Totally. That combined with learning general costs of the individual components that make make up pre-fab gadgets is my primary impetus for being endlessly involved in "maker"-y projects. Nothing I cobble together is novel or particularly creative imo, I just perpetually encounter heinously overpriced things I have use for with which I'm certain (sometimes very erroneously) I could DIY into existence for less $ and still wayyy out-perform most store-bought examples & likewise built to be indestructible (unlike practicality ANY present-day retail commodity in existence, of course, smh...)
Shop vacuum filters also come in this tubular shape. For example: in the US, a Ridgid vf6000 HEPA filter is ~$33, already comes with a bottom plate, and is designed to flow a lot of air. Looks like a good candidate for this project.
That's what brought me here. I have a couple of Ridgid Vacs and am looking for ideas on how others may have made their own units using them for room air filtration. I have a couple of good units in the house, but they are expensive as are the repl. filters.
I made one with my daughter who was fascinated; it was very easy to do and best of all, it works - and for very little £££. My young Molly is now hooked - all thanks to you! Well done Clive. :)
Yep, it's just if you buy a cheapo sleeve bearing fan from china it's an issue, the arctic fan is some sort of rifle bearing so the lubrication should work fine for example
@@HydrarDraconis A P12 CO fan would be an even better option: Arctic P-fans are more designed towards static pressure and the CO models are meant for continuous operation.
@@tz8785 I'm actually not sure you would need a p series for a hepa filter of this size. The amount of obstruction in them is very low due to the enormous surface area and the higher pressure may not be enough to offset the lower unloaded airflow compared to the f series. What I would do, however, is step it up to a 140mm, because there's a significant increase in effectiveness at that size.
Not with all fans. The cheapest fans are typically sleeve bearing fans, which will wear out prematurely if mounted horizontally, even though they technically "can be" used in any orientation. The lubrication system doesn't do well when mounted horizontally. I've actually had this same problem with Corsair AF140s even though they claim to have "hydraulic" bearings in them - they make a very audible rumble when mounted horizontally.
Indeed, the generic super cheap Chinese fans usually turn into simulators of coffee grinder noises after a few years if they are mounted in certain orientations, because all the grease oozed out. If you act quickly enough and it hasn't yet ground itself to destruction, you can peel off the sticker and stuff some new grease into the bearing, and then re-seal it to make it silent again for a while. With good brands like Arctic or Noctua, the bearings are properly sealed and remain durable in any orientation.
Love it! As someone doing covid-related cleaning all day I keep thinking that my activities are nearly pointless compared to proper airflow and filtration, I wish cost-effective air management was rolled out publicly and privately as far as hand sanitiser has been!
To be honest I'd like it to be set in building code requirements for any new and renovated buildings. Air filtration is nice, but especially in densely populated rooms like say.... schools I really wonder what the CO2 concentration is in there after a few hours. It's generally not great but especially in a learning environment it's very detrimental. As long as the CO2 concentration isn't too high recirculation through filters will be useful but unless you go full submarine/space station on it and have CO2 scrubbers new outside air will be needed. Another rather simple but welcome change would be to maybe include running water at entrances of buildings, hand sanitiser is nice but boring old water and soap is still more effective. Probably cheaper too long term? It has been frustrating seeing my government considering keeping schools open very important, ventilation is very important, spend lots of money on many things. Yet it took them very long to make money available that's not enough for schools to do something about those structural issues by a long shot.
For years I've been using an upcycled 12V 120mm computer fan with a 9V power supply as a... fan in my kitchen ventilation. It's free (as long as you have access to scrap electronics) and is super quiet. Runs almost 24/7. I will be definately trying this one, great idea!
You're such a humanitarian. Always thinking of ways to make such things available to people who can't afford the more expensive commercial products. It's so simple, but this could really help prevent the spread of hepatitis A.
Wonderful. I would also consider putting on a thin outer layer of something like muslin for filtration. These filters (just like respirator filters) primarily work on adsorption, not filtration. So if you can put a a highly permeable filtration barrier between them and large particulates you will massively extend the lifespan of the HEPA filter. The best way to explain it is this .... if you work in a lumber mill, you wear full spectrum filters for the chemicals, but you wear pre-filter screens on the respirator cartridges to keep the sawdust from clogging up your expensive respirator filters.
I made something like this for my rabbit's room to keep dust down. I used a blower motor from an old heater instead of a PC fan, it has a bit higher static pressure. The amount of hair, dust, etc it catches is insane! Definitely a good thing to have in the house.
@@TheJttv There's a lot of generic wallwart type power supplies where you can switch different voltages on. I once got an AmazonBasics one. It was crap, don't get that one.
If you guys want to build this, make sure to get HSP (High Static Pressure) fans and not HAF (High Airflow) ones because you'll be needing that static presssure to pull air through the filter.
Agreed, this seems to be a permanent pet project of Clive's, however I don't see any A/B testing. HEPA's are normally quite restrictive, and simple 12v computer fans are not likely to be the HSP type and will either fail to work well, and/or die quicker.
@@gabracal Yup! The Arctic P12 fan also has a "CO" variant, which stands for Continuous Operation. They use ball bearings which boast a much higher endurance compared to their pseudo-FDB counterparts, which may be well suited for something like this
@@Jackonian The fluid dynamic bearing fans struggle to run upside down, though. Depending on orientation, the ball bearing may be a better fit, even if slightly louder... though not as loud as running the FDB upside down.
