What's the easiest way to build or hold a filter to a standard walmart box fan without using a bunch of tape? Looking to make something more modular. There's a bunch of videos of people with carpentry tools who made their own housing which is really what I want, but since I'm too poor to afford any of that, I can settle for something to hold the filter and some hvac tape.Has anyone built their own 1-filter box fan hvac fan? What did you guys use?
5 filters and a shitload of tape
>>2886399If you have some scrap metal, you can make 4 l brackets or go to the store and find some. Drill into the edges of the fan with some sheet metal screws and find the measurement of the filter that you would need. Do note that the air flow will be bad and the real way to make one properly is to provide some space from the return side of the fan (pulling side) and build out al least 6 inches, otherwise you'll have turbulence in the fan housing.
you could probably 3d print some brackets that snap around the filter and your fan. that'd probably be the "best" way to do it.
>>2886399I have several of the one in the pic. It works, and is convenient. Its noise level is slightly noticeable on low and high is fairly loud. It suffers form the filter being so close to the fan blades, but I guess they didn't want to have it be much bigger than a normal box fan. Also, it would have worked better if it had a shroud around the fan blades. For what I use them for, they're ok. I have dogs so have 3 of them in my house to help with dander and dust. I have 2 more in my garage to grab dust when I'm doing something dusty, like cutting wood, or doing bodywork. I used one in my attic while removing and installing insulation.Don't scrimp on the filters. I think I used merv 13. They're a little more restrictive but capture much smaller particles.
I glued 4 pieces of 3mm hardboard together with some random offcuts in the corners so they press fit a 1x20x30" 3M Filtrete either side and cut out holes for PC fans on top with a home made coping saw. Even with 4 low noise fans of which only 1 produces anything resembling high static pressure it's absurdly effective. It works so well that I'm making another one for another room in the house.
>>2887622It's amazing and disgusting to see how much stuff they take out of the air.I want to try one like yours but don't have so many computer fans hanging around.
>>2887625I live in the sticks and the air out here is already very clean. I was just tired of the thick fog of dust in the air. Whenever the sun shone through the windows you could see just how bad it was and being asthmatic I could feel it very easily. The carpet probably doesn't help either. When I first turned this thing on I didn't expect much of anything to happen but it cleaned the dust out almost immediately and within 5 minutes it felt like I was breathing outside air.
>>2887627I hear you. My air is usually clean, but I have the dogs, a lazy girlfriend, and I live in a 75x75 mile pine forest so for about 2 weeks every spring I have to batten down the hatches due to the pollen eruption. I'm not super sensitive to dust, it started as a way to mitigate dust settlement on everything in the house so I don't have to dust every 2 days...but it's great to have clean air for other reasons, obv.
>>2887629The extractor fans in my kitchen are extremely inadequate and I've started putting the air filter out there when frying. It works incredibly well but it could do with more/better fans. The next one goes in the kitchen with more fans. Right next to the kitchen is where we change the kids diapers and it reeks of piss so I've considered stacking a carbon filter in there to take care of the smell too.
>>2887632They make carbon impregnated furnace filters, that's what I use. I'd imagine that a overlay carbon filter might be even more effective too.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q5MZTYY/
>>2887632I noticed that my extractor was weak, and I cleaned the aluminum filters but it didn't help...I wound up pulling the squirrel cage assembly out and cleaning it with compressed air...it was nasty, and works much better now. Mine is old, I don't know if they make them able to be serviced anymore, but it might be worth the shot
>>2887633I've considered it but I figure that having a dedicated carbon filter will massively extend the life of both filters (since I can vacuum out the pleated filter and have orders of magnitude more carbon) and cut running costs to near zero.>>2887635I regularly clean the grease filters and don't really dive any deeper but it's worth another shot at least. I found the model some years ago and kinda just wrote it off in my mind as unfixable because it's the cheapest cheap shit model from a store specializing in the cheapest, shittiest shit. It has some pointless carbon filters that I don't think provide any meaningful restriction but I should probably replace them anyway.
>>2887638Does your range hood exhaust indoors or outdoors?I lucked out...the range hood that came with my house is a Kenmore from the 80's, it's stainless so it matches my kitchen, but it's completely serviceable, like the old school stuff. If the one you have is indeed that crappy, it might make sense to just get a new one. I see open box, new but undamaged units at the Home Depot nearest me for 50 or 60 bucks, at times...just helps to keep your eyes out
>>2887643It exhausts outside so it really should work better.
>>2887644If it exhausts outside, can you find where it comes out? The ductwork could be all shitted up. I hit mine with one of those fluffy duster on a stick things , I had to throw it out afterwards, but I was able to get a whole ton of stuff out of there. I vacuumed as well as I could also.
>>2887650I don't think there is any duct work. The exhaust is so close to the fan(s) that I can't imagine there's room for any actual ducting in there. I'll give it a try from the outside though. Thanks for the tip.
>>2887651You're lucky then...the simpler the better. Good luck with it.
Los Angeles resident posting in here as to not start another thread while on this topicfor any of my Harbor Freight bros, I can confirm the Gerson p100 filters do fit on 3M respiratorsthey DO NOT lock in place though, a 1/4 will secure it in place and creates a seal, but turning it any further just leaves it loose and be able to be knocked offI did the basic seal check of placing my palm on the sides and exhaust nozzle and it maintained a seal around my face
