Carbon Filter not working well?

[Daemon]

Hey all,
I've got the small HTG tent with an elf carbon filter and growbrite 4" fan(cheap, I know). I have 4 lovely ladies under a 250w HPS in there and everything is going very well, I'm about 2 weeks into flower.

When I first hooked up the filter/fan it worked great, completely killed the smell. Now, when I go into the bedroom with the tent in it I can smell my ladies. It's not real strong but it is there. When I smell the air coming out of the fan/filter it doesn't smell at all but my room does smell. What gives, did I do something wrong?

Specifics:
- I have air being pulled through the filter(which is in the tent), and the fan blows out of the hole in the top left corner of the tent. I just have it blowing straight out of the back, no ducting. Passive intake utilizing the three vents at the bottom of the tent.
- The fan is on 24/7

Any ideas?

 

[foaf]

sometimes, no matter how you rig it, odor leaks out into the room with a cabinet. if that was vented outside, Im sure that the small amount of odor wouldnt stink outside, but in the room it is common. this is where I think a small ozone generator is great. I wouldnt really want one in my grow space, but some ozone in the room adjacent to a grow or a room with a cabinet makes the odor control complete.

of course you can try to better seal the cabinet and you can put ducting on the intakes to reduce some of the leakage and consider changing fans or filters, but regardless, you may still have odor buildup in the room. when you mention that it worked at first, I suspect thats cause there was much less odor for it to deal with in general.

 

[Blest_1]

My first initial thought would be to up the cfm of your fan.

This is an option also:

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=61161&highlight=ona

 

[Daemon]

Thanks for the advice y'all. I think you're right, foaf, the smell is increasing quite a bit. The HTG tent does not seal well so that may be a problem. I am going to put some ducting in today and see if that helps. The tent is right next to a window so it wouldn't be a big deal to vent out the window but I'm not sure how to do it. It's cool right now but in another month I will have a window AC unit in that window.


EDIT: I may just deal with the smell, it's not that big of a deal. I had my landlord in here yesterday and he was right next to it and didn't notice anything. It does worry me for flowering though, especially living in an apt(though everyone here is cool).

 

[dank.frank]

better to be safe and overkill than have LEO come a knockin'

better to be safe and overkill than have LEO come a knockin'

just b/c the landlord didn't say or react...does NOT mean they did not notice.

Keep in mind, you are around it 24/7 and your nose will adjust to the smell, making it less noticeable by you...but if you still notice it, imagine how much it stands out to someone who is only there every so often...

something you may want to make note of....in soil, if your medium gets dry, your plants will smell more...

 

[Daemon]

^^Good point, but when I said that "everyone here is cool" I meant that my landlord has essentially given me permission to grow(though he doesn't know I am yet - if he did he would have said something). My neighbors are, for the most part, very good folks. The only issue is that I don't know the people across the hall, that's why I was just a bit concerned.

Good point on the dry soil, I watered today and the smell is completely gone. Huh.....

 

[Daemon]

Hmmmm.... Well, it seems to be smelling again. It's weird because I actually removed two plants and when I am working in the tent it really doesn't smell that bad. All day yesterday it did not smell at all but for some reason when I got home from work today it smells in my room. Why would it fluctuate like this? Perhaps I have it set up wrong?

I have the carbon filter hanging in the top left of my tent. The fan is right behind it(hooked directly to it), and it pulls air through the filter and pushes it out the back of the tent. When I smell the air coming out of the tent it doesn't smell really.

Also, I definitely have good negative pressure in my tent, the walls kind of suck in when it's all closed up. I wonder why this is happening, or more importantly why it changes?

 

[upgradeshafted]

the first few hrs of lights out plants really smell and the first few of lights on too

 

[suiteflyer]

Daemon you might want to draw the air slower through the scrubber by plugging the fan into a router controller and turning the fan speed down that will allow the smell absorb into the carbon a little better... i run two tents one 3x3 and the other 5x5 about four to five weeks into flowering i turn down my exhaust fans to about 75 percent it really seems to help the smell. with a little tweaking you can fix that problem good luck

 

[Microwido]

OK I had the EXACT SAME problem with a Goblin air filter and growbright fan combo. Turns out, the Goblin air filter was defective. I bet your Elf is defective, just as my Goblin was (same manufacturer).

So you will need to buy a CAN 33 to fix your problem. I had to buy a CAN 66 and now you cannot smell ANYTHING, as it should be. I will never buy a cheap carbon filter again. This is not something you can afford to half-ass.

HTGsupply accepted a full refund for my Goblin, and they shipped the CAN 66 the next day. Great company.

 

[AlienDude]

I would have built my own carbon scrubber, but since your past that part...just empty the crap carbon out of the elf and buy some good activated (non coco) carbon off of eBay.

