Has anyone truly cleaned their old carbon filter and it works?

So I have an older phresh Carbon filter and some people gave me suggestions on how to clean it so I don’t have to buy a new one. Like take the rivets out and replace the carbon or even clean the carbon (few different ways suggested.)

Has anyone actually done this and it works? Smell is an issue and I needto take it seriously but I really don’t want to buy a new phresh filter. It worked very well.

I don't think you can clean the carbon, just replace the carbon and put it back together.

halfbreed421 said:

I don't think you can clean the carbon, just replace the carbon and put it back together.

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That’s what I was going to do. I was also told their is better quality carbon but I forgot what the quality carbon was. Any suggestions on brand?

You can diy replacing the carbon, as mentioned above, but you have to factor in time and hassle. If you have the time, then yeah, go for it. I don't have that kind of time, so I just replace them every two years.

I took apart a pretty big filter rinsed the charcoal and put it in the oven as per google to "re-activate it". Didnt really work, made a huge mess, and stained my good strainer lol. Also it stinks and is very dusty. Mind you, it was a really old and sat in a dirty basement most of its life..

I think the one most filters use is the RC48 carbon idk what brand

I use pantyhouse as a pre filter. Catches dust and particles to keep the charcoal from getting clogged. Swap it out after each grow. Cheap and effective.

More mess than its worth. They also have machines that pack the carbon real tight so you don't have any air gaps, I'm not sure that would be possible at home.

Johnny Lawrence said:

You can diy replacing the carbon, as mentioned above, but you have to factor in time and hassle. If you have the time, then yeah, go for it. I don't have that kind of time, so I just replace them every two years.

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Mine was only used for like 3 harvests, but it sat unused for like 2 years after that. I could just try it so if it would work.

I turn my old filters into baitfish traps. Take the ends off and the carbon out and make a couple funnels out of 1/4 in hardware mesh and place them inverted into each end of the filter.

Would exposing the carbon to a lengthy dose of ozone gas from a small ozone generator be enough to remove the old stink and sort of reactivate the filter?

Just Be said:

Would exposing the carbon to a lengthy dose of ozone gas from a small ozone generator be enough to remove the old stink and sort of reactivate the filter?

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No, after doing some googling it seems they try to rinse it off a bit and then they heat it above 1200 degrees and its still not as good as virgin charcoal

Johnny Lawrence said:

You can diy replacing the carbon, as mentioned above, but you have to factor in time and hassle. If you have the time, then yeah, go for it. I don't have that kind of time, so I just replace them every two years.

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Let’s say I’d rather use the time than money. Any suggestions for what carbon to buy?

This is what I used. Seems to work fine in my filter. Haven't used any other brands so I can't comments if its any better or worse. Activated Carbon $30 for 10 lbs, was just enough to do a 6" od round filter with about 1.5" thick area to fill.

I have heard of people trying and ending up with a huge mess. Just buy a new one. You should only need a new carbon filter once a year at most and they're only a couple hundred dollars.