DIY $10 Easy to make yourself Active Carbon Filter

Alright - I constructed a new bloom cabinet last night and in the process I had to create a carbon filter. Here are the materials your going to need:

A good plan
Box Cutter
Reflective Duct Tape
Wire Caps (You can use electrical tape, but caps are safer)
Scissors
Wire Ties (I use my plant ties, but you can use bread bag ties if needed)
Extra Extension Cord
Electric Tape
4"-12" Inline Exhaust fan (You should already have this, if not, you can get one at lowes for $28 for a 6" or 8" fan)
Activated Carbon Filter for homes (You can find these at any hardware store, or walmart, typically for $10 or less)

Your good plan - Carbon Filters can be made in several difference sizes, keep your cabinet size, and filter placement in mind when your constructing your filter. You can place a filter directly in the wall, or you can hang it up top, set it in the corner, or vent straight out of your grow box into a recycling filter to save grow room - Most of us using cabinets are using them for their discretion, so having the filter outside of the box is kinda moot.

In this case I have a 3'x18"x3' grow space and I'm using a 8" filter and fan, however, I'm pulling my air from a 4" pre-filtered intake coming from another, smaller cabinet (that requires less ventilation/filtering) I also have 6" oscillating fans in both cabinets to help push/pull/cool/structure plants. (Yes, fans play an important roll in bud production) The carbon filter I'm building will be 8" wide, and about 5" deep, double lined - Since the goal of this is both cooling and filtering smell, placement is going to be a little above the 24" mark in my cabinet, which will ensure semi even temps throughout the cab, as always, it will be warmer towards the top - So my intake will be towards the top, pulling the fresh air down towards the plants, and cooler air from the smaller cabinet over the lights (The intake is coming from the bottom chamber of my other cabinet, where temps are a steady 75 degrees before the vent, so an estimated 70 degrees after the vent (no need for adjusting, this bottom chamber is my mother chamber, growth is not as important as sustaining the plant).

Lets get to filter creation:

First, gather your supplies:
Attachment 288048
I got this filter on sale for $7

Next - Prepare your filter cap - This is the plastic cutout from your cabinet (or wood)
Attachment 288049

Next - Trim your plastic mesh to size:
Attachment 288050

Cover your cap in reflective tape:
Attachment 288051

Wrap plastic mesh around cap and attach with twist ties
Attachment 288052

(More in next post)

Next - Attach filter to fan and size with breadties, its okay if it doesn't overlap
Attachment 288053

Next - Secure filter with reflective duct tape and airproof the cap by putting reflective tape around the edge, then sealing with electric tape. This also supplies us with a spot to attach our filter.
Attachment 288054

Next - Trim filter to size, double or triple up as the application calls for, and secure with electric tape or velcro, I prefer the tape because it makes the seal air tight on the edges.
Attachment 288055

You will notice your fan works a bit harder, this is one reason I use a larger fan, a smaller fan working harder makes much more noise than a larger fan, unless of course your spending $90 on your fans, but if your doing that, go ahead and spend $150 on a filter :) It's just not for me.

If you need a guide on how to build a carbon filter for a room, or larger grow area, send me your specifications and I'll create a guide for you. You can also create a combination carbon filter/duct silencer - I can help with these as well. For the ultimate trick, we can build the fan, silencer, and filter for an entire room in less than a 3 foot area - This of course is quite a bit more expensive than $10, but hardly the $800 that a whole room filter will run you, and it'll last just as long!

Remember, active carbon CAN BE WASHED AND REUSED which is one good reason to use velcro on your filters instead of tape. However, at less than $10 per filter, who really cares?

If you have created this filter, and your still having odor issues, simply add more carbon filter to your filter by cutting more and wrapping it around the current filter. The filter we created here should be good for up to a 4x8x8 growspace with proper air intakes.

Oh, here are the additional shots of wiring, and then the final product:

[ATTACH=CON
FIG]288056[/ATTACH]

Final Product:
Attachment 288057

This is before I put the fan in and exaust in

Lets try to make this a Sticky + Rep and + Like if you think this should be up top. If it makes it, I'll post my custom $90 cabinet that will flower 4 plants to about 3oz each :D