Grow Room Pushing air into filter

[St. Tom]

in my smaller tent the 76x76x180 i have my extraction fan on the roof and my filter and ducting hung like yours so sucking stale air through the filter and ducting it out the room from on top of my tent and using the tent 3x mesh things to suck fresh air in and it works fine ..so like this only my fan is on the roof

 

[Cannaficionado]

Lots of people run the filter outside the tent. Shouldnt cause any problems.

 

[Olderfart]

Lots of people run the filter outside the tent. Shouldnt cause any problems.

One minor issue is that pushing air through the filter prevents the cloth prefilter from taking coarser dust out of the air before it goes through the carbon. The lack of pre-filtration might result in the filter not lasting quite as long, but I have no good information other than thinking about it. If the prefilter did not help, one wonders why they are provided? If the state of mine after a grow is any indication, they certainly intercept a significant amount of crud.

OTOH,I never underestimate the role of simple marketing strategy - as soon as one seller adds a trivial thing claimed to be better, competitors may find themselves obliged to do the same even though they know the addition is bs. What's a stoner to do eh?

 

[Cannaficionado]

One minor issue is that pushing air through the filter prevents the cloth prefilter from taking coarser dust out of the air before it goes through the carbon. The lack of pre-filtration might result in the filter not lasting quite as long, but I have no good information other than thinking about it. If the prefilter did not help, one wonders why they are provided? If the state of mine after a grow is any indication, they certainly intercept a significant amount of crud.

OTOH,I never underestimate the role of simple marketing strategy - as soon as one seller adds a trivial thing claimed to be better, competitors may find themselves obliged to do the same even though they know the addition is bs. What's a stoner to do eh?

I suppose thats true. I should probably start using mine again lmao.

 

[Olderfart]

I suppose thats true. I should probably start using mine again lmao.

It may be some consolation that I forgot to put mine back on. Now I will have to do it when I re-organize the girls now that they are getting bigger. I fear dropping the filter while trying to install it...

I actually tried "re-charging" the carbon by removing it and giving it a high temperature cook in the oven, then replacing it in the filter can. The jury is out until the girls get stinky later.

 

[Corum59]

It may be some consolation that I forgot to put mine back on. Now I will have to do it when I re-organize the girls now that they are getting bigger. I fear dropping the filter while trying to install it...

I actually tried "re-charging" the carbon by removing it and giving it a high temperature cook in the oven, then replacing it in the filter can. The jury is out until the girls get stinky later.

I thought of doing the same, but you need to be up in the 800C range for the cooking to be effective,

I found it easier to replace the activated carbon, (If thats whats in your filter) smaller grains are best I believe =/- 3mm, I used 4mm from pond supplies, it works but doesnt seem quite as good, (could be my imagination) the old filter smelled like baked biscuits the new carbon smells faintly of growing weed, but very different from the inside the tent., So just to be sure (as its christmas and all the neighbours are likely to home for the next week) I added my small filter to the mix so now have a small pull through filter inside the tent and longer push through filter outside. You know, cos you have to think of the neighbours at Christmas.

 

[Olderfart]

I thought of doing the same, but you need to be up in the 800C range for the cooking to be effective,

I found it easier to replace the activated carbon, (If thats whats in your filter) smaller grains are best I believe =/- 3mm, I used 4mm from pond supplies, it works but doesnt seem quite as good, (could be my imagination) the old filter smelled like baked biscuits the new carbon smells faintly of growing weed, but very different from the inside the tent., So just to be sure (as its christmas and all the neighbours are likely to home for the next week) I added my small filter to the mix so now have a small pull through filter inside the tent and longer push through filter outside. You know, cos you have to think of the neighbours at Christmas.

So far, no issue for neighbours, or even inside the house. The inline fan is not even turned on yet. Soon though, the girls will start to stink...

As to the 800C temperature, I figure all the terps that we are catching should vaporize before that, so we shall see. After all, my Vape does the job at a fraction of that. If it does not work, it will be back to the drawing board. I checked the availability of replacement carbon, and what I could get was expensive and there was no way of knowing if it would work for air filter purposes. So, I tried the removal and cook instead. Nothing much lost if it does not work. Once the girls get stinky, I can exhaust outdoors if the filter is weak. Our neighbours are far enough away that they will not be bothered.

 

[Corum59]

So far, no issue for neighbours, or even inside the house. The inline fan is not even turned on yet. Soon though, the girls will start to stink...

As to the 800C temperature, I figure all the terps that we are catching should vaporize before that, so we shall see. After all, my Vape does the job at a fraction of that. If it does not work, it will be back to the drawing board. I checked the availability of replacement carbon, and what I could get was expensive and there was no way of knowing if it would work for air filter purposes. So, I tried the removal and cook instead. Nothing much lost if it does not work. Once the girls get stinky, I can exhaust outdoors if the filter is weak. Our neighbours are far enough away that they will not be bothered.

sounds like you have everything covered, the vape burn does actually sound right... the 800C is industrial re-activation, sounds like you are on a winner.

my neighbours are all "right there" and a number of them have built "penthouses" on the roof over the last 2years, which is exactly where the ventilation system exhausts for me...

My next line of defence will be grabbing a couple of activated carbon sheets,
maybe big enough to surround the outside of the filter (for pull through) or small enough to fit the inside tube for push through ( I think this is the most efficient) , maybe even both, depending how much they change the exhaust pressure and air movement in the tent, how efficient and cost effective they will be.

I kinda think they will adsorb most of the aroma particles as they use very small high surface area grains and are quite compact compared to 3-4mm diameter grains usually used in tent filters, possibly helping the actual filter carbon grains last much longer before change or oven treatment, but that's for the next grow... or the one after

 

[Olderfart]

sounds like you have everything covered, the vape burn does actually sound right... the 800C is industrial re-activation, sounds like you are on a winner.

my neighbours are all "right there" and a number of them have built "penthouses" on the roof over the last 2years, which is exactly where the ventilation system exhausts for me...

My next line of defence will be grabbing a couple of activated carbon sheets,
maybe big enough to surround the outside of the filter (for pull through) or small enough to fit the inside tube for push through ( I think this is the most efficient) , maybe even both, depending how much they change the exhaust pressure and air movement in the tent, how efficient and cost effective they will be.

I kinda think they will adsorb most of the aroma particles as they use very small high surface area grains and are quite compact compared to 3-4mm diameter grains usually used in tent filters, possibly helping the actual filter carbon grains last much longer before change or oven treatment, but that's for the next grow... or the one after

I have seen one reference that carbon auto-ignites at ~700C, so the industrial re-activation you refer to likely includes an atmosphere of zero oxygen. I suspect that if we tried to cook our carbon at 800C, it would ignite, perhaps impressively.

I will report back about my re-activation attempt.

 

[Corum59]

I have seen one reference that carbon auto-ignites at ~700C, so the industrial re-activation you refer to likely includes an atmosphere of zero oxygen. I suspect that if we tried to cook our carbon at 800C, it would ignite, perhaps impressively.

I will report back about my re-activation attempt.

yes indeed....