Nice to see you using an Arctic fan, they are great value. I'd recommend their P-Series though, as they are optimized for static pressure (like blowing through radiators). I wouldn't worry about the orientation, they are often mounted like that in computers.
@@Roalethiago Noctua fans generally have significantly worse performance. That's the cost for silent fans, they just do the best silent fans. IIRC the most common Noctua's move roughly 40% less air than the performance competition
@@Domini0nRock that has not been my experience at all. Noctua's fans cfm as a function of noise is quite good, moving more air than similarly sized fans that are much louder.
@@Domini0nRock if noctua fans move 40% less air then how come they get lower temps than when using the "performance competition" it dont matter if the fan is on a air cooler or water cooler under testing noctua fans win every time l guess you must have been using a case fan when you should have been using a static pressure fan to get such bad performance out of a noctua
This came at the perfect time. I was just trying to figure out how to incorporate a HEPA filter into my central air system. Thank you for the inspiration, the last pieces of this project just came together.
@@LBCAndrew Definitely a pitfall to avoid! I have it installed on a parallel run with the return duct, with a booster fan to pull air through the hepa filter.
If it's a proper computer case fan (ball or fluid dynamic bearing), I don't believe the orientation matters. Many cases have horizontal mounting options for fans (and/or radiators) at the top and bottom of the case. I'd have to assume that major fan manufacturers nowadays take this into account as I haven't seen any warnings against horizontal mounting of case fans. [edit] See comment below for a link to a more in-depth fan discussion, including bearing type and suggested fan orientation. What about swapping out for a high static pressure fan (fans made to push increased airflow through radiators)? Seems the filter would offer similar (if not more) flow resistance where static pressure fans would be a benefit? I'm picturing it now... A USB fan hub controller connected to several (or more) PWM fans mounted to filters. More or larger is better? I'm also a bit disappointed if this is all there is to a HEPA grade air filter solution. I paid quite a bit for a name brand "air purifier" that uses a squirrel cage fan (GermGuardian True HEPA Filter Air Purifier with UV Light Sanitizer -- though I don't use the UV). Thing is noisy as hell at anything other than low speed. I'd imagine your setup with some 140mm (or larger) fans and appropriately sized filters would be more efficient, quieter and cheaper.
Air volume cycled relates to room volume cycled, and HEPA filters get more effective at higher air speeds. But more or less? Yeah, the cost of a HEPA air cleaner is an air mover and a HEPA filter cartridge.
@Ulf Zimmermann Funnily enough, I just watched this video and came here to correct my initial response about bearing type and orientation. Having said that, I've run fluid bearing fans in the horizontal position for multiple years (current ones are >3 years @ 8+ hours a day) without issue. I guess a lot has to do with manufacturing quality as well.
Yeah given the layout of PC cases, especially if you do custom water cooling, fans get mounted every which way. The bearings should last just fine as long as you don't start/stop the fans too often
The Arctic F12 fan used here uses a fluid dynamic bearing so oiling is not an issue in a horizontal orientation. A fan with a higher static pressure such as the arctic P12 would probably do a better job at pulling air through the filter.
I recommend you use Arctic P12 fans. These are Pressure optimized and will likely work better when air flow is constricted, such as when you're trying to move air through a filter media. The difference being, the P12 has wider impeller blades and theoretically will be more efficient in this use case. The one you're using seems to be the F12, which is air Flow optimized, suitable for applications where there's little to no air resistance to overcome.
@@AtAGlimpse_UB They're really great for the value i have both p12 and p14 in my system since feb 2020 and theyre running great ever since. my gpu fans are louder than any of the arctic fans
Yeah, the arctic P Fans are pretty great, just dont accidentally connect + and - incorrectly or they will be dead instantly. The ones with CO in the model name even have actual ball bearings instead of glide bearings, so they will last longer.
Big thanks again Clive, I got two filters from B&Q for £15ea, grabbed two old fans and reused two 12v adaptors and now I have one of these for use in my office and bedroom to remove dust from the air.
Excellent design there Mate! Did a similar job with a generic vacuum cleaner HEPA - which really did work (I have access to a particle counter, and I was more than surprised with the end result!)
This is beautiful. I would suggest three improvements. 1. A pressure or static fan as suggested by other commenters. 2. A slide compartment to accommodate a pre-filter before the fan. 3. A clamping mechanism, perhaps similar to that found in your car's engine air filter container to manage seal/leakage. Great video. Might get a local shop to print and ship this out to me.
If you don't have a 3D printer you can use plastic food and drink containers. Dip them in a bowl of hot water for a minute or so then reshape them, then dip it in cold water and it will more or less hold the shape. For this project a 2 litre bottle would be perfect I think, just cut off the top part (which should be near 120 mm wide at its base) and cut where it tapers to the right width at the top.
Love to see reuses for replacement parts... even when the original product is no longer made, the filter tooling stays useful. They're noisy, but would there be a benefit to the higher static pressure of a dual counter-rotating fan? Their use in blade servers make them quite low-cost on the secondary market.
Just add a static pressure boost plate....stationary vanes. Don't need two fans!!! Boost Plate vanes are at the OPPOSITE ANGLE of the Fan blades!!!...just look at a cross section of a turbofan!!!
