Air Cleaner

[brnhornt]

Hey Gang,

Anyone build their own air cleaner around an hold HVAC squirrel cage fan?  I'm planning one and am just curious if there are any gotchas out there, or pehaps you built one and wish you did something differently...?

Lastly...any good resources for a primary and pre-filters online?

Thanks all!

[Cooler]

I bungee a 20" square furnace filter to a box fan.  Works fine.  Looks a bit Appalachian though.  A fast build.  Put a $.75 fiberglass filter on the intake and a 3M micron filter on the exhaust.  The 3M filters are expensive and they will last longer this way.

Or make a box to hold the box fan.  It moves a lot of air, it is cheap and 20" x 20" is a standard size.

[fredhargis]

I built mine that way, using a 4 speed fan from a commercial furnace. I only used the 2 lowest speeds and that was plenty for the 24x28 shop I had at the time. For filters, I used 3. The outer one was whatever cheapie pleated filter I could snag. The second was a Filtrete Red, and the last was a Filtrete Ultra. I had to replace the outer one fairly regularly, but the Filtretes last a fairly long time...all the filters were 20"x25"x1".

[Mike in kc]

I built my air cleaner into the extension table for my table saw, and made the filters removable from the front of the unit.   I did this probably fifteen years ago using a single speed HVAC blower.   Click the pic below to go to my page showing how its constructed.  Please excuse the old pics but they are all I have.

[WarEagle Todd]

Mike nice set up.  I really like that exhaust door.  How well does it work?

[brnhornt]

Thanks Mike...I like that.  Does it pull enough of a draft to draw dust off of the top of the table saw blade during a cut?  I couldn't build one permanently because of where we park the car...but could see it being on wheels and also serving as a down draft table for sanding.

Also...since the intake/exhaust is so low....does it effectively clear the air in the garage?  I've been stuck on a ceiling mounted unit this whole time thinking it would do a better job setting up a circulation pattern that would clear all the air...

[Mike in kc]

...Does it pull enough of a draft to draw dust off of the top of the table saw blade during a cut?...

It's not that strong, or it would be trying to pull you  in as well.

...Also...since the intake/exhaust is so low....does it effectively clear the air in the garage?...

Those blowers are used to move all the air in your whole house every few minutes, so the garage is a snap.  The dusty air is continually being mixed with the fresh air from air cleaner so the air is pretty clean all the time.   Sanding, which produces much more fine dust than a TS or Bs, is done on the table so never enters the atmosphere.  

I use a pair of HEPA filters, back blow them outside to clean them and re-install when ever I feel they need it, a learned interval.   Depending on how much I'm in the shop, I usually replace the filters once a year.



WarEagle Todd said;

...Mike nice set up.  I really like that exhaust door.  How well does it work?...

Works great never have to mess with it.   As you can see in the one pic, by the discoloration adjacent to the "Slot", its been exercised a few thousand times.  Simple, but precision and alignment are the key here.