3 ms·

The cheap activated charcoal filters are bullshit. You can't absorb things without absorbant mass. The black plastic sponge has hardly any mass at all, period.

The cheap activated charcoal filters are bullshit. You can't absorb things without absorbant mass. The black plastic sponge has hardly any mass at all, period. I however do not have a good solution. I've DIY'd my own filter with charcoal pellets, but I've been unable to test it, and I'm somewhat unhappy with the design anyway.

bryceacc 4y ago
correct, i remember discussion a long time ago that people would buy HVAC booster fans that look like inline duct fans and then put a giant bucket of pellets on the top of it to suck through
danShumway 4y ago
Are commercial air purifiers using something better? Part of the reason I'm skeptical of the commercial market is that when I look at the teardowns of these products they're either doing something questionable where they're sacrificing air volume for noise, or they're basically using regular filters of the same or less quality that you can buy from a store. I don't doubt you at all that cheap filters work less well, but at the same time, what are the consumer-grade commercial purifiers that aren't using cheap charcoal filters? I don't think I've ever noticed an in-store purifier that took pellets, but maybe I missed something. Edit: it does make me curious if with a Corsi-Rosenthal box you could hang a non-enclosed/mesh bag/basket of charcoal pellets under the fan inside of the box and if that might produce better results than attaching charcoal filters to the sides. The obvious problem that springs to mind though is that this would make the design a lot more complicated and annoying to build. Might also result in charcoal dust spread around too, which might defeat the purpose of a purifier in the first place.
- flaviut 4y ago
  The only place I've seen carbon pellet filters commercially are in things like marijuana grow tent filters and here: http://www.air-purifier-power.com/sharpwashablecarbonfiltersweetodor103009.html http://www.air-purifier-power.com/sharpwashablecarbonfilters... Unfortunately it seems like the air filtration market as a whole is incredibly prone to snake-oil claims. As far as your idea goes, I'm not sure. And I don't have a great idea of how to test something like this. I've seen bags of activated charcoal marketed as something you can leave around for better air (sounds like bs).

bryceacc 4y ago

correct, i remember discussion a long time ago that people would buy HVAC booster fans that look like inline duct fans and then put a giant bucket of pellets on the top of it to suck through

danShumway 4y ago

Are commercial air purifiers using something better? Part of the reason I'm skeptical of the commercial market is that when I look at the teardowns of these products they're either doing something questionable where they're sacrificing air volume for noise, or they're basically using regular filters of the same or less quality that you can buy from a store. I don't doubt you at all that cheap filters work less well, but at the same time, what are the consumer-grade commercial purifiers that aren't using cheap charcoal filters? I don't think I've ever noticed an in-store purifier that took pellets, but maybe I missed something. Edit: it does make me curious if with a Corsi-Rosenthal box you could hang a non-enclosed/mesh bag/basket of charcoal pellets under the fan inside of the box and if that might produce better results than attaching charcoal filters to the sides. The obvious problem that springs to mind though is that this would make the design a lot more complicated and annoying to build. Might also result in charcoal dust spread around too, which might defeat the purpose of a purifier in the first place.

flaviut 4y ago
The only place I've seen carbon pellet filters commercially are in things like marijuana grow tent filters and here: http://www.air-purifier-power.com/sharpwashablecarbonfiltersweetodor103009.html http://www.air-purifier-power.com/sharpwashablecarbonfilters... Unfortunately it seems like the air filtration market as a whole is incredibly prone to snake-oil claims. As far as your idea goes, I'm not sure. And I don't have a great idea of how to test something like this. I've seen bags of activated charcoal marketed as something you can leave around for better air (sounds like bs).