Rule #1: Always buy secondhand monitors, keyboards and maybe fans. For the price of a pair of gloves, a bowl of lukewarm water, some q-tips and if you're feeling enthusiastic a bit of isopropanol, you get a massive discount on whatever you want. You also play your part in reduce, reuse, recycle by getting more use out of a still perfectly fine product. I'm saying maybe on the fans because they are sort of mechanical products with associated wear, but with modern bearing magic the cost saving of 2nd hand probably weighs up again being pre-used, especially if you consider bathtub failing curves.
I just came across the video and just wanted to say thank you for it and for making the models publicly available. I noticed Cabb Arot below changed the script in order to use a 140mm fan. I modified it so that the fan size is now configurable. For those not comfortable changing code, when using OpenSCAD, after pasting the code in the left hand pane there is a pane on the right hand side of the window that allows one to change the values without modifying the default values. I've added a check to the code, which is at line 22, that will stop processing if the size of the fan is set to be larger than the size of the hole in the filter. The program creates cones with "negative heights", which is just wrong. If you are running an old version, before 2019, of OpenSCAD and this model doesn't run from the beginning then try removing the following line: assert(fanwidth>=filterhole,"The width of the fan must be equal to or greater than the width of the opening (hole) in the filter."); If one sets the fan width to be less than the value for the filter hole then nothing will appear in the main part of the window where the model is usually displayed and below, in the area labelled Console, there should be some text highlighted in red that states the following: All that needs to be done is change the value for the fan width or the filter hole so that fan width is at least equal to or greater than the filter hole. I hope that I've added a little something useful to the great work that Clive has given to the community. //HEPA filter fan adaptor //You can adjust these five variables //Primarily the filter hole diameter /* [ Global ] */ screwhole=5; //fan screw hole diameter (5) filterhole=92; //HEPA filter hole diameter thickness=1.5; //Thickness of plastic layer (1.5) insert=10; //Length of insert into filter (10) fanwidth=120; // Width of fan being used in mm (120) $fn=100; // number of fragments, higher provides smoother curves, 0 > $fn >= 360, impacts time to render greatly /* [ Hidden ] */ //Do not adjust anything below here cone=(fanwidth-filterhole)/1.5; wall=thickness*2; halffanwidth=fanwidth/2; screwoffset=7.5; startingdiameter=fanwidth-4; endingdiameter=filterhole-wall; assert(fanwidth>=filterhole,"The width of the fan must be equal to or greater than the width of the opening (hole) in the filter."); difference(){ union(){ //flange translate([0,0,0]) cube([fanwidth,fanwidth,thickness]); //taper to filter insert translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,0]) cylinder(h=cone,d1=fanwidth,d2=filterhole); //filter insert translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,cone]) cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole); } //taper to filter insert translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,0]) cylinder(h=cone,d1=startingdiameter,d2=endingdiameter); //filter insert translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,cone]) cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole-wall); //fan attachment holes translate([screwoffset,screwoffset,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([screwoffset,(fanwidth-screwoffset),-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([(fanwidth-screwoffset),screwoffset,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([(fanwidth-screwoffset),(fanwidth-screwoffset),-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); }
This was my first project when I made an enclosure. Mines used a lot more plastic though lol. It did work well with a hepa filter pad and a bag of activated carbon. ABS fumes can make you ill I found out. I love the engineered version you made, if you lift the bottom a few cm and add vents and you could sell it to new age people for 3x the price lol
This is so great! Thank You! And Thank You for publishing the open scad scripts. I was going to make something out of cardboard but this looks nicer. It can be given as a gift to others without looking extremely home-made, it can be taken to hotel rooms, and it can be transported easily. Well done! For those wondering what kind of fan to get: there are CADR calculators out there to help you calculate how many air changes per hour you are going to get depending on the size of the room and the m3/h or CFM of the fan.
Great project Clive! Had only larger fans on hand, so I have changed up the code to work with 140mm fans. The four variables can still be adjusted freely. Here's the code if anyone needs it: //140mm fan adaptor HEPA filter $fn=100; //You can adjust these four variables //Primarily the filter hole diameter screwhole=5; //fan screw hole diameter (5) filterhole=119; //HEPA filter hole diameter thickness=1.5; //Thickness of plastic layer (1.5) insert=10; //Length of insert into filter (10) //Do not adjust anything below here cone=(140-filterhole)/1.5; wall=thickness*2; difference(){ union(){ //flange translate([0,0,0]) cube([140,140,thickness]); //taper to filter insert translate([70,70,0]) cylinder(h=cone,d1=140,d2=filterhole); //filter insert translate([70,70,cone]) cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole); } //taper to filter insert translate([70,70,0]) cylinder(h=cone,d1=136,d2=filterhole-wall); //filter insert translate([70,70,cone]) cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole-wall); //fan attachment holes translate([7.5,7.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([7.5,132.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([132.5,7.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([132.5,132.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); }
Its surprising how much crap a decent filter can catch, even in area that seem relatively fresh and clean already. As for mounting PC fans horizontally there's absolutely no problem as many cases have such fans in the bottom or top mounted like this. People saying otherwise are probably putting fan failures/noisey fans down to mounting instead of because they were using chinesium garbage fans that would of failed anyway.
@@Xiph1980 I would tend to agree. The number of mistakes, misspellings and just awful grammar in comments says a lot. Many adults now would really struggle to read a children's book from the 1930s. Correcting every mistake would be a more than full time job.
