Phresh carbon filter problem

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My setup is carbon filter-ducting-hood-ducting-fan-ducting to attic ( this is in a tent) I have a 452 Cfm fan with a phresh 400 filter. Me and my buddy wanted to test it out to see if it worked. So I turn my fan on and get inside the tent and close it. I blew cigarette smoke into carbon filter and my friend was outside the tent with his face in front of the exhaust fan and smelled the smoke and it was a strong smell. No leaks in any ducting and I have a whole lot of neg pressure. I have no idea why it's doing this. I heard phresh was a good brand. Only factor I could think of is that the carbon filter was hanging in my tent setup for months before ever using it. But idk if filters go bad from sitting too long? Somebody please help

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What's your relative humidity? Filters are only 50% effective at 65% RH and stop working altogether at 85%.

Here mich man its like 100% dude ive had to replace my carbon filter 3 times 1 year. if i can smell it out side so can every one else. And id hate to get visited by leo legal or not them fuckers r rude ass holes 99% off the time. Change filter get bigger one then the fan cfm.

best brands (i almost got phresh but do a quick google on the best filters these always come up)

CANFILTER(#2)
MOUNTAIN AIR(#1)
Active AIR(#3)

i have used all three greaat results. go the http://www.canfilters.com/faq.html for how to size your filter always at half the rated cfm of the fan. fan has to draw more than the filter to get a good clean scrub.

Poly, you keep pushing this but nowhere on that site is there any mention of using a filter at half the CFM rating of the fan. The CFM rating is there for a reason. We don't buy 110v televisions from America and plug them into a 240v UK plug socket expecting them to work twice as well! I't's about balance. Too much filter airflow= too fast flow through the carbon and reduced scrubbing. Too slow will stress the fan. The filter manufacturers did't just decide "Let's call it a 400 cfm filter because that will fit on a 800cfm fan and confuse the heck out of everybody". It's like selling a 600w HPS that is acually 1200w. Why?
That website you linked to is, at best, a simplistic review of how fans work. Example, "above 70% RH Above 70% humidity the water molecules in the air start to get stuck in the carbon pore structure and slowly diminish the life of the filter. Rubbish. At 65% they are already running at 50% efficiency. Also, it does not affect the life of the filter, only the effectiveness. Run the same filter in a lower RH environment and it will very quicly dry out, restoring it's effectiveness.
I don't wish to knock you but I really don't know where you are getting your information from. It's definately not from the site you keep posting a reference to. There is no reference I can see on there to not matching CFM of fan and filter.
Don't wish to Knock you but....if you can point out the section in your link where it says about doubling the cfm of fan to filter, fair enough, although I still stand by what I say as that link is about fans with a variable voltage, which is something completely different to what most of us have. It does make sense that having a 50% filter on an adjustable fan running at 50% of max would work. However, you are not making that clear and are just giving people bad advice, not only on this post but many others.

So how do I fix this? My filter has been sitting in my tent not running for months and idk if it could be that. The fan has a higher cfm rating than filter as well. But only by 52 cfm. Should I just get a new filter with a higher cfm rating? I'm sure the humidity was high in the tent because it was close and nothing was on or working in there. Just my equipment sitting in there for months. So maybe that's it?

Run it for a few days and see how it goes. The 52 cfm difference won't mean much. As long as it's close. You will lose that in a corner and a few foot of ducting. If the worse comes to the worst, replace it further down the line but should be ok through early veg stage.
Please don't listen to people (above) obviously trying to sell their own products.

Q: Can I put a higher CFM fan than what the filter list?

A: Not recommended, the max CFM is rated on the filters. If you go over this amount it will not give the passingair enough "contact time" with the carbon and the filter will notbe able to do its job as effectively. Further, it will diminish thelife of your filter.

Click to expand...

that's straight from the FAQ on the Phresh Filter website. you'll need either a fan with a lower cfm or a filter with a higher cfm.

or a speed bully, something to dim the fan speed

polyarcturus said:

best brands (i almost got phresh but do a quick google on the best filters these always come up)

CANFILTER(#2)
MOUNTAIN AIR(#1)
Active AIR(#3)

i have used all three greaat results. go the http://www.canfilters.com/faq.html for how to size your filter always at half the rated cfm of the fan. fan has to draw more than the filter to get a good clean scrub.