I bet that fixes your problem very fast...and cheaply.

Oh, and make sure you order at least 10+lbs of that carbon, cause you will need to change the elf's carbon out fairly often (it's kinda small).

That is what I would do.....and I have the same tent as you...I just built my own scrubber for like $60, and it works awesome...but it's allot bigger than the elf.

 

[Daemon]

Thanks for the good advice all!

I think that perhaps my filter is defective, it's really not working well.

Good point about the fan speed though, I had thought that perhaps it was moving air a little too fast.

I will contact HTG about it, and will likely just go about refilling the damn thing with carbon. I had started to build my own filter(and now wish that I would have), but quit due to lack of tools.

Has anyone ever taken one of these things apart? I can't figure out how to....

 

[Pig-Pen]

Does your filter have a pre-filter on it? If not it will fill with dust and other particles and loss effectiveness much sooner than otherwise. A simple carbon change may fix it.

It's possible too that airflow is too high for the surface area of the filter. Most prefabs have a max airflow rating listed somewhere, go over that and they won't work as well.

The slower and more evenly air is drawn through carbon, the greater effect it will have on odor. There are 2 ways to do that; slower fan speed or a larger filter (more surface area).

 

[AlienDude]

Thanks for the good advice all!

I think that perhaps my filter is defective, it's really not working well.

Good point about the fan speed though, I had thought that perhaps it was moving air a little too fast.

I will contact HTG about it, and will likely just go about refilling the damn thing with carbon. I had started to build my own filter(and now wish that I would have), but quit due to lack of tools.

Has anyone ever taken one of these things apart? I can't figure out how to....

Daemon,

They are easier to build than you would think. I used a thread on this same forum. Also, the only tools I needed were a drill, tin snips & pliers.
This is the guide I used:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=29402

Read that guide and it will help you understand your elf better I think.

 

[Microwido]

OK I had the EXACT SAME problem with a Goblin air filter and growbright fan combo. Turns out, the Goblin air filter was defective. I bet your Elf is defective, just as my Goblin was (same manufacturer).

So you will need to buy a CAN 33 to fix your problem. I had to buy a CAN 66 and now you cannot smell ANYTHING, as it should be. I will never buy a cheap carbon filter again. This is not something you can afford to half-ass.

HTGsupply accepted a full refund for my Goblin, and they shipped the CAN 66 the next day. Great company.

Daemon, I had YOUR EXACT FREAKIN Problem. Your filter is defective. Follow my directions and you will be happy.

 

[Daemon]

^Did you have to send the filter back first, or did they issue you a refund? The can33 is a little large I think, I want to stick with a 4" flange.

As far the taking the thing apart, I'm not sure how to go about it. It does have a prefilter but underneath it is a cylinder of sheet metal with holes all over it, I'm not sure if it can be taken apart.

I've read a ton on DIY carbon scrubbers, and that is great thread! I may end up building one if returning/buying a new one doesn't work out well.

 

[Microwido]

I emailed HTG and told them my situation. I purchased the Can 66 first, and when it arrived I returned the Goblin for full money back.

The can use a 4inch flange with the can33, and its CFM range is 100-200(manufactor spec, htg's has wrong stats). You have to be in the CFM range for the filter to work properly.

The thing is I have no idea how you would refill the Can filter or the elf. Taking it apart was not an option for me because I was returning it.

I am sure you could make your own, for 4 hours effort and 50$. But why not pay 60 extra and have the piece of mind knowing it will work. And its good for over a year, so 4+ grows roughly.

You will get 60$ back for the Elf return, and pay 110 for can33, so 50$ more and you will have a working filter.

 

[Daemon]

^^That's a really good point. I'll email HTG and see what they say.

Thing is, if it is possible to take the ELF apart then that is what I will do, because if it is repacked with good carbon then I do know it will work.

The can33 has a 4" flange? For some reason I thought it was 6"......

Thanks a bunch for the advice!

 

[AlienDude]

^^That's a really good point. I'll email HTG and see what they say.

Thing is, if it is possible to take the ELF apart then that is what I will do, because if it is repacked with good carbon then I do know it will work.

The can33 has a 4" flange? For some reason I thought it was 6"......

Thanks a bunch for the advice!

Daemon,

Have you considered drilling a fill/unfill hole in the Elf?
Find out if you can return it first, but if that does not work out I would drill a hole and get some kind of plug to re-plug it.

 

[Daemon]

I was looking at the filter today and that's kind of what I was thinking. Honestly I would rather just refill the thing with carbon as it's the perfect size for my tent.

When I was looking at the filter it appears that there is no way to take the thing apart so I will wait to hear what HTG says and go from there.