Carbon filter need help asap

Why Doe

Why Doe

New Member
I have this combo and it was working great for a couple weeks. Now it's not sucking like it used to, the problem I'm 99% sure lies with the carbon filter. Do you have to clean these things? How easy are they to get clogged? Seems to be a lot of black particles inside.

VIVOSUN 203 CFM 4" Inline Duct Fan with 4" Carbon Filter Odor Control with Australia Virgin Charcoal
71nEDEyMHwL_SL1100_.jpg
 
Says you can change the ends round bit like a rhino hobby filter try that first if not get a new filter
It's normal for a bit of black inside but not loads as it gets blown out by the fan sucking only thing you can clean is the outer filter sleeve
 
The sleeve\pre-filter (material that slips over filter itself) does need to be cleaned and dried and put back on every so often, I think 'how often' will depend on your environmental factors however generally you shouldn't have to do it during a grow (every 6mo is usually recommended), that said the more it's actually capturing the more often should be cleaned. I might do a quick test - remove the prefilter for a few minutes and see if you have added flow, you'll have a little more regardless because it's not covered now, but if it's significant clean the filter.

Another thing would be if you changed anything in the setup in last weeks that say maybe created significantly more negative pressure in your setup such that the fan can't actually suck out ( or push out if that is your case) the same amount of air it could originally at the same speed\wattage setting, like say you closed one of say two large passive intake vents. Just something to consider if cleaning the pre-filter doesn't help and you otherwise feel the fan is working good - only mention it cause I ran into this.

Another might be to adjust the filter position itself if it was in such a place were say only a small part of it was actually exposed to sucking in air - as that can cause unequal use of the carbon in the filter... or so I read.
 
Why Doe said:
The pre filter did nothing to help the airflow. The company said they recommend the humidity be below 40% idk how that's possible when I clearly need it to be higher during veg
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Iv removed my carbon filter until i start flower cycle! Have u tried without the filter at all? Might be the fan itself?
 
turn off fan, take filter down. Wash cover. Airdry. take an air compressor to the filter from the inside out. if it does not work then, buy a new filter (you should have a spare onhand)
 
Carbon filter need help asap.

1) Vivosun is cheap shit. Therefore, their carbon is shit. Ergo, you get what you pay for.

2) If you run a scrubber above 75% RH, you'll effectively ruin the carbon. That the company says "run below 40%" is another indicator of statement #1, above. I'm surprised they didn't answer you in Mandarin, as they just buy generic Chinese "growing equipment" & sell it on Amazon. Avoid them, imo.

The only way to "clean" a carbon cartridge is by resettling the carbon. (You can rinse the pre-filter, obviously.) The "cleaning" (resettling) can be accomplished by shaking it HARD (think: paint shaking machine) or by banging it in the floor multiple times. The best carbon scrubbers are effective for about 6 months, then they drop off slowly, to completely useless.
Scrubbers are a running cost, plan on buying roughly two a year.

"Refilling" scrubber bodies is mostly a waste of effort unless you can settle the carbon mechanically. (See above comments.)
 
Skunkworkz said:
The only way to "clean" a carbon cartridge is by resettling the carbon. (You can rinse the pre-filter, obviously.) The "cleaning" (resettling) can be accomplished by shaking it HARD (think: paint shaking machine) or by banging it in the floor multiple times.
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+1 for this, I'd say give smacking it on the ground a few times a try, just make sure you don't break it open. And prepare for a bunch of graphite dust to fall out and get everywhere, so don't do it on your kitchen counter or wear white / good pants / shoes when you do it.
 
Why Doe said:
Oh wow I did not know that I thought they made decent stuff. Can I keep the fan and get a new filter? Which one do you recommend?
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CAN makes good filters. Not cheap, but good. Their fans are well made, but overpriced. Anything branded by Hydrofarm is usually well made & of decent value. As to keeping your fan, sure. Run it until the bearings start to whine or scrape, then trash it. I've got Hydrofarm-distributed centrifugal fans that are 10 years old that still work great.
Buying cheap equipment always hurts less initially, (If a cheap shit fan craps out & you lose a run due to excess heat, you saved nothing & lost everything, right?) but costs more in the long run, I promise.

Ok, ☕️
 
Why Doe said:
I let the filter sit in my hot ass car all day then beat the shit out of it and sprayed canned air through it. It's sucking again. Lol. I however don't want to have to do this every 2 weeks. If it can't handle moisture I'm gonna have to think of a new way to keep the heat down.
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I use 6" red scorpion its oversized for my grow but never had a problem! When u buy a new filter just make sure its the same size as your fan or you will end up having to buy reducers and stuff!
 
Skunkworkz said:
1) Vivosun is cheap shit.
Click to expand...

Lol. I cannot disagree with that statement.

Skunkworkz said:
Therefore, their carbon is shit.
Click to expand...

Could be. I was suspecting the fan. Cheap crappy plastic Chinese fans might be fine at moving air in a "wide-open" environment, but they tend to really suck trying to do so under load. Especially low-wattage ones. And the fact that the advertisement only listed the electrical consumption and RPM, and NOT its rated CFM would have caused me to think twice about clicking on the Buy button.

I miss my old Dayton blower. I got it used for next to nothing because it was from an old furnace that was installed in 1971 (IIRC). Used it for years and it never gave me any trouble. Such a fan was designed to work semi-constantly for many years, and did not underperform under load.

Skunkworkz said:
you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...

...if you're lucky.

As mentioned, carbon filters do not perform well in a high-humidity environment. And if the air being moved through them is hot, this does not help, either. A setup where the grower is ventilating his/her lights separately from the general grow room air, this will help extend the lifetime of the carbon filter and maximize its performance. The hot air from the lights would not carry the odor of cannabis if the lights have been ventilated separately, so it can be treated like any other source of hot air in your home. The air from the rest of the space, while containing odor, is then significantly cooler, which generally means that the grower can turn down the fan speed, moving less air through the filter (or even set it up to run sporadically instead of constantly).
 
Exactly. The initial expense is higher, but it's more than worth it. Plus, the fan for the grow room can be a cheaper (but try for some quality, nonetheless) unit, because it will not have to work against the load of the carbon filter. It's kind of a win/win situation - and why open (not in a sealed reflector) lights can be a PitA.
 

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