NEW Light Weight Carbon Filters

[Luke Skywalker]

Depends on if you have 1 plant in a cupboard or 10 big ones in a though doesn't it?

 

Ever tried mounting and hanging a large carbon filter pipeman? A 350x1200 filter, (the largest phat filter AFAIK) weighs a shitload, and even the smaller sized 1000mm units in 250 and 300mm are quite weighty. They certainly doesn't make life easy. I think it's more a convenience and practicality thing.

 

No light weighs as much as a large filter. The ballast, certainly, but you don't always hang that, usually much more practical to have it set up on a shelf or something else that's high up like a cupboard. Perhaps the larger steel shades like 4ft parabolics might be heavy, not as heavy as a metre long filter though. The small filters, yeah, they're light as. But once you need something to filter more than a couple of thousand watts of lighting, it becomes a real bastard to lift, fix, and remove a filter for servicing. Getting them in and out of attics isn't fun either.

 

So yeah, I think it's biggest benefit is weight, not to mention the cost to freight them. That's where a substantial part of cost exists, particularly for those of us on the west coast of oz. Who knows, perhaps that will offset the extra expense eventually. There is a scale of production issue too.... They'll be more expensive now as there won't be as many being made, but if the volume of units produced goes up, costs and usually end user prices come down.

 

I doubt you could wash em, activated carbon doesn't take nicely to that. Well, not if you plan to use em for smell removal.

 

Hey taipan, keep us updated eh? You know anyone who's used one yet?

[pipeman]

what the hell are you talking about luke we're talking about 2 pieces of chain, possibly a bit of wood as well.

 

and FYI you can wash and reuse carbon for air filters. but its so cheap usually not worth the effort.

[mull]

Good lookin out Taipan, cheers mate

[Taipan]

Hey taipan, keep us updated eh? You know anyone who's used one yet?

No, but I'll post some info when I hear anything.

 

I am guessing these carbon filters have a few benefits. Benefits for both the shops and the grower.

 

Traditional carbon filters are easily damaged if handled badly. I had many of them delivered to my shop damaged due to rough handling. These come packed in a flat pack and ship really easily.

 

Shipping costs, not everyone is near a shop and if you have to pay shipping on a large and heavy carbon filter it can be quite expensive.

 

Ease of installation. Hanging big heavy carbon filters can be a total pain, these are so lightweight you just need a couple of light weight hooks.

 

Traditional carbon filters do not work well when the pellets absorb a lot of moisture so they don't like humidity very well and drying them out is not easy. These can be dried in a dryer.

 

The down side is that they obviously aren't packed full of pellets that can be replaced or reactivated. But replacing pellets is extremely messy, and reactivating pellets is not as simple as washing them, you have to bake them. Not sure on what temp and for how long but it isn't something the average person can do at home.

 

I suppose whether the benefits outweigh the fact they don't last as long is up to the grower and their budget.

[pipeman]

so before everyone rushes out and buys these things, just realise that they are not a long term investment like a fan or light kit, they are something that will need to be repurchased probably every year or so

[pipeman]

and reactivating pellets is not as simple as washing them, you have to bake them. Not sure on what temp and for how long but it isn't something the average person can do at home.

 

if ya not sure what the process is, how can you be sure its something the average person can't do at home?

 

you don't have to bake them, just leave them out in full sun for a day. but like I said, the mess and trouble is not worth the effort for most people, just buy a couple new bags of pellets from the fish shop, which is all the average carbon filter neeeds.

[Indycar]

True, there appears to be a saving to be had in the short term. But if it's a long term project, there doesn't appear to be any savings to be had. Pretty well works out to be the same or thereabouts.

 

[Stoney]

nice looking product good for a first time buyer but if ya lookin at growing for more than a year or so then just bite the bullet and get a decent carbon scrubber

 

cheerz :Dj:

[Taipan]

if ya not sure what the process is, how can you be sure its something the average person can't do at home?

 

you don't have to bake them, just leave them out in full sun for a day.

because this is how you reactivate carbon:

"Reactivating carbon is a simple process where the spent carbon is thermally reactivated . Reactivation occurs a temperatures between 1400-1700°F"

Edited February 6, 2007 by Taipan

[Luke Skywalker]

Indeed, something you don't need to know exactly how to do to know you can't do it....

 

Baking carbon in the sun helps a bit, but it's not going to reactivate your carbon to any significant level. Really it's just removing the moisture which has taken up some of the pore space in the carbon, so you're getting more absorbtion from space which was previously filled.