Need help with carbon filter CFM PLEASE!

Gumchi

Member
I have a 440CFM 6 in inline fan connected to an adapter to make it 4in through the reflector to another adapter to make it 6in into the carbon filter that came with the fan.

My problem is that I dont think my carbon filter has enough air flow pulling through it. when i light incense in the tent, i can smell it completely in the room. Even when I wait 10-15 min, I can still smell it.

So my question is what should I do?
Should I have a booster fan connected somewhere in the ducting? If so NOISE is a HUGE concern, so i would rather not bring in more fans unless I HAVE to.

OR should I have the fan connected to just the carbon filter. My question with this is will that airflow be enough to cool off the tent? even though i wont have anything pulling air out of the reflector?

OR is my incense test not a good test to run to see if it works? PLEASE HELP I need to start my babies soon and I need this to work before I do.BABIES.jpg
 

Garm

Active Member
Is the filter inside your grow area? That's where it needs to be. Pic is too small to tell.
 

jimmy1life

Well-Known Member
Yea you might need a new filter ive replaced mine twice so im on my 3rd carbon filter in about a year. All the plants in a tent is alot humidity espeacialy if you water every day like i do. Then i have negitive air pressure so all does travel through filter. It took the skunk out here lol. Ive looked into the dampness bucket of crap, I kno a dehumidifer would be the best.
I got the wife garage sale'n for one.
 

+ WitchDoctor +

Well-Known Member
The fan should be connected to the filter exhausting out of the tent. < fan< filter< duct< reflector< duct

Keep in mind that having it set up this way is only filtering the smell of the air traveling through the reflector, so the odor inside the tent will be strong. If you want to eliminate the odor you should have another 4" fan in the 200cfm range and another carbon filter exhausting the air from in the tent and you'll need another opening for air to flow back in from outside the tent. This will also bring fresh air to your plants.
 

Gumchi

Member
Zoltan- How would I check to see if the ducting is leaking? and that fan looks cool, something to look into for the future...

Jimmy- Im pretty sure the filter isnt bad because I just got it 2 weeks ago and have never really used it before. Unless they shipped me a bad filter =/

WitchDcotor- That setup does seem it like it would but BUT on my filter it only has one side to connect to ducting. So im not sure how I would have fan<filter<duct the filter would have to be on the end.


Do you guys think I should just buy another fan to just take care of the reflector? and have the 6" fan go directly to the filter to optimize the smell control?
Or is there some problem with how I set up the ducting? Because it is a 440CFM fan I dont know how it could loose so much airflow =/
y
Thanks alot you guys for responding
 

+ WitchDoctor +

Well-Known Member
I apologize, the pic is really small, I thought it looked like you had a filter that was open on both ends.

Can you post a bigger pic?

From what I can see in the pic, here's the advice I'm going to give you. First off, you want your ducting to take as few turns and you want to use the least amount of ducting possible. Every time your ducting turns 90 degrees you lose 1-3% airflow. So instead of having your tent set up so that the light continually raises up, I would set it up so that you can raise the buckets up towards the light instead. That way the light can be almost level with where you are exhausting the ducting. It will make everything easier for you too.

Then you should get a 4" fan around 200cfm to exhaust the reflector. All you really need is about 125cfm anyways, so this will be more than enough. That way you can get rid of your 6 to 4 reducer adapters. Those also restrict air flow so no point in using them if you don't have to. This fan should be exhausting out of the tent with duct going from the fan to the reflector, and then duct going from the other end of the reflector to the other opening in the tent to bring airflow in from outside and through the reflector. Ouside<Fan<Duct<Reflector<Duct<Outside.

Then use the 6" fan you already have and use that with the filter attached to it to exhaust the actual room. You'll need another opening for air to return back into the tent. Outside<Fan<Filter.
 

Gumchi

Member
Wow thanks that post really helped alot. I never thought of having to lower my plants from the light instead of raising the light. Ill be sure to do that asap.
I dont really have alot of money, so before I buy the 200cfm 4" fan do you recommend using any other type of source to cool the reflector? Just temporary of course.
Thanks again. rep +
 

+ WitchDoctor +

Well-Known Member
Wow thanks that post really helped alot. I never thought of having to lower my plants from the light instead of raising the light. Ill be sure to do that asap.
I dont really have alot of money, so before I buy the 200cfm 4" fan do you recommend using any other type of source to cool the reflector? Just temporary of course.
Thanks again. rep +

No problem man, and thanks for the rep.

Can you afford one of these? http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-INCH-INLINE-FAN-EXHAUST-COOLING-VENT-DUCT-BLOWER-190-duct-fan-/230784351456?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35bbd1bce0#ht_2130wt_1037

You can get a 6" inline duct booster for about 30 bucks at home depot that would probably be enough to cool that reflector, but it will get a little hotter in the tent. So if you can spend $70 and get the 4" fan you'll be better off. Good luck, lemme know how it goes. :blsmoke:
 

Flylo247

Active Member
So what happened with your insense. I wanna know cus i'm testing a filter. The smell is there but it's jot too bad. Is insense a food test compared to a bit of bud growing?
 

Scotty Pot Seed

Active Member
Dust getting into the carbon filter will make it stop working. The carbon is porous and it loses it's functionality when it gets dirty. If it has a white prefilter, replace it often. You can make them easy and it is a LOT cheaper than buying a new one. Craft stores have a material used for the inside of quilts that is basically the same thing. You can get a roll of it and depending on your filter size you can make a few sleeves out of it for half the price of one premade. Just take your old filter off, cut the seams. Lay it out and cut another. Wrap it around the filter and either use big rubber bands or zip ties to secure it. I've heard of one filter lasting over 3 years by changing the prefilter every few weeks.

Or, you can buy a bag of carbon and change out the old stuff. If you have means of opening the filter without destroying it. Mine just has 3 screws.
 
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