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that is not what their website is saying at all.

this was taken right from their FAQ

How do I size the proper fan to a filter?The formula for sizing a room: Length x Width x Height
Divided by 3
Gives minimum recommended fan CFM
Match fan to filter
Ex.) 10ft x 10ft x 20ft = 2000 Cubic Feet
2000 Cu.ft / 3 = 667 CFM
667 CFM fan is Minimum fan size for this size area
after establishing fan size, match it to appropriate sized filter. IE, Can-100

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so their example is saying to use a fan rated at 667cfm with a Can-100. According to their website the max cfm recommended with the Can-100 is 840cfm. They're recommending that the customer use a fan that has a lower cfm than the filter.

Rcb said:

or a speed bully, something to dim the fan speed

Click to expand...

oh yeah, good call. he could definitely use a fan speed controller. the only downside is the annoying hum that they cause.

for good scrubbage your filter should run at half capacity of its max rating....for recirc it can pull 100 %...or so...general rule of thumb

Moz. said:

oh yeah, good call. he could definitely use a fan speed controller. the only downside is the annoying hum that they cause.

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they cause the hum because they are not meant to be used with brushless motors...as they use in most good fans....fact!

So I need to lower the speed of my fan? Cuz like I said the cigg smell was really strong. Idk if lowering the speed is really going to do anything. Does the fan need to be running for a couple days for it to actually get the carbon filter to scrub good?

730dipdip187 said:

So I need to lower the speed of my fan? Cuz like I said the cigg smell was really strong. Idk if lowering the speed is really going to do anything. Does the fan need to be running for a couple days for it to actually get the carbon filter to scrub good?

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The manufacturers say to use a fan with a lower cfm than what the filter is rated for and they also say if you use a fan with a higher cfm then the air will not be scrubbed properly.

You're using a fan with a higher cfm than what the filter is rated for and you're getting smell coming through the exhaust.


Maybe if you try using the filter per the manufacturers recommendations it'll work like it's supposed to?

Moz. said:

The manufacturers say to use a fan with a lower cfm than what the filter is rated for and they also say if you use a fan with a higher cfm then the air will not be scrubbed properly.

You're using a fan with a higher cfm than what the filter is rated for and you're getting smell coming through the exhaust.


Maybe if you try using the filter per the manufacturers recommendations it'll work like it's supposed to?

Click to expand...

I understand that. But it's only a 50 cfm difference. You would think some of that cigg smoke would've been scrubbed. Like I said it smelled like smoke was blown straight in my face. None of it was scrubbed.

Say I get a carbon filter that has 500 Cfm rating with my exhaust fan at a 452. Ur telling me that if I hook it up like that and test it with a ciggarette that I won't smell it? Also keep in mind I tested it out after I hooked everything up and I didn't have the fan running for awhile. Maybe it has to run a Lil longer to actually get it to scrub? Setup is carbon filter-ducting-light hood-ducting to outside of tent-fan-ducting to attic panel. I went inside tent and closed it and my buddy stuck his face in front of ducting hole that goes into attic and I blew smoke in the filter and he smelled it strong

A variac will lower fan speed without hum.

had the same problem with the fans and filters at work and the engineer that came out said "whether the filter has a fan connected to it or not and whether or not the fan is turned on air will still be passing thru it regardless. this can shorten the life of the filters carbon", the carbon may just need replacing not saying it will solve your problem but try getting a new one and trying that and if it dont work then you have a spare

Peace

I also noticed my hood isnt sealed. It has the foam all around it to seal it but I can blow air straight into it. I'm gonna seal that up with some sealant. Then I'm gonna go ahead and buy a mountain air filter and put it where the phresh is. And in gonna get a fan speed controller. Any specific one for the vortex? Hopefully that fixes it. I'm gonna throw the phresh on the other end of my ducting line just for added odor protection. One question I have is It okay to cool my hood and exhaust my air from my tent thru carbon filter on the same ducting line? Somebody on grasscity said I shouldn't and the could be the problem. but I've seen setups like that plenty of times. I didn't really wanna have to buy another fan juss to cool my hood