Question on pushing air through carbon filter outside of tent

redi jedi said:

Really?...they mine trees in Australia?
In Canada we burn wood to make charcoal then pulverize it and wash it in acid to activate it...but hey us canuckle heads got our own way of doing things.

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It’s mined. It’s not from trees. It is far more effective than other carbon. That’s why can filter uses it for their light line.

I tried to lighten things up with you but I guess you will stick to this style of conversation. Oh well. I like to learn stuff if possible. I shared what I learned and experienced is all.

Rakin said:

I get not taking it outside but the manufacturers arnt usually going to tell you what you can do to get more life out of a disposable product as that would cut into revenue. I would replace one before end of life with new then clean dry and bag it for future use or donate to someone that needed it and still get plenty of service out of it.

I just don’t like chucking things that still have use

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I get that. But the instructions are to increase the life of the filter. And it works.

If you need just bags of activated carbon it’s pretty cheap. And super messy and bad to breath.

Sometimes convenience is worth the price. To me anyway. I have to stay consistent. I don’t want to worry about gear.

MichiganMedGrower said:

It’s mined. It’s not from trees. It is far more effective than other carbon. That’s why can filter uses it for their light line.

I tried to lighten things up with you but I guess you will stick to this style of conversation. Oh well. I like to learn stuff if possible. I shared what I learned and experienced is all.

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Lol...chillax man. Just a little sarcasm. But last time I looked at a periodic table there is only one type of carbon. Maybe lots of different sources, but carbon is carbon.

MichiganMedGrower said:

I get that. But the instructions are to increase the life of the filter. And it works.

If you need just bags of activated carbon it’s pretty cheap. And super messy and bad to breath.

Sometimes convenience is worth the price. To me anyway. I have to stay consistent. I don’t want to worry about gear.

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Oh I’ve tried the whole buying bulk carbon and using it. It’s hit and miss with bulk carbon. Most don’t last long enough to justify the savings and will leave you smelling at the worst possible time.

redi jedi said:

Lol...chillax man. Just a little sarcasm. But last time I looked at a periodic table there is only one type of carbon. Maybe lots of different sources, but carbon is carbon.

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Isn’t almost everything made from carbon? Idk it’s been a while since school. Pretty sure everything that is living or lived once has carbon

redi jedi said:

Lol...chillax man. Just a little sarcasm. But last time I looked at a periodic table there is only one type of carbon. Maybe lots of different sources, but carbon is carbon.

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i think the source determines the effectiveness or composition. But I am not that educated in carbon. I just buy a new filter when there is a chance of smelling my grow outside my house. Or inside really.

And cool. I took your comment maybe different then intended.

Rakin said:

Oh I’ve tried the whole buying bulk carbon and using it. It’s hit and miss with bulk carbon. Most don’t last long enough to justify the savings and will leave you smelling at the worst possible time.

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That just confirms my decision about it. Too much risk to pinch pennies or take random advice in my opinion.

MichiganMedGrower said:

That just confirms my decision about it. Too much risk to pinch pennies or take random advice in my opinion.

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Well next time you replace a filter try washing the old one out and let it dry and store it for an emergency. You know one of those times that a filter fails or just ain’t cutting it and you could benefit from another one at the moment. Nothing to lose or risk there and could possibly get you out of a bind. That’s what I’m getting at.

Rakin said:

Isn’t almost everything made from carbon? Idk it’s been a while since school. Pretty sure everything that is living or lived once has carbon

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ya pretty much. Carbon has two pure forms...diamonds and graphite. So I guess the mined carbon is graphite.

MichiganMedGrower said:

It is important to always use a prefilter. I have no experience with Vivosun. So I can’t really comment further.

High humidity is their enemy though. That could clog them up.

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What is considered high rh? I'm currently running 65% give or take for my young seedlings

Rakin said:

Well next time you replace a filter try washing the old one out and let it dry and store it for an emergency. You know one of those times that a filter fails or just ain’t cutting it and you could benefit from another one at the moment. Nothing to lose or risk there and could possibly get you out of a bind. That’s what I’m getting at.

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I replace them while I know they still work and keep the used ones as backup.

I have regular and inline filters and backups.

And bulk prefilter to change often cheap. It’s just polyester batting from the fabric store.

NugHeuser said:

What is considered high rh? I'm currently running 65% give or take for my young seedlings

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That is the warning level from phresh.

MichiganMedGrower said:

That is the warning level from phresh.

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And rh rises above that when lights are off, I just haven't worried since they are seedlings, that could be part of the prob.

the problem is lack of negative pressure right? You have a restriction somewhere. Could be the filter could be the prefilter arrangement, could be the ducting or it could be your fan doesn’t have enough static pressure. May be that fan would rather suck then blow. A lot of these fans work better sucking then blowing. Your problem could be a combination of things.

I would try to eliminate some things. One I would take that fan and make sure it performs well by itself. Then put your hand over the inlet and feel if it maintains suction. Then over the outlet to see if it maintains pressure.

If that all checks out assemble directly to filter pulling thru filter and see if it feels right. Then reverse it to blow hey filter and see if it is close to same. Use your ears during all these steps. If all still checks out start assembling the entire run to see where your big from is. Keep in mind everything the air flows thru is a restriction and will add up.

I think you can figure it out if you do some simple trouble shooting. Try to keep the air flow as simple and straight and as short as possible. May need straight wall duct. May need to get rid of a 90 and replace with a larger double 45. May need bigger duct if you must have it with reducers. I work with air pressure and air flow at work and a lot of little things can be 1 big issue

Also I don’t remember how you said it was set up but I think you said you had it outside the tent. So if that’s the case I would have it filter fan duct to tent. Not sure if that’s how you have it but if you are blowing thru the duct into the filter I think that could be a big part of your problem.

Well a light was left on downstairs so just went down to shut it off and smacked the filter around pretty good, dust exploded everywhere, a ton, by the time I stood back up and caught my breath the tent was sucked in like an old persons mouth if nothing else the air flow is most definitely back

Some times you just got to slap shit around

NugHeuser said:

I'm kind of strapped on room inside the 8x4 tent plus I lost the bracket to hang the fan and don't trust the the hanging carbon filter to support the fan as they're already a fairly loose fit. I don't want it on the floor of the tent because that's taking up area where plants could be, plus one of my cob lights would be in the way, so that's not an option.
That leaves me with keeping it outside of the tent and pushing air through the carbon filter outside of the tent. I've heard this hurts on the efficiency of air flow, I'm hoping someone can fill me in on if that would be the case. It is an 8" fan and filter, will that still be sufficient enough for a scrog 8x4? Or do I need to go up to 10"?
It would really be nice if I didn't have to go up to 10 inch.
Appreciate any feedback.

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you could always build a box for the fan/filter to be inside. then you can cut duct holes in the box, run the filter the way it was intended, and locate it anywhere you want. it also has the added bonus of quieting the fan down.just run a duct from your tent to the box.