came across something i found really helpful in the process of planning my own can filter - how to make your own activated carbon or charcoal.

where i am, i have not been able to find activated carbon cheap. a small plastic jar, maybe a pint, at wmart sells for just under $8. with the prospect of buying 4 or more jars of this stuff for over $30, i continued searching.

then thought maybe activated carbon is same as bbq charcoal briquets. apparently not.

but charcoal from burning down wood can be used.

so i searched more and found this link:
Making Your Own Charcoal Powder

the guy shows how to take pallets and burn them down into coal, then break it down into granular or powder. no surprise, this charcoal can be used for so many applications - including air filter odor removing media!

at the end of this tutorial, the guy thanks this website for letting him use pics. i found so many more useful bits of info about activated carbon and products they offer. they offer fart pads, too!?!?
here's the link: Making Charcoal at Home

now i just needed the assurance that charcoal IS THE SAME as the stuff you buy at the store. i can buy locally charcoaled hardwood for 15# for under $10. that'll make alot of granular activated carbon for my can filters. all i needs a bag and a hammer to break it up.

hope this helps others...thanks for looking.

i'll post pics of my process later

Activated charcoal is a completely different animal.
A steam cooking process opens up millions of microscopic pores in the carbon material. One gram of activated charcoal has a surface area of over one hundred square meters.
I bet the smell of pulverized hardwood charcoal would in fact cover the smell of flowering, but I'm afraid you would have to keep explaining "whats on fire".
Good luck with the project, Hope it works out.

Charcoal is produced by the destructive distillation of cellulosic materials, like wood. Basically, you put the wood or whatever into some sort of airtight container and heat it up. The first thing that happens is that the water boils off, then the woo heats up and some of it burns. This consumes the oxygen in the container, and from this point on charcoal is formed.

If you heat it up hot enough, like 600-900 degrees or so, the end product is "activated" charcoal.

My guess is that barbecue brickets are probably close enough to being "activated" charcoal that they'll work fine in your filter.

Easy enough to check, though. Just make a little test filter and blow something smelly through it. If it comes out with no smell, then you're good to go.

thanks for your feedback Pullo and Budly.

from looking at the wikipedia on activated carbon - fuel source (like wood, bamboo, nut shells etc.) is either pyrolyzed or carbonized (essentially both the same word for heated and burned through) in either a vacuum or in atmosphere (co2, o2, steam). there is mention of certain temperatures to heat to, but the range is above 250c, 482f; mention also a range of 600-1200c. i will check the temp of the fire next time i fire up some mesquite chunks for the smoker. mesquite, a hardwood, burns real hot, probably above 500f.

my plan to use the already charcoaled hardwood chunks intended for the grill (mesquite, hickory, or hawaiian kiawe is available here) will save me the time of burning down logs i have to coal and cooling.

the absorption qualities are already in the charcoal chunks from the process of pyrolization or carbonization, i break them down to make more surface area grains. if too much dust, i plan to either blow out or rinse and dry in oven - like recommended in the tutorial.

please look at the links. the tutorial and corresponding carbon manufacturer's website are really interesting. i noticed they even sell activated carbon in a device intended to remove odors in a closet 5 for $15:
Add to Cart

i bought some coal and broke it up.

here's some pix of that.

i will try it in my light fixture/airscrubber unit being used in my cfl grow.

here's the link to that thread:
CFL ScrOG - Noob's 1st try

it's not needed yet, but she's ready to go when it becomes an issue.

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have you tried blowing anything through it yet?
Diy Carbon Filter here is a small version that works for covering up smoke, you could try it in this first as a test run.

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Whoa cuz. Use dat for BBQ, it'll be better than regular charcoal. Try check pet stores to see if they got a better deal on activated carbon.

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oh yeah, oh yeah.

Granular Activated Charcoal - BULK (Air & Vapor Applications - 4x8 mesh)



Granular Activated Charcoal made from coconut shell. This hard, highly adsoptive charcoal is used specifically in air and vapor filters for eliminating odors and toxic vapors.

Granular activated charcoal can also be placed in free-flow containers to adsorb offensive or poisonous odors in confined areas.


5 lbs - plastic bag ($23.00)
8 lbs - 2 gal. pail ($40.00)
20 lbs - 5 gal. pail ($84.00)
55 lbs - poly sack ($198.00)

Hey Stinkypickle,Did it work?Out of desperation I stuck some bags of Lump charcoal next to my exaust fans last summer and it worked kinda good.I wasnt paranoid about oders.Then the porkchops thawed and we burned up the filter.I havent thought about it since.
Keep us informed please

Drinking Water & Air Breathers: The extremely high quality of our Carbon is simply unparalleled. It's being purchased by large companies from us exclusively for OSHA breathers, Human Consumption Drinking Water Purifiers and more!


Super Activated Pelletized Carbon (by the Pound)

Pineboy, no prob with odor. not paranoid either. i put some of the charcoal i broke into pieces in the light/scrubber fixture, but i never had an issue before...not an issue after.

is it just me? or sometimes is the smell not overpowering, in some strains? nice trait imo.

to me it works and no reason to think it isn't. it looks just like the stuff sold commercially, was processed in the way i've seen described in wikipedia articles and the links i referenced at the top.

i can't find cheap locally so the hard wood charcoal works for me. maybe next grow i'll have a different strain with stinky-ness

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1st Journal: CFL Hydro ScrOG - http://www.greenpassion.org/f22/cfl-...html#post90885

Hey S.P. I guess the smell is strain specific.My sativas reek but the little indicas are pretty tame.Its a good Idea using the Lump coal.
I have to go for Easter so I might just get some bags and clean put by my fans for the w.e. I'll let you know if it works

might be cause its cfls same thing happened with my grows.

kailiwela44

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oh yeah, oh yeah.

huh. why you think that is? fingers are stinky and sticky after pinching, but the room is not. works for me

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1st Journal: CFL Hydro ScrOG - http://www.greenpassion.org/f22/cfl-...html#post90885

Well, with a bag of lump coal in my shed over Easter...It just smells different.Not like piney skunk but like piney skunk in a house fire.The weed smell is alot less tho so I'm going to keep fresh coals near the exaust fans. Untill I get hungry that is