distracted Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) OK, thought this may be useful to some people if for no other reason than to show how easy it is. I bought my carbon from Greens Horticulture they sell by volume not weight so to work how much I needed I worked out the volume of the whole filter in litres and subtracted the volume of the empty centre…. Mine was roughly 15000 cm3 or cc’s so I needed 15 litres of carbon. If you are buying by weight then you need to multiply the volume in litres by 0.45 kg to get the weight in kg's. The dead filter One of 4 rivets holding it together Rivet drilled out with a 4.5 mm drill bit With the top lited off with the carbon tipped out I washed it out as it was dusty inside (I blow into my filter) The carbon from Greens Some news paper helped guide the carbon in Filled to the top after repeated tapping of the sides to settle the carbon down Riveting back up again although self tappers or the like would have been enough 10 mins start to finish and not as dirty as you'd expect! Edited to add: cost me £30 for the carbon for a 200mm filter The filter in the pic was ~£100 new 4 years ago and it's an 8 inch filter. The carbon you need is 4mm air purification activated carbon pellets (google) this is the standard industrial air purification pellets used in industry, they are little black cylinders. A quick guide based on different diameters of duct won't work as filters are different lengths from brand to brand, but the maths isn't hard, especially if you use an online volume of a cylinder calculator. First measure the outside width / diameter of the filter in cm then measure it's height, using the calculator you will get the volume of the whole filter in cubic centimetres or cm3, this figure is the volume of the whole filter. The centre of the filter though is hollow so we don't need to buy carbon for that so we take the height or lenght we used in the first calculation and the internal diameter of the filter, which is probably the duct diameter, we then work out that volume and subtract it away from the first volume we worked out. This final volume is the volume of space filled with carbon in the original filter in cubic centimetres, we divide this by 1000 to convert it into litres. 1 litre of carbon weighs 0.45 kg so if you worked out your filter volume to be say 10 litres you need to buy 4.5 kg of carbon, a 5kg tub is less than £40, although that was a quick google and a more intensive search could reveal cheaper prices... don't buy of fleabay though as you can't tell spent carbon from fresh. If you can't deal with the maths then pm me the dimensions and I'll tell you how much carbon you need I am sure top end filters have a better live span because the carbon is more compressed in them, Randalizer posted a strip down of his in the thread and the carbon is partially crushed and bagged, this will give a larger surface area and therefore a longer lifespan but the same filter could still be refilled with standard industrial grade pellets and work at 100%, just maybe not for as long as it's first life Edited December 4, 2012 by distracted 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erky Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 is it a messy jod? is there diffrent grades off carbon? is it much cheaper? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arai Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) excellent work distracted are you going to re rivet it ? Edited October 10, 2012 by distracted edited to change name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark..uk Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 (edited) hi distracted, they say that budget filters are not refillable, how come is that mate?? surely i could do the same yes ?? thx Edited October 10, 2012 by distracted edited to change name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gr33nLungs Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 thanks man i was wondering if this was possible them filters are pretty expensive. how long does the carbon last, how many grows do you get out of them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
distracted Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Mark, I reckon they say budgets aren't refillable so they get to sell you another one every 18 months MrM, the carbons meant to last 12-18 months, how many grows depends on what you grow and how many rooms you have but mine was more or less in constant use for 2 years and over the last couple of weeks its has been struggling to handle the stink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 (edited) Might be better to use a self tappers cos if you got to drill the old rivet out everytime the holes size is going to increase and break through. Self tappers should be fine or you could use a spot from a hot glue gun. Excellent thread distracted just what this site is about..............DIY. Good one for pinning I reckon Edited October 10, 2012 by distracted edited to change name 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
playground Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 (edited) First rate stoner engineering. My hat is tipped to ya'. I run a CAN 33 filter and have had it in operation for a few years. It will need to be replaced soon and this is a lot cheaper than just ordering a new filter. I bet I can beat that 10-minute time. Lemme' see... I smoke some meth. Do a couple of hits of cid and then sit on some fire ants for a while. Yep, I can get it done pretty quick. Well done! Edited October 10, 2012 by distracted edited to remove name 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Krypt Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Top class job mate, I've been wondering how to do this, now im just looking for a 250mm CF that can be refilled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest podgy Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) the carbons meant to last 12-18 months, how many grows depends on what you grow and how many rooms you have but mine was more or less in constant use for 2 years and over the last couple of weeks its has been struggling to handle the stink that's really good to know... Edited October 10, 2012 by distracted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokie1 b c f c Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 thats a good old bit of ganja man diy. im going to refill my 1.and the grow shops must be making £ for refilling them now. f that diy.cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abe Froman Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Had an idea after seeing a vid of these being manufactured. they use a vibrating stand for the filter when the carbon is being put in. how about using an orbital sander without any sandpaper fitted perhaps safely clamp it in a workmate and stand the empty cf on top , bobs your uncle. if no-one gives it a go before i need to refill mine i'll try and get a gude up if it works... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokie1 b c f c Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Had an idea after seeing a vid of these being manufactured.they use a vibrating stand for the filter when the carbon is being put in. how about using an orbital sander without any sandpaper fitted perhaps safely clamp it in a workmate and stand the empty cf on top , bobs your uncle. if no-one gives it a go before i need to refill mine i'll try and get a gude up if it works... place it in the box you got it in ,and place on a tumble drier for half hour and it shakes the charcoal down nice and compact,i held it ontop wile smokein sum bubble , 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chillation Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 excellent useful info... have bookmarked this page for when the time comes.. will save me a fortune.. thanks very much! Guys I have just this minute spoken with Greens they no longer sell the carbon! Anyone know of a supplier? Chilii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir smoke allot Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 I thought carbon was charcole. If so instead of buying it why can't we jus burn a load of wood and break it down to dust. Or jus buy a bag of charcole. Obviously I'm new to carbon filters never needed 1 till now so I'm sorry if this seems like a stupid question. And props to billius good info man. Stay keen keep it green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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