@@Xiph1980 Oh, so "as long as you understand what's being said", it's okay to spell like utter crap? Then surely you wouldn't have a problem with me, totally accidentally of course, misspell your name as "lazy, indifferent, ill-mannered prick who doesn't wash hands after a piss, loudly blares music in public transport, talks with mouth full to leave it to any unfortunate listener to pick together his utterances from between the flying breadcrumbs, and generally can't be arsed to show even a modicum of decency because, hey, we're not at school here"? Got it.
I'd recommend radiator (pressure optimized) fans for this application. Often labeled AP rather than AF, they will have fan blades designed for overcoming static pressure.
I love this idea, using a standard fan with a standard filter. I LOVE modular setups like this. Can't get much simpler than fan+filter+plastic support+power.
I have something similar to this, except I'm using a inline duct fan that can move a lot more air at much higher pressure than those fans. I use it as a portable filter when I'm doing soldering, spray painting, 3D printing, etc.
I spent months building myself a PAPR since we didn't have enough for everyone... I will be building a new model based on this design for next time. I've never seen those circular filters before, thank you for making me aware of them.
Here is a tip for those who have many short leftover filament pieces. You can weld them together and get a longer filament. Albeit different colors. 1- Cut a piece of Bowden Teflon tubing PTFE (about 20mm) 2- Put each end of the two filaments you want to weld together, so that they meet in the middle of PTFE tube. 3- Use a lighter or a soldering iron to heat up the middle of the tube where the filaments meet, until they melt at the location. 4- Press the filaments together slightly and let it cool. 5- Voila, slide the tube off and the two ends of the filament are now welded together. I call it; "Good to the last drop" printing!
I've knocked a few filters up using a cat litter tray with a carbon filter from a cooker hood, and a couple of PC fans. Cut two holes for the fans and mount them with a glue gun. Then tape the carbon filter paper over the open side. Some flat air filters from cars fit onto litter trays too. Once they're done, I pop a hole in the edge and string them up from the ceiling, and let them twist in their own wind. Great as a backup for clearing smells.
This one's leaps & bounds above the previous one that used toilet paper! 😜 I like the idea for a horizontal base-plate/flange, but I think it's fine as-is. The only improvement I'd really love to see is the use of a "squirrel-cage" blower, because they can really move a LOT of air. The only trouble is that they're not universal, so interchangeability of blower motors might be an issue. However, if you can settle on a very cheap, very common blower motor -- something out of an older, say model year ~2000, Ford pickup truck -- then I think you have the potential for making a HEPA filter unit with a LOT of 'oomph' for little money. I've toyed with the idea myself, before I put a diaphragm pump & filter on my soldering station.
I guess my comment got deleted when I edited it. Anyway that filter is for an electrostatic unit, it's not really HEPA without the electrostatic guts. I found a blurb on the manufacturer website that says it uses bipolar ionization to achieve it's filtration. Great channel Clive, can't wait to see this years holiday specials! Thanks for posting interesting unique content.
Damn nice design! I just used an old computer power supply fan...200mm and is horizontally oriented...with some flexible dryer vent pipe & aluminium tape for the connection :)
The German Ccc.media uploaded a video last year, that included airflow mapping and volume throughput as well as conection files to fit water pipes for seperation between input and output or changing angles.
I did this with my milwaukee work fan, a sterilite tote, and a nice 24"x12"x4" hepa filter that was marked down 85% as it wasn't selling. Hole sawed the tote, fan in the tote, taped the filter on the lid, all done. Works fantastic, not counting the fan and tote which I already owned got a nice area air filtration system for about 7$.
The fan needs to be able to agitate the air in the room considerably in order to pull enough air/particles towards the filter. So an output duct at an angle might be worthwhile, combined with a fan that moves a lot more air. Also, air should be blowing not into the filter but out of, so... get sucked into the fan via the filter. I fear some people won't even look at that aspect if it's not told.
I was just thinking about making one these for a mini clean room for watch tinkering and this turns up in my subs, weird coincidence or maybe synchronicity, wooooooooooh. thanks big fella
I've been using a box fan with a 20x20 fine furnace filter stuck on the back for a long time. Works amazingly well and it was super cheap. Not HEPA but it is MERV13.
When my wife's company decided to send them back to the office in the middle of Covid, I made a fancy version of the same thing - a nice wooden box with a box fan, merv16 filter and a baffle to keep the air from just recirculating inside the box. (I learned the hard way that I can't put higher than MERV11 on my home HVAC without it freezing up.)
If you’ve never used an air filter these are great. th-cam.com/users/postUgkx_dppjvjF8BYEmPSDTcgCUdRsgWYLXNHN I ended up with three after starting out with one. The noise level depends on the 1-3 settings with how hard you want the machine to work. You can also upgrade the filters and get one better for pet hair and smells which is a must have in my home. I noticed the air seemed lighter and easier to breathe when running the machine for the first time. Works great every time. Highly recommended!
Outstanding Clive! Very good to have during a pandemic. My 2011 Honda CR-V has a cabin filter behind the glovebox and it is surprising how dirty it gets. I have an old 12 volt computer fan and will try and make one.
