DIY Carbon Filter. Thickness of Activated Carbon Region Question

Hey all, so i have a 25 watt axial fan ( like pc fan on steroids ) and its mounted in a housing with 1 gallon buckets forming the area of low preasure. Both buckets are about 6 inch diameter. Two buckets bottoms are cut and are used with pantyhoes as a screen holding the carbon. On the bottom bucket chicken mesh is used so they layer of carbon is uniform and level.

What is the minimum thickness of carbon that will still be effective in combating odor? I started at 2 inches and it worked great but too little airflow. Now im at an inch and moving more air. Long story short, how thin can this filter win at?

mikadodarkside said:

Hey all, so i have a 25 watt axial fan ( like pc fan on steroids ) and its mounted in a housing with 1 gallon buckets forming the area of low preasure. Both buckets are about 6 inch diameter. Two buckets bottoms are cut and are used with pantyhoes as a screen holding the carbon. On the bottom bucket chicken mesh is used so they layer of carbon is uniform and level.

Click to expand...

I love the DIY aspect of this, pantyhoes and so fourth.

mikadodarkside said:

What is the minimum thickness of carbon that will still be effective in combating odor? I started at 2 inches and it worked great but too little airflow. Now im at an inch and moving more air. Long story short, how thin can this filter win at?

Click to expand...

Surely the odor control and the size of filter is determined by the area space the plant were housed in, unless iv missed what you were asking, the fan would also need to be at a sufficient size also, taking into account the carbon filter 12% pull, in effect having a slightly larger extraction than needed in order to take into account the filter pull, would also regulate air flow, otherwise you run into all sorts of problems.

So in effect, the room size is measured, then extraction and filter is bought based on the size of the room, larger the room the more of a filter you will need, extraction also, replacement of air to avoid pathogens, spores and other nasties which can decimate a grow if untreated, in effect stagnant air flow.

yes that is all well that you need airflow to any grow crazy larry. so let me get my question on track here, how thick is the region of carbon on those comercial carbon filters?

the filter with no carbon in it could easily cool a 600 hps, its a fairly small box. i think its about a 200-250 cfm, Nao my cab has 35 cubic feet. but the more carbon i add to the system the more "head loss" i experience. so i want to know how thick is your comercial carbon filter (only the region of carbon material). what are peoples experiences with varying the amount of carbon in a filter to reach a desired air exchange rate?