Inline fan question

I bought a 6" inline fan, made my own carbon filter and I have it attached right off the fan but it seems like I am getting a lot of backdraft...would putting a 90 on the fan to the filter help my situation? Any ideas would be swell...thanx

hmm. what do you mean by backdraft bro? i'm trying to help you, just want to make sure i understand what your talking about first is all..

If smell is making it through the filter, most likely the carbon bed is to thin or lose for the cfm of the fan. A simple solution would be to put a solid state controller on the fan and lower the cfm until the smell is gone.

No smell is getting through the fan but if u put your hand up to the fan you can feel air pushing back into the room instead of out, I had a 4" that did the same thing thats why i bought a 6' with more cfm and its doing the same thing, I didn't know if having my filter right next to the fan makes to much resistance for it to build up air movement. Some info on what i have....6" 120cfm inline fan, a cone shape car air filter w/ the activated charcoal inside. I checked to make sure I didn't have it packed to tight. Appreciate the help by the way

Lol. It's not back draft. It's a sense illusion. It just feels like air is coming back through because of the air wrapping around your hand. Trust me...I went through this. Just take some plastic wrap and watch it just suck itself onto your filter to prove it to yourself.

I always pull air thought the filter and never push. Its more efficient to pull than push and scubbers work more efficiently in my experience.

I have seen this with CanFans. There is air coming out of the seams. According to the supplier and the Can folks this is normal. Still seems odd to me. They said it is ok to tape the seams, which I did, with foil tape and the problem went away. All of the CanFans I've owned have done this.

The EcoPlus supreme has seams which are sealed but, alas, the ambient temperature specification for them is only 125F. This rules out an attic installation for me, so I switched to the CanFans which can handle up to 85C ambient temperature.

mihjaro said:

I have seen this with CanFans. There is air coming out of the seams. According to the supplier and the Can folks this is normal. Still seems odd to me. They said it is ok to tape the seams, which I did, with foil tape and the problem went away. All of the CanFans I've owned have done this.

The EcoPlus supreme has seams which are sealed but, alas, the ambient temperature specification for them is only 125F. This rules out an attic installation for me, so I switched to the CanFans which can handle up to 85C ambient temperature.

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Mine does this as well. Is signifigant air still blowing out?

r3c is correct, pull through the filter not push through, will make a huge difference. I would simply take a lighter (probably have one laying around) take it near the fan, light it then move it closer to the fan and see what the flame does, it will show you without a doubt which way the wind is moving. You could also use a balloon, but i figure we all have a lighter laying around, works great.

MrDank007 said:

Mine does this as well. Is signifigant air still blowing out?

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Not that I know of and not when I taped them. It was tough getting it around the mounting hardware but I took my time and it worked fine. They are in boxes in the attic now, so I don't know if the tape is still holding. Foil tape is airtight, so I suppose that if the tape holds the seal will remain.

I switched my setup around to pull the air instead of pushing it through the filter and it made a huge difference. Also made the fan much quieter.

TruenoAE86coupe said:

r3c is correct, pull through the filter not push through, will make a huge difference. I would simply take a lighter (probably have one laying around) take it near the fan, light it then move it closer to the fan and see what the flame does, it will show you without a doubt which way the wind is moving. You could also use a balloon, but i figure we all have a lighter laying around, works great.

Click to expand...

Little OT but not really. I run a sealed room and everytime I switch bulbs I shut all my oscillating fans off and use incense smoke to find out if any of the hoods or ducting is leaking. I typically have to tape the hood closest to the fan closed