| Project by JReed3 | posted 10-16-2013 12:24 PM | 3369 views | 18 times favorited | 13 comments |  |
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I have needed an air filtration system for some time and like most of you did not want to pay the high cost for one. I went to a lot of A/C companies but had no luck in finding a squirrel cage style blower. They all told me they hit the junk pile as soon as they come in. So I went to a pawn shop and was able to pick up an air blower that is rated to move 1600 CFM’s. This is the type of blower unit you would use on a wet floor or carpet. With help from crank49 he helped me determine I needed 3 air intakes for this amount of CFM’s. I built a cube that would hold 3, 16×20 pleated filters, one on each side. I will replace the current switch with a timmer. I pleased to say this is really working well.
13 comments so far
BalloonGuy
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93 posts in 3413 days
#1 posted 10-16-2013 12:34 PM
Nice! How did you handle the exhaust? Does it just run out a slot in the 4th side? Would love to see one more photo of that face. Thanks for posting!
-- Tom Peterson, Omaha, NE
Oldtool
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3537 posts in 3681 days
#2 posted 10-16-2013 12:42 PM
Nice solution to a dusty problem, but I am a little confused like BaloonGuy, not sure how this circulates the air and where the dust is trapped.
-- "I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The point is to bring them the real facts." - Abraham Lincoln
JReed3
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81 posts in 3861 days
#3 posted 10-16-2013 12:58 PM
The exhaust does exit through a slot on the back side that is not visible.
lumberjoe
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2902 posts in 3738 days
#4 posted 10-16-2013 02:03 PM
My filters get jammed up quickly. I would recommend putting a super cheap coarse filter in front of the finer filters. That seems to help quite a bit
-- https://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodcrafts
Jamie Speirs
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4168 posts in 4347 days
#5 posted 10-16-2013 02:49 PM
Great idea a very creative approach
I just box a Jet one, very noisy :(
Jamie
-- Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
BubingaBill
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297 posts in 3175 days
#6 posted 10-16-2013 07:18 PM
Great idea! Now I have a use for the box of filters someone gave me!!
-- Measure twice and try not to cut your thumbs off!
crank49
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4032 posts in 4461 days
#7 posted 10-16-2013 08:24 PM
As far as circulation is concerned, there is very little loss of circulation due to the three filters pulling from different directions, if that is what you were thinking.
Reason being that a fan will blow air 27 times farther than it will suck it. Almost all the circulation that happens with any room air filter is due to the direction and velocity of the air coming out of the discharge.
If you had a single filter sucking air out of a smoke filled room you would see a spherical area of air moving toward the filter from all directions. Not much different with three filters. Where you would see a strong flow traveling in a straight line across the room would be where the air leaves the fan.
JReed3
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81 posts in 3861 days
#8 posted 10-16-2013 09:44 PM
crank49
Thanks for your help on this. It works really well.
mondak
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71 posts in 3891 days
#9 posted 10-16-2013 11:51 PM
Nice looking air cleaner/filtration system.
If anyone is looking for squirrel cage fans, just locate a heating contractor. Yes, they throw the old furnaces in the trash, and with their permission, you can pull a blower in 2-3 minutes by removing about 3 screws.
Oh ya….....and the best part is, they are free.
Ottacat
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556 posts in 3342 days
#10 posted 10-17-2013 02:22 AM
Very cool, I hope it serves you a long time.
Nindwood
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134 posts in 3173 days
#11 posted 10-17-2013 06:07 AM
How loud is it? I want to make mine with a 3 speed switch. I like it a lot. The dust you can’t see is the most harmful to our lungs.
-- Narinder, Calgary, Ab. http://www.trimandcraft.ca/
JReed3
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81 posts in 3861 days
#12 posted 10-17-2013 11:53 AM
”How loud is it? I want to make mine with a 3 speed switch. I like it a lot. The dust you can’t see is the most harmful to our lungs.”
It isn’t bad at all. The box eliminates a lot of the noise. You do hear some rushing air, but it isn’t as loud as my central dust collector system.
camps764
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867 posts in 3850 days
#13 posted 05-15-2014 12:32 PM
very cool! Looks like I’m on a pawn shop hunt this weekend.
-- Steve
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