(My background: long time member/lurker, haven't grown indoors in 3 years. Starting back up with a cab smaller than I've ever grown in before).
Edit: This thread was originally about 1 specific fan, but I'm having a real hard time deciding on an exhaust fan so I'm totally changing this post so that I can get more help from one thread. This post is a ton of questions jammed in to one and I apologize. I just need help for a seemingly simple decision.
Edit2: Well I changed the thread title but it doesn't actually change it on the forum page. Hopefully some people still click through here as the title is misleading now. I don't want to be a jerk and create a new thread.
My basic cab design mimics this one (this one isn't mine) :
150w HPS on the left flower side, 120w of cfls on the bottom right side of mothers/clones/etc. All of it is filtered through a central manifold in the the top right. The total cu ft of the whole cab is only 10 cu/ft.
That picture is taken from a build in another forum that I am basically copying, but he never talked about what he was going to do for smell. At the end of his build he basically just said that he was going to attach a carbon filter out of the back of the cabinet and that's as much detail as he went in to.
Now I have two goals with getting a carbon scrubber installed. One is the least expensive (but effective of course!) way possible, and the second is I would like for it to all be contained inside the cab. My thought was to basically make that manifold 2x as high and to run a small piece of ducting between the output fan and the scrubber. So that way 100% of exiting air from both chambers is filtered. But if that's not possible because of space restrictions then I'll make it work outside of cab. I have already gone WAY over budget on this project, so I'm trying to keep the cost low but I won't sacrifice security to do that.
The way I see it I have several options, and I'm trying to get some help. I'm getting so frustrated / tied up in so many different fans and options that I just really need some help from experienced cab growers.
Now first off I'm 99% certain that I will be using this carbon filter: http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=49749 . I am a major DIY'er but I feel that I probably couldn't build one for that price. And I have an HTG location about 2 hours from my home so I plan on driving out there for that scrubber and to pick up a few other things. If you guys feel I could build something better for significantly less ($15+) then let me know! The DIYs I've seen all seem to get to about that price once you factor in all the pieces, wiring, carbon, etc. Outside of this scrubber, everything else about my cab is DIY. Now the question is how I can use it!
Option 1: Stanley blower
Now first off I already purchased one of those Stanley blowers (http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=29341) for $45 from walmart. It is much louder and more powerful than I expected, and I'm almost worried that it will be too powerful for my cab. I know that if it pulls air way too fast and hard through the carbon filter then it won't have time to filter anything. It's also extremely large for my cab size and takes up a lot of space. But if this fan is my best option then I'll stick with it and figure out a way to use it (help!). I know that a lot of people that were using this fan were blowing in to a carbon filter rather than sucking through an in-line one. But I couldn't really find pics from anyone. They (Lasko) also make a smaller version of this blower that I can buy online for about $10 less (the original retail was like $12 but their long gone so they are very expensive online now). I debated getting it but I'm still not sure how I would run it through a scrubber. And since I was already going to be paying $35 for that one I decided to just get the upgraded Stanley version for $45. But as I'm finding out, bigger isn't always better.
Option 2: Duct booster fan
My original post for this thread was asking about using a basic inline duct booster fan rated at 65-80 cfm (http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=46434) or it's bigger 6" brother with a significantly higher claim on cfm. I posted asking if this type of fan would even work with a carbon scrubber, or if it would just get choked up on it. Using this fan would be my ideal because of the price and the size. I emailed HTG's sales team and they told me that the fan really won't work with that filter because it's not strong enough to pull through it. That is the exact response I expected but for all I know they are just trying to sell me a more expensive fan.
Option 3: A Dayton fan from Grainger (which one?)
Now grainger has a nice selection of pole fans which seem to be a popular choice amongst the DIY crowd. The problem is that I have no clue which one to get. http://bit.ly/91NBoq As I mentioned my cab is only 10 cu/ft which means even a 50 CFM fan would change the air 5 times per minute when unrestricted. But I don't know how a 50CFM fan is going to perform when hooked up to a carbon filter. Additionally when I look at a fan like this I know I'm also going to have to purchase a flange adapter and likely a fan speed controller. That is going to drive up the price even higher.
Option 4: Inline centrifugal fan + carbon scrubber package
HTG has a deal with the same carbon scrubber I was looking at and an inline centrifugal fan for $120. http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=52531 . That isn't a bad deal (although more than I wanted to spend) but I would still need to add in a fan speed control. Also that fan is going to take up much more space than a blower, especially when I add in ducting. Keep in mind that my space is very limited and the design of the cab. I don't think this one would work.
Option 5: Carbon scrubbing on the outside of the cab. This would be me picking one of the fans outlined above, but doing carbon scrubbing on the outside of the cab. I imagine I wouldn't be using the same inline one that I linked above, and it would likely be more of a DIY solution. Can anyone recommend which fan and which DIY solution I could use for this? It would have to be able to attach to the back of the cabinet some how.
Any and all help and input is greatly appreciated. I'd like to get everything purchased by the end of this week as this is the last thing I need to get done.
