Can you reactivate carbon

skippy pb

skippy pb

Well-Known Member
I bought some activated carbon for smell control and it worked. But after like a couple days it stopped working. I cant get it to work now
 
skippy pb said:
I bought some activated carbon for smell control and it worked. But after like a couple days it stopped working. I cant get it to work now
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to answer your question yes you can reactivate carbon.

but the cost is so prohibitive that it is cheaper to buy it(from memory i think you have to heat it to a hug degree that can only be obtained in a big industrial furnace)
 
dam that suck though, i dont wanna spend like 10 bucks a day on this shit

is there anyway to preserve it for longer?
 
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Build yourself a real carbon filter instead of a sewn up baggie in your vent pipe, it costs only about 25 bucks plus carbon which is cheap and you can buy enough to last forever.

AND PLEASE

Do not buy carbon at the petstore. for the price of 20g you can get 20lbs on ebay.
 
Carbon doesn't go bad like that. Takes much much more air flowing through that. Something else is the problem.

Anyways, you can reactivate charcoal in your oven. I've read that it takes three hours and stinks to high heaven. Do a search.
 
Activated carbon has some great qualities, but it does not last long for the average joe. It can be reactivated but not sure of the process. Google activated carbon and you will learn how it works. On my fishtank, I cut out all the carbon and throw it away when I change filters, the floss on the filter lasts longer than the carbon does. Simply because it only lasts for no more than 14 days. Once it deactivates, it dumps every thing back out that it filtered out in the first place. Carbon has its uses and works well.....for a short period.
 
rkm said:
Activated carbon has some great qualities, but it does not last long for the average joe. It can be reactivated but not sure of the process. Google activated carbon and you will learn how it works. On my fishtank, I cut out all the carbon and throw it away when I change filters, the floss on the filter lasts longer than the carbon does. Simply because it only lasts for no more than 14 days. Once it deactivates, it dumps every thing back out that it filtered out in the first place. Carbon has its uses and works well.....for a short period.
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Water and air are two separate birds.
 
Picasso345 said:
Water and air are two separate birds.
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You are absolutely correct. However, I can pretty much guarantee that the water my fish live in is a lot cleaner than the air you and I breathe, and cleaner than what my plants live in. However, the purpose of activated carbon still works the same, to filter out impurities. Its the same whether it be water or air.
 
Yes, but there is much more debris in the water and the water, I'm sure, is taking a toll on the structure of the carbon. i.e. Breaking it down or w/e

Also, can't you extend the life of carbon by crushing it with a hammer after it starts to slow down on filtration?

*sorry if I am wrong, I don't know much about carbon...but I am using a little common sense*
 
1337d3m0nx said:
Yes, but there is much more debris in the water and the water, I'm sure, is taking a toll on the structure of the carbon. i.e. Breaking it down or w/e

Also, can't you extend the life of carbon by crushing it with a hammer after it starts to slow down on filtration?

*sorry if I am wrong, I don't know much about carbon...but I am using a little common sense*
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Whats the difference between filtering fish poop through carbon verses dust? Its still a solid particle to clog the cavities of activated carbon.
 
rkm said:
Whats the difference between filtering fish poop through carbon verses dust? Its still a solid particle to clog the cavities of activated carbon.
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Fish poop would certainly take up more of those cavities no? I'm guessing fish crap is on the order of what? 1000x bigger than some dust or odor molecules? 10,000x?
 
Picasso345 said:
Fish poop would certainly take up more of those cavities no? I'm guessing fish crap is on the order of what? 1000x bigger than some dust or odor molecules? 10,000x?
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Correct again. However the fish poop will at least decay and keep breaking down into nothing, but still, it ends up clogging the carbon up as it builds up. And do you realize how much dust is floating around in your house, especially if you have pets?
 
1 gram of activated carbon has a surface area of something like 500 meters squared. Imagine how many dust / odor molecules could fit on 500 square meters?
 
Filtering air and water cannot even be compared as water has many more contaminats specicially contaminites bonded to hydrogen atoms which by nature tend to be large.

You cannot reactivate it using normal items in a house (not well anyway).
All carbon is not created equal, not even close.
Good activated carbon should be able to absorb 60%of its weight in impuraties

Here is a decent link
Activated Carbon What is a Carbon Filter?
 
I have tried to make homemade filters but have not had success with the results. I feel they are worth buying. There are probably the best investmet besides a muzzel to keep you out of jail...

If you do make your own you have to make sure it is packed tight into your filter. Many people use vibration to accomplish this and high compression hydrolic devices. Same idea a chain...The carbon filter is only as as good as the largest air gap in the filter. Dont buy the cheap shit from Wally. Get a decent amount of good vergin activated carbon online.
 
FullMetalJacket said:
Filtering air and water cannot even be compared as water has many more contaminats specicially contaminites bonded to hydrogen atoms which by nature tend to be large.

You cannot reactivate it using normal items in a house (not well anyway).
All carbon is not created equal, not even close.
Good activated carbon should be able to absorb 60%of its weight in impuraties

Here is a decent link
Activated Carbon What is a Carbon Filter?
Click to expand...

(ok sorry didn't look at the link) But.....
I looked into what was involved in making activated carbon and said "nah, I don't need a mini cyclotron in my house" type thing.

Baking it makes sense to a point and can help (picasso)

But I think high temps like near 800C would be needed to burn off the impurities, then vacuum down the remainder to draw out the remaining, then while under vacuum only allow back in an inert/helpful gas. argon, maybe?

Bottom line, go buy new.
 
i may not be a pro but i went through the same thing spent almost a hundred bucks building one and it lasted bout 1 week.carbon was from pet store( no good) particles in air are much finer than chunks of poo from fish.you need charcoal for air filter only, they are smaller with more pores to contain smell. they should last for months.hope that explains it
 
Your not using the carbon to filter dust. The carbon will not break down in one day for odor control, from what I've read. You probably have a different problem, most likely related to the air pressure in your grow room. That's what I've found personally.
 
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