filters last? I've been buying mid priced ones off Amazon. Works well for a few months then leak smell, not to much & I vent outside but would like the peace of mind with quality filter.
 
Jjgrow420

Jjgrow420

Well-Known Member
higher self said:
How long would yall say the Kootenay filters last? I've been buying mid priced ones off Amazon. Works well for a few months then leak smell, not to much & I vent outside but would like the peace of mind with quality filter.
Click to expand...
It depends on the air your filtering, the cfm your running through it, your humidity, dust debris etc... Should last you a solid 2 years
I cycle mine. Flower tent ---> veg tent ---> garbage
 
W

watsongreenthumb

Active Member
higher self said:
How long would yall say the Kootenay filters last? I've been buying mid priced ones off Amazon. Works well for a few months then leak smell, not to much & I vent outside but would like the peace of mind with quality filter.
Click to expand...
Its night and day in my experience, a good quality filter using pelletized carbon at a 2.5 inch or better bed depth will last for years. The filters I am looking to replace are like 7 years old, used indoors for the first year, used just during drying+trimming for an outdoor for 3 years, stored for a few years and then used in an indoor for the last year. and they STILL work, I just think they could work better. Keep in mind these are just scrubbing, I would not even consider running them for exhaust at this point. Also the size of the filters and fans are probably bigger than many people would use in this size space, but I have learned over the years that if you really want to crush smells the bigger the filter and fan the better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top