I'd certainly expect an indoor one to get less visibly dirty than the car filter, since those tend to clean air going into the cabin scooped with whatever is being produced at the road (exhaust, worn away tire rubber, whatever else). Reusing the old computer fan will work, however if it's an airflow optimised one it might be worthwhile getting a pressure optimised fan instead. You can usually tell the difference based on the gaps between the fan blades, when looking at a high static pressure fan head on you typically see smaller gaps between the blades and there are less but longer blades at a smaller angle to the air they cut into on it. Have had a regular commercial model myself in both the livingroom and bedroom for a bit over a year now, the replacement filters aren't too expensive and I can certainly say they mitigated my what I assume to be allergy to some stupid pollen during the bad seasons very well. Could actually keep the windows open periodically without getting annoyed eyes and a runny nose. Another happy sideffect that I noticed is that while it doesn't totally get rid of the problem there's a lot less dust buildup on top of items. Doing it this way in hindsight would've been cheaper and maybe get the job done too, but I don't regret buying them.
To help me breath when camping, (asthma and badly built camp fires do not go well together), I built using a HEPA shop vac filter and a 400 CFM 12V bilge blower with a PWM controller to adjust speed. I like your idea.
For sweeter 3D printing it is useful to set wall thickness to a multiple of your extrusion width. For example a 0.4mm nozzle extruding at 0.4mm then a wall thickness of 2.4mm would be better than 2.5mm This avoids a nasty void that is either left unfilled or "buzz filled" buy the slicer
I decided to make this project when I saw it on the livestream. I decided to go with a 200mm wide, 250mm long Philips filter, very similar to the one in this video. Cost of the filter was 16€. For the fans, I chose two Arctic P14's, one for each side. They are affordable at 7.60€ each, and claim to be quiet. They also list a high static pressure of 2.4 mm H2O. The 140mm diameter also helps with airflow. And being PWM their speed can be precisely controlled. I'm currently designing the 3D printed stand/fan adapter that puts the filter in a horizontal position. Thanks for this great project!
@@Makaveli6103 I designed my own adaptor in Tinkercad. I think Clive's scripts could be edited to accomodate a 140mm fan. I'm not too familiar with openscad.
I'm currently experimenting with the video setup. I tried with two P14 fans first stack each other and then on the both ends of the filter. I don't have any instrument to measure the flow, but by hand I feel that fans stack each other is more efficient.
I can't help but notice that you used an Arctic F12 PC fan, which is designed for airflow. If you were to use it's brother: The Arctic P12 which is designed for pressure, you will be able to push more air through the filter.
This is the first time I've seen something worth buying a 3d printer for. Making useful items. Awesome! What's the power draw/hr or however its measured?
Well, I often adore how Clive's mind works and creates these 3D-printed things. He mostly, if not always, provides openScad scripts for us to experiment on them further on, which I like even more.
I made one of your last air cleaners, the one that uses a square of toilet paper. It's been running fine with no bearing problems in the fan. It definitely collects dust, but I think I need to make something that pulls through a larger amount of air in a given time, as my room is fairly dusty.
i've been making a few designs using the hvac blower from ~2000 Dodge Ram (cheapest blower I could find, plus its mounting design is easy to model compared to some others out there) and a furnace filter. it's kinda overkill, but it was a fun project
In my desktop computer, I have 2 such fans running horizontally almost 5-6 years. They didn't give me any problem so far(these fans comes with the computer case not special or expensive fans). I think orientation doesn't effect their lifespan.
I have a confession to make... Over 2 years ago, I came across this channel after subscribing to Abom. I never even clicked on a video, I saw your profile picture, assumed shill, and went seperate ways.. now, I am subscribed as of a few days ago, and the regret I feel from assuming this channel was crap by your profile picture is something akin to self mutilation XD who knows WHERE id be if I had just taken the plunge, but being as conservative as I am with my clicks, I like to think it was for the best. You, sir, have a fantastic channel.
Yes! Years ago we had pet rats. My wife decide she was allergic, so we built a rat home with lots of clear plastic and in one corner we had a screened hole. This hole led to a box that contained a computer fan and a hepa shop vac filter (Like yours). This took a long time to build, because I made my little kids do some of the work, but looked great and solved the rat allergy problem. Nice to see you spread the knowledge and THANK You for all your videos. THANK YOU!!
Oh, nice to see Clive has the same fans laying around that I do. My choices are validated. (Now watch, later in the video he'll say he pulled it out of a bin...)
Have you got this setup to suck the air through the filter and then the clean air going through the fan and up, or is the fan sucking and pushing the air through the filter? Just curious if one way works better than the other. I would think sucking the air through the filter would protect the fan from dust, but then maybe the air flow is greater pushing the air through the filter :)
Based on having the coarse mesh on the outside, then particulate, then finally activated carbon, yes it's designed to have air go from the outside to the middle
I've got some Honeywell units running in my room. They have coarse, black pre-filters used to collect the larger floating material which look a lot like that inner sleeve. You sure that's an outside-in filter rather than an inside-out filter?
The mesh suggests it was designed for outside in. It's usually better to have the carbon filter after the dust has been removed so dust doesn't keep it from doing its job. It's not a huge problem the other way around, though. I think a few manufacturers have it do double duty instead of having a separate mesh to stop the really big stuff.