Edit: This thread was originally about 1 specific fan, but I'm having a real hard time deciding on an exhaust fan so I'm totally changing this post so that I can get more help from one thread. This post is a ton of questions jammed in to one and I apologize. I just need help for a seemingly simple decision.
Edit2: Well I changed the thread title but it doesn't actually change it on the forum page. Hopefully some people still click through here as the title is misleading now. I don't want to be a jerk and create a new thread.
My basic cab design mimics this one (this one isn't mine) :
150w HPS on the left flower side, 120w of cfls on the bottom right side of mothers/clones/etc. All of it is filtered through a central manifold in the the top right. The total cu ft of the whole cab is only 10 cu/ft.
That picture is taken from a build in another forum that I am basically copying, but he never talked about what he was going to do for smell. At the end of his build he basically just said that he was going to attach a carbon filter out of the back of the cabinet and that's as much detail as he went in to.
Now I have two goals with getting a carbon scrubber installed. One is the least expensive (but effective of course!) way possible, and the second is I would like for it to all be contained inside the cab. My thought was to basically make that manifold 2x as high and to run a small piece of ducting between the output fan and the scrubber. So that way 100% of exiting air from both chambers is filtered. But if that's not possible because of space restrictions then I'll make it work outside of cab. I have already gone WAY over budget on this project, so I'm trying to keep the cost low but I won't sacrifice security to do that.
The way I see it I have several options, and I'm trying to get some help. I'm getting so frustrated / tied up in so many different fans and options that I just really need some help from experienced cab growers.
Now first off I'm 99% certain that I will be using this carbon filter: http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=49749 . I am a major DIY'er but I feel that I probably couldn't build one for that price. And I have an HTG location about 2 hours from my home so I plan on driving out there for that scrubber and to pick up a few other things. If you guys feel I could build something better for significantly less ($15+) then let me know! The DIYs I've seen all seem to get to about that price once you factor in all the pieces, wiring, carbon, etc. Outside of this scrubber, everything else about my cab is DIY. Now the question is how I can use it!
Option 1: Stanley blower
Now first off I already purchased one of those Stanley blowers (http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=29341) for $45 from walmart. It is much louder and more powerful than I expected, and I'm almost worried that it will be too powerful for my cab. I know that if it pulls air way too fast and hard through the carbon filter then it won't have time to filter anything. It's also extremely large for my cab size and takes up a lot of space. But if this fan is my best option then I'll stick with it and figure out a way to use it (help!). I know that a lot of people that were using this fan were blowing in to a carbon filter rather than sucking through an in-line one. But I couldn't really find pics from anyone. They (Lasko) also make a smaller version of this blower that I can buy online for about $10 less (the original retail was like $12 but their long gone so they are very expensive online now). I debated getting it but I'm still not sure how I would run it through a scrubber. And since I was already going to be paying $35 for that one I decided to just get the upgraded Stanley version for $45. But as I'm finding out, bigger isn't always better.
Option 2: Duct booster fan
My original post for this thread was asking about using a basic inline duct booster fan rated at 65-80 cfm (http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=46434) or it's bigger 6" brother with a significantly higher claim on cfm. I posted asking if this type of fan would even work with a carbon scrubber, or if it would just get choked up on it. Using this fan would be my ideal because of the price and the size. I emailed HTG's sales team and they told me that the fan really won't work with that filter because it's not strong enough to pull through it. That is the exact response I expected but for all I know they are just trying to sell me a more expensive fan.
Option 3: A Dayton fan from Grainger (which one?)
Now grainger has a nice selection of pole fans which seem to be a popular choice amongst the DIY crowd. The problem is that I have no clue which one to get. http://bit.ly/91NBoq As I mentioned my cab is only 10 cu/ft which means even a 50 CFM fan would change the air 5 times per minute when unrestricted. But I don't know how a 50CFM fan is going to perform when hooked up to a carbon filter. Additionally when I look at a fan like this I know I'm also going to have to purchase a flange adapter and likely a fan speed controller. That is going to drive up the price even higher.
Option 4: Inline centrifugal fan + carbon scrubber package
HTG has a deal with the same carbon scrubber I was looking at and an inline centrifugal fan for $120. http://htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=52531 . That isn't a bad deal (although more than I wanted to spend) but I would still need to add in a fan speed control. Also that fan is going to take up much more space than a blower, especially when I add in ducting. Keep in mind that my space is very limited and the design of the cab. I don't think this one would work.
Option 5: Carbon scrubbing on the outside of the cab. This would be me picking one of the fans outlined above, but doing carbon scrubbing on the outside of the cab. I imagine I wouldn't be using the same inline one that I linked above, and it would likely be more of a DIY solution. Can anyone recommend which fan and which DIY solution I could use for this? It would have to be able to attach to the back of the cabinet some how.
Any and all help and input is greatly appreciated. I'd like to get everything purchased by the end of this week as this is the last thing I need to get done.
