Homemade Carbon Filter

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Burricios

New Member
Hi all,
I'm thinking of making my own carbon filter for my indoor grow. I saw this tutorial about it:
https://www.rollitup.org/t/easy-to-build-diy-carbon-filter.7074/
So I search a while and found this carbon filter replacement, but I'm not sure if it will work:
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Replacement-Activated-Carbon-Pre-filter/dp/B000EON2W0

So my question is,
Would the product linked above work for a homemade carbon filter? It would be mainly an aluminium screen rolled as a cylinder with a fan on its end, and the carbon filter rolled around the aluminium screen.

Also, how many times should I roll the carbon filter in order to work properly? That is, enough turns to filter the smell but not too much, in order to allow air to pass through.

Thank you!
 
phil k

phil k

Well-Known Member
im all about diy but you can get made ones for like 50$ now online... for 20$ in materials id pay the extra 30 for the headaches and time spent. but regardless carbons don't scrub all the scent out .. eventually they go bad.. .. i know your post isn't about this but depending on your grow size you might wanna look into a Uvoniare exhaust uv.. it completely eleminates the smell when installed properly.
 
B

Burricios

New Member
Thanks for the advice phil. I'd rather do it myself as I am quite on a budget and dont have the extra money to expend in comodities ;D. Of course, this is for the exhaust air going to the outside, and it is a very small grow (just a plant on a small closet). I don't want the smell to go from the closet to the rest of the room, as I dont want my visitors to know that I have some plants growing around haha. Would the carbon filter work for my situation?
Thanks
 
VIP Grower

VIP Grower

Member
Yes you have the right idea. The more money in your pocket the better. I made my own carbon filter from material I got from Home Depot, Walmart, and Petco. From Walmart I got a regular replaceable filter for $0.80, duck tape for $3, and a pack of long zip-ties for $5. From Petco I got activated carbon pellets ($10) from the fish tank section. From Home Depot I bought mesh wire (chicken wire) from the gardening fence section. The smaller the holes the better. Then from the plumbing section I got a 4 in shower drain and a 4 in cap. I also bought a cheese cloth from the paint section. Now I used the cheese cloth to cover the inner part of the shower drain.

It was hard for me to find a carbon filter so I used carbon pellets as a replacement.
1.) Now if you choose to use the pellets and since space is of the matter, make the filter 12 inches long with a 4 inch diameter. And also make a 12 inch long cylinder with a 2 inch diameter.
2.) Make sure that the 4 inch cylinder fits perfectly to the cap & shower drain. Then attach the cap to one end of the 4 inch cylinder with duck tape.
3.) wrap the filter around the 4 in mesh wire cylinder and secure with zip-ties.
4.) next insert the 2 inch diameter cylinder into the 4 inch one
5.) then fill the carbon pellets between the 4 in and the 2 in cylinders.
6.) cap the other end of the filter with the shower drain
7.) attach the 4 in ducting to the shower drain end and your good to go.

Here are some pics of a similar design to what I made. And here a pic of the activated carbon pellets and mesh wire. Hope this helps. Great luck building & growing friend.
 

Attachments

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Burricios

New Member
Wow, thank you so much! This is definitely going to help a lot. Just a couple questions, is it necessary (ofc, I understand its recommendable) to use both the pellets and the filter (the one around the cylinder)? And, could you explain me again where you put the cheese cloth?
Thanks!
 
O

orangesabc123

Member
You want to use some type of loose fabric or pantyhose(or cheesecloth) to keep the pellets from falling through the holes in the aluminum screen, apply accordingly around the inner and outer wire cylinders to hold in the pellets. The carbon sheet on the outside is just for extra oomf and for keeping dust and other crap off of your pellets.
 
VIP Grower

VIP Grower

Member
Burricios said:
Wow, thank you so much! This is definitely going to help a lot. Just a couple questions, is it necessary (ofc, I understand its recommendable) to use both the pellets and the filter (the one around the cylinder)? And, could you explain me again where you put the cheese cloth?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
It's not necessary to use both the pellets and the carbon filter but you can. I couldn't find a place that sold the carbon filter, so I just use a regular dust filter with the pellets. I only put the cheese cloth on the inside of my shower drain. The cheese cloth material was thinner than I expected. So I didn't have enough material to put it around my inner cylinder.

Here's a quick sketch I did of how I built my filter. Hope it helps and good luck.
 

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orangesabc123

Member
Burricios said:
Hi,
Why is it that you wouldn't want to use only the carbon sheet? I thought they were basically the same thing, but different format. Am I wrong? What is the difference?

Thank you
Click to expand...
They are loosely the same functionally. Carbon pellets are just that, chunks of carbon that are very porous so they can soak up odors and other things that pass by them.(In this case in the air, but they are also used in water) Carbon sheets also use carbon, but it's my understanding that they can't fit as much in a little sheet as you would just pouring chunks between two cylinders, so the smaller amount of carbon in the sheets will wear out very quickly in comparison.

Think of pellets as a wall preventing odors getting out that slowly erodes as the carbon gets saturated, think of the sheet as...a sheet that keeps the odors from getting out that more quickly gets saturated because of the reduced bulk.
 
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