Clive Many years ago i had a very dusty Room, i got myself 2 x 115v Server fans with guards on, and mounted them parallel , and mounted them over the top of a small tank of water, and mounted it low down, it was great, the dust used to get drawn in through the top and get caught in the water .. all you have to do it change the water from time to time .. i used to put zoflora in the water to stop it going bad, and make it smell nice .. ive though about making a newer version now i have moved house, but this time use a large candle jar with a pc fan on top .... if i had a 3d printer like you it would be an easy to make a fan to jar interface have a go works well and no costly filters to buy ... i have enjoyed watching all your versions ...De Paul
Our esteemed big guy is absolutely correct. All that these store-bought air filter units are simply a box with a fan, a controller, and a filter (and even an ionizer module if you bought one with that feature); the housing is pretty much what locks you into a particular brand/size of filter. He has shown us a simple Life Hack that can save people a ton of money over the initial cost of the unit and replacement filter media... As far as PC fans go, try to stay away from the absolute dirt-cheap fans with crap bearings, go for a recognized brand name. These will, by market necessity, be quieter. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COMPARING FANS: Look for higher CFM (cubic feet per minute), not higher RPM. These numbers do not always coincide with each other. A fan can spin faster, but move less air. Fans can be rated at the same RPM but move different quantities of air. ALSO OF NOTE, I'm assuming the smarter DIYers here can do this: if you use a larger diameter fan, you can easily boost CFM at lower RPMs, so larger PC fans are usually quieter. I have a Honeywell unit for a large room, and just recently have found generic-branded filters on Amazon that are exact replacements - I can get two full sets (two 1-yr HEPA filters, 8 3-mo prefilters) for less than one single Honeywell-branded HEPA filter alone. And they work just as well as the original filters. It took a while for them to hit the market, but I'm glad they're out there. I really like your use of the word "concertina-ed." Just goes to show how English has diverged over the ages, we call it "accordion-ed." Which makes perfect sense, actually. I wish I had an opportunity to use that word in daily life, because I totally would. Maybe I'll start pontificating about coffee filters one day just for fun, and sneak it in there.
I love OpenSCAD. Thanks for the HEPA filter suggestion. These fans don't care which way they are mounted. There's no noticeable load on the bearings. But if you're concerned about that, you could use maglev fans.
Awesome work, thanks! As I used a smaller fan I adjusted the script such that one could also change the fan size: $fn=100; //You can adjust these four variables //Primarily the filter hole diameter screwhole=5; //fan screw hole diameter filterhole=50; //HEPA filter hole diameter thickness=1.5; //Thickness of plastic layer insert=10; //Length of insert into filter side_length_fan = 92; //Length of the fan fanhole = side_length_fan - 4; //Do not adjust anything below here cone=(side_length_fan-filterhole)/1.5; wall=thickness*2; difference(){ union(){ //flange translate([0,0,0]) cube([side_length_fan,side_length_fan,thickness]); //taper to filter insert translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,0]) cylinder(h=cone,d1=side_length_fan,d2=filterhole); //filter insert translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,cone]) cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole); } //taper to filter insert translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,0]) cylinder(h=cone,d1=fanhole,d2=filterhole-wall); //filter insert translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,cone]) cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole-wall); //fan attachment holes translate([7.5,7.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([7.5,side_length_fan-7.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([side_length_fan-7.5,7.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); translate([side_length_fan-7.5,side_length_fan-7.5,-1]) cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole); }
Not a big concern due to accordian-like folds of the paper portion which vastly increases surface area and ease of airflow. Computer fans often have to pull air through a plastic mesh filter case insert which gets loaded up with lint and dust. I only clean mine out about once a year in the back yard with a compressor. Been using the same Antec Sonata 2 case for about 16 years of hard gaming use. Internals have been upgraded over the years.... but not the chassis fans (yet).
if it meant to be left running all day / every day, as long as the fan is making a air pressor difrence from the onside of the box to the out the box (room/House)
Very nice Clive far as those fans go In my old LIAN LI computer case one the case fans that is mounted lay flat has been running for like 8 years with no issues !
Nice! Seeing as many computer fans are now 4 pin with PWM control, have you considered adding something like a 555 based circuit with a potentiometer to adjust fan speed? Nothing wrong with the diodes, but just a thought if you're bored one day :) You could put it in the same unit as the ioniser ;)
Controlled speed drive (good for staying quiet) needs the tach feedback. A 555 timer can adjust to a drive percentage, but with an op-amp and another RC filter, it can apply full field current when starting. A microcontroller could probably do that for 8 fans at once, and drive an LCD at the same time. ;-)
Hoky mackrel! This is so funny, i thougt about this sollution years ago for a family member, but as time and faith will have it, again someone else comes along and solves the problem! Thank you good sir for the upload, this is something i would like to make aswell!
Very interesting. But... I recently felt the need for a HEPA filter and I had given away all of the ones I had bought years ago. Anyway, as you point out, it would have cost a ridiculous amount of money to replace the filter elements. So I pondered how to do it on the cheap and I discovered that there are inexpensive HEPA filters available for your home forced air furnace. And one of the sizes of cheap home HEPA filter elements is 20"x20", which is the size of a standard box fan. Not too much brainwork to mate the two. It is nowhere near as quiet at yours, but it moves a LOT of air!
I think I'm......I dunno. There's a fan project living rent-free in my brain. Just a computer fan with Arduino and sensor, doesn't have to make sense, LoL! Great content. 👍🏻
20 inch box fan and a HEPA grade furnace filter. A real DIY without the need of an expensive 3D printer just some duct tape. I have made these for decades and they clean alot of air.
For my shop I have one of those cabinet style blower air cleaners, where 80% of its 1' x 4' x 4' volume is filter. Coarse furnace filter as a first stage and the big $40 filter is 1um rated. For a less dusty environment like in a home I'd imagine you would replace the filter like once every 10 years or so. Obviously its a hit loud for a house but no louder than an attic fan
Great stuff, love seeing "fancy" items reduced to their functional elements.
Totally. That combined with learning general costs of the individual components that make make up pre-fab gadgets is my primary impetus for being endlessly involved in "maker"-y projects. Nothing I cobble together is novel or particularly creative imo, I just perpetually encounter heinously overpriced things I have use for with which I'm certain (sometimes very erroneously) I could DIY into existence for less $ and still wayyy out-perform most store-bought examples & likewise built to be indestructible (unlike practicality ANY present-day retail commodity in existence, of course, smh...)
Shop vacuum filters also come in this tubular shape. For example: in the US, a Ridgid vf6000 HEPA filter is ~$33, already comes with a bottom plate, and is designed to flow a lot of air. Looks like a good candidate for this project.
what about Automotive cone filters?
@@BronyumHexofloride should work good. I wonder how much the spray oil would make a difference. Those are also washable.
That's what brought me here. I have a couple of Ridgid Vacs and am looking for ideas on how others may have made their own units using them for room air filtration.
I have a couple of good units in the house, but they are expensive as are the repl. filters.
there is a diffrence between a hepa and hepa :P
I made one with my daughter who was fascinated; it was very easy to do and best of all, it works - and for very little £££. My young Molly is now hooked - all thanks to you! Well done Clive. :)
I have listened to quite a few of Clive's videos over the years and I have always been struck by what a clever, modest man he is.
The bearings won’t be a problem, they’re made to work in any orientation. Many of cases have up and downward facing fans.
Yep, it's just if you buy a cheapo sleeve bearing fan from china it's an issue, the arctic fan is some sort of rifle bearing so the lubrication should work fine for example
@@HydrarDraconis A P12 CO fan would be an even better option: Arctic P-fans are more designed towards static pressure and the CO models are meant for continuous operation.
@@tz8785 I'm actually not sure you would need a p series for a hepa filter of this size. The amount of obstruction in them is very low due to the enormous surface area and the higher pressure may not be enough to offset the lower unloaded airflow compared to the f series. What I would do, however, is step it up to a 140mm, because there's a significant increase in effectiveness at that size.
Not with all fans. The cheapest fans are typically sleeve bearing fans, which will wear out prematurely if mounted horizontally, even though they technically "can be" used in any orientation. The lubrication system doesn't do well when mounted horizontally.
I've actually had this same problem with Corsair AF140s even though they claim to have "hydraulic" bearings in them - they make a very audible rumble when mounted horizontally.
Indeed, the generic super cheap Chinese fans usually turn into simulators of coffee grinder noises after a few years if they are mounted in certain orientations, because all the grease oozed out. If you act quickly enough and it hasn't yet ground itself to destruction, you can peel off the sticker and stuff some new grease into the bearing, and then re-seal it to make it silent again for a while.
With good brands like Arctic or Noctua, the bearings are properly sealed and remain durable in any orientation.
Love it! As someone doing covid-related cleaning all day I keep thinking that my activities are nearly pointless compared to proper airflow and filtration, I wish cost-effective air management was rolled out publicly and privately as far as hand sanitiser has been!
To be honest I'd like it to be set in building code requirements for any new and renovated buildings. Air filtration is nice, but especially in densely populated rooms like say.... schools I really wonder what the CO2 concentration is in there after a few hours. It's generally not great but especially in a learning environment it's very detrimental. As long as the CO2 concentration isn't too high recirculation through filters will be useful but unless you go full submarine/space station on it and have CO2 scrubbers new outside air will be needed.
Another rather simple but welcome change would be to maybe include running water at entrances of buildings, hand sanitiser is nice but boring old water and soap is still more effective. Probably cheaper too long term?
It has been frustrating seeing my government considering keeping schools open very important, ventilation is very important, spend lots of money on many things. Yet it took them very long to make money available that's not enough for schools to do something about those structural issues by a long shot.
For years I've been using an upcycled 12V 120mm computer fan with a 9V power supply as a... fan in my kitchen ventilation. It's free (as long as you have access to scrap electronics) and is super quiet. Runs almost 24/7. I will be definately trying this one, great idea!
You're such a humanitarian. Always thinking of ways to make such things available to people who can't afford the more expensive commercial products. It's so simple, but this could really help prevent the spread of hepatitis A.
Wonderful. I would also consider putting on a thin outer layer of something like muslin for filtration. These filters (just like respirator filters) primarily work on adsorption, not filtration. So if you can put a a highly permeable filtration barrier between them and large particulates you will massively extend the lifespan of the HEPA filter. The best way to explain it is this .... if you work in a lumber mill, you wear full spectrum filters for the chemicals, but you wear pre-filter screens on the respirator cartridges to keep the sawdust from clogging up your expensive respirator filters.
some 'fluffy' low density foam should do it.
Just a lady's stocking ...
Add some uv sterilization and maybe even O3 generation and you've got a decent filter for a bathroom sized room, maybe.
Thanks for the tip! I'll have to find something like that to go over the filter.
@@TheAdeybob small pore aquarium pre-filter foam would be perfect. Comes in blocks for easy shaping
We need to get Clive some pink filament for his 3D printer
No make it warm white
I think he likes violet. A violet UV fluorescing filament.
@@nyetloki throw in an ozone module in the middle of the filter!
Oh dear ~ I was about to type exactly the same thing....
I made something like this for my rabbit's room to keep dust down. I used a blower motor from an old heater instead of a PC fan, it has a bit higher static pressure. The amount of hair, dust, etc it catches is insane! Definitely a good thing to have in the house.
I use a psu that has a switch for different voltages. Those artic fans run nice and quiet at 9v. Loving the ryoby colour of plastic.
Does that PSU got a name?
I had a hard disk fan in my computer case, ran it at 7V by connecting it to the +5 and +12V terminals of the molex connector.
@@TheJttv There's a lot of generic wallwart type power supplies where you can switch different voltages on. I once got an AmazonBasics one. It was crap, don't get that one.
Saw a listing in an online store describe it as Hyper Green.
If you guys want to build this, make sure to get HSP (High Static Pressure) fans and not HAF (High Airflow) ones because you'll be needing that static presssure to pull air through the filter.
Agreed, this seems to be a permanent pet project of Clive's, however I don't see any A/B testing. HEPA's are normally quite restrictive, and simple 12v computer fans are not likely to be the HSP type and will either fail to work well, and/or die quicker.
@@boots7859 Arctic has some good HSP fans. Though they're labelled as "pressure-optimized" in their branding scheme.
@@gabracal Yup! The Arctic P12 fan also has a "CO" variant, which stands for Continuous Operation. They use ball bearings which boast a much higher endurance compared to their pseudo-FDB counterparts, which may be well suited for something like this
@@Jackonian That's even better!
@@Jackonian The fluid dynamic bearing fans struggle to run upside down, though. Depending on orientation, the ball bearing may be a better fit, even if slightly louder... though not as loud as running the FDB upside down.
Nice to see you using an Arctic fan, they are great value. I'd recommend their P-Series though, as they are optimized for static pressure (like blowing through radiators). I wouldn't worry about the orientation, they are often mounted like that in computers.
I wonder how much better a Noctua fan would perform
@@Roalethiago was wondering the same
@@Roalethiago Noctua fans generally have significantly worse performance.
That's the cost for silent fans, they just do the best silent fans.
IIRC the most common Noctua's move roughly 40% less air than the performance competition
@@Domini0nRock that has not been my experience at all. Noctua's fans cfm as a function of noise is quite good, moving more air than similarly sized fans that are much louder.
@@Domini0nRock if noctua fans move 40% less air then how come they get lower temps than when using the "performance competition"
it dont matter if the fan is on a air cooler or water cooler under testing noctua fans win every time
l guess you must have been using a case fan when you should have been using a static pressure fan to get such bad performance out of a noctua
This came at the perfect time. I was just trying to figure out how to incorporate a HEPA filter into my central air system. Thank you for the inspiration, the last pieces of this project just came together.
If you try and use such a small surface area filter in a central air system, you'll kill the blower motor.
@@LBCAndrew Definitely a pitfall to avoid! I have it installed on a parallel run with the return duct, with a booster fan to pull air through the hepa filter.
The is a lovely creation Clive! So simple but effective!
If it's a proper computer case fan (ball or fluid dynamic bearing), I don't believe the orientation matters. Many cases have horizontal mounting options for fans (and/or radiators) at the top and bottom of the case. I'd have to assume that major fan manufacturers nowadays take this into account as I haven't seen any warnings against horizontal mounting of case fans.
[edit]
See comment below for a link to a more in-depth fan discussion, including bearing type and suggested fan orientation.
What about swapping out for a high static pressure fan (fans made to push increased airflow through radiators)? Seems the filter would offer similar (if not more) flow resistance where static pressure fans would be a benefit?
I'm picturing it now... A USB fan hub controller connected to several (or more) PWM fans mounted to filters. More or larger is better?
I'm also a bit disappointed if this is all there is to a HEPA grade air filter solution. I paid quite a bit for a name brand "air purifier" that uses a squirrel cage fan (GermGuardian True HEPA Filter Air Purifier with UV Light Sanitizer -- though I don't use the UV). Thing is noisy as hell at anything other than low speed. I'd imagine your setup with some 140mm (or larger) fans and appropriately sized filters would be more efficient, quieter and cheaper.
Air volume cycled relates to room volume cycled, and HEPA filters get more effective at higher air speeds. But more or less? Yeah, the cost of a HEPA air cleaner is an air mover and a HEPA filter cartridge.
@Ulf Zimmermann Funnily enough, I just watched this video and came here to correct my initial response about bearing type and orientation.
Having said that, I've run fluid bearing fans in the horizontal position for multiple years (current ones are >3 years @ 8+ hours a day) without issue. I guess a lot has to do with manufacturing quality as well.
Yeah given the layout of PC cases, especially if you do custom water cooling, fans get mounted every which way. The bearings should last just fine as long as you don't start/stop the fans too often
The Arctic F12 fan used here uses a fluid dynamic bearing so oiling is not an issue in a horizontal orientation.
A fan with a higher static pressure such as the arctic P12 would probably do a better job at pulling air through the filter.
If you're just pulling fans out of the parts box, the ones with fewer, chunkier blades tend to be better at static pressure.
Put a light inside the thing and make it into a chandelier.
A flamp perhaps? (Reference to Simone Giertz latest vid).
@@liquidsonly I just happen to have a light fixture that looks very much like two of these filters stuck together.
Flamp? Why not.
Add a