Yet... Another Carbon Scrubber Design

Well, figured I'd share my experience with building a Carbon Scrubber. I'd love to post pics, but I think that anyone who takes a break from smoking for an hour can figure out from the descriptions... then again why take a break, may help concentrate on what I'm trying to describe...

First you will need:
-(1) 5 Gal bucket (Home depot sells the orange ones that are OK)
-Something to make a top out of or a top for it. (used some spare particle board)
-A hole saw with about 1 1/2" to 2" hole.
-Metal grating that will be used to hold the filter elements cut to size
-A jig saw for cutting metal grating and for larger hole in top of bucket or something similar.
-Carbon Filter Elements Custom Sizable (Home Despot sells this for about 3 bucks - each makes 3 filters)
- (4) computer fans (3-4" Openings)
- Couple pounds of activated pellet carbon (use pellet not crushed, pellet works much better)
- 12 v DC power supply (wall wart style) about 400 mwH output at the least to handle 4 fans.
- Glue
- Wiring experience!

Now for the building of it.
1. About 1/2 way down (a bit more) the bucket drill holes (using the 1-1/2 to 2" hole saw) all the way around, then again below those, then again, and again, and holes in the bottom, these will be the exit holes for the scrubber... the more holes the better without cutting into any other holes. Bottom of bucket should look like swiss chese.
2. you will now need to take the metal grating, and make a round shaped disk. You can also just take cardboard (cut into a round shape fit it down to where your holes begin will need 2 of these to sandwich the screen between and use some glue to hold the screen between the cardboard), and use screen to make sure it will support the filter material and the 2 lbs of carbon. I used a 1"square grate material, and just cut it with metal shears, bent the ends and pushed it down to where the exit holes begin.
3. The Carbon Filter that Home Despot sells works great, first it is already carbon impregnated, and second it's cheap, and 3rd, you can cut 3 circles out of 1 $3.00 package. You will need to use 2 packages and cut 6 circles, save the extra left over stuff... it's not garbage use it to go around the edges to hold the carbon in.
4.put down 1 circular layer of filter material, and use some of the extra around the edge. Pour in about 1/3 lbs of Activated carbon, layer another circular filter on top and repeat, until you've created a 5 layer sandwich of carbon and filter material.
5 You now need to make another grating to hold down the filter. You can substitute any kind of metal rod such as coat hangers, welding rods, etc.. and drill small holes in the bucket to pass them through... or just cut a round metal grate. In either case, press down slightly on the filter sandwich, not too much but enough to compress it about an inch or slightly more.
6. Make sure the filter elements stay this way with what ever you used.
7. cut a hole in the top (in my case I just used particle board taped down with duct tape) in 2 places for the computer fans. Measure the fan size and cut appropriate holes. (you will be stacking 2 fans on top another over each hole to keep static pressure in the upper chamber high)
8. Glue 2 fans front to back, repeat for the other 2, sit let dry overnight. Glue sticks works fine, glue-all, gorilla glue, or anythink other than wood glue.
9. Wire up the fans so that they are neg-neg-neg and pos-pos-pos on the power supply. Repeat for the other fans to the power supply. The reason to stack the fans is to get about 200 CFM of airflow through the filter to get it to work effectively... You won't get the 200 CFM but it will be between 150-160 through the filter.
10. Affix the fans to the holes cut out for them in the cover... screws, duct tape works, glue works, but real men use duct tape :)
11. put the cover in place.
12. plug in the wall wart, and test... and relax.

Just a side note... I use the Carbon Scrubber I built outside the grow room with 4" ducts going to each fan stack from my internal fans in the room. The fans in the filter help in keeping the back pressure down, as well as aid in airflow. I used to use ONA, but that didn't quite cut the odor down, walking near the exhaust still hinted of the reek. This filter works great, and has lasted a month so far without any issues. When it comes time to refill the unit, cover comes off, $6.00 bucks at HD for Carbon Filters. and 2 lbs of pellets ($10 bucks) activated carbon (cheaper in a good pet shop, not petco or any of the commercial ones). Since I used all crap from around the house, my total cost was about $20.00 including the 12V wall wart that came from an old cordless phone. and some crap computers from friends homes that were going to get chucked.

It the Idea peaks your interest give it a shot. There are alot of others out there with designs, but I added the small fans to allow for 2 4" intakes into the scrubber. Mainly to handle the 2 ducts coming from my grow room without adding any back pressure slowing air exchange and increasing temps in the room. But it can also be used that way without putting the ducts to the fans. I'm sitting at about 82 in the room as it is and don't want to go up any at all. Best of all the design works, it's cheap, it's a bit more complex than others, but money is saved here and there... and gave me something to do other than get boned and toss one off for the evening!!!

Beginers.... sooner or later you will need to do something with the reek... start thinking about how your going to handle it if it's not getting vented outside for the FLIR guys above to see. :thumbsup:

:dance: