Is there anything that would cause a carbon filter to plug up in 41 days? I’ve been having heat issues inside the tent and discovered no air out the exhaust…removed filter, now it’s flowing great. Surprised I didn’t burn up the fan…geesh
How’s your humidity ? I’ve read that moisture can really mess with them.
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Actually a humidifier with hard tap water will kill it faster than anything. But if you have a pre filter on it try taking it off. If it works without then wash the pre filter and put it back on.
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I agree with the others, moisture doesn’t seem to coincide well with them. A lot of dust doesn’t help either.
Just out of curiosity, did it work well when new? It may not be matched up with your fan well. Or, you could have a lot of duct work creating too much static pressure.
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Hmm… I’ve had to increase the humidity due my temps. So that was probably it…
It worked fine until recently. Then again I bought a “tent kit” including fan/filter being a 1st timer and have learned you’re better off buying separate. So it’s probably a combination of humidity and it was a cheap small filter to begin with.
Thanks!
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How long does the average carbon filter last?
The problem with “average” is that there are too many variables to give a direct answer to @HJL.
Some filters are larger than others, some have different environments.
It’s when it stops working you’ll know. As long as you’re properly matched with a fan and filter you should have more than two grows out of it. Providing the environmental conditions didn’t cause a problem.
Maybe others can chime in with their past filter life expectancies.
@MattyBear @Countryboyjvd1971 @dbrn32
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I’ve got a few fan and filters that are at least a few years old now and have been running 24/7 the entire time. Each one can have a different life span depending on the environment it’s in and how it’s used. I’d just go with the highest rated one on Amazon that is within your price range, that you know is sized right for your area 
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Yup a cool mist humidifiers will cause them to clog and if your using hard water it worse
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Replaced filter, and back in business.
FWIW… filter on left came with tent kit (10") filter on right is a 14" Vivosun.
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For what it’s worth, I had a problem with mine clogging because I was using tap water in my humidifier. I switched to distilled water (and later reverse osmosis water) and never had a problem again.
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So we shouldn’t be using cool Mist humidfiors then? Do the other type work better?
I have no issues yet but only a month in and am running tap water, sheesh water is going to be super expensive by the time I get the oh right and then using it in the humidifier.
I’m not sure cool mist versus warm mist makes a difference, but it looks like evaporative versus ultrasonic (which I have) does. I was just reading a comparison article and came across this:
- Minerals that are collected and released in ultrasonic humidifiers can turn into “white dust”, which can ultimately float onto your furniture.
- White dust is not a hazard to your health and can be prevented by using distilled water.
White dust is exactly what my carbon filter was covered in.
That said, if your tap water is relatively free of minerals, maybe you will be fine.
I’m so happy that I bought (at the recommendation of many on here) an RO Buddie reverse osmosis system. It allows me to make extremely pure water for cheap.
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Reverse osmosis is to expensive for my blood and I’m just learning to do a legal 4 plant grow for now…
I have an evaporation cool mister but my God it goes through a tank of water in like 24hr.
Im thinking of attempting to modify it some how I need a much larger reservoir like a 45 gallon drum
Well, for what it’s worth - the RO Buddie 3 filter system is $52. Here’s the link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DOG63OY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
In my case, it paid for itself in no time. Using an example of 4 plants in 3 gallon containers, watering each with 1.5 gallons twice a week during flower - that is 12 gallons of water a week. Add in 7 gallons of water for your humidifier and that becomes 19 gallons. I think I was paying about $1/gallon for distilled water, so it was just a few weeks before I started recouping my cost for the RO Buddie.
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Holy… No way a RO costs that cheap what am I missing?my dad paid like 1k for one in his sink
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It’s a smaller setup and not super fast so you will have to plan ahead for water. But it’s worth it I think. I will be ordering one tomorrow myself.
Yep. With my water pressure (yours may vary a bit) I can make one gallon of water every 35 minutes. I usually just do a bunch (like 10) all on the same day to last me a while.
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If you have water pressure under 60psi
A pump like this can help you out @DoobieNoobie
If you have 60 psi then it won’t help
I also increased my storage tank to a 20 gallon tank that give me 15-17 gallons of to water in storage tank at all times which I will collect into my water containers 5 gal at a time
Hope this helps
https://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Tec-AQUATEC-ERP-1000-Aquatec-Permeate/dp/B00SD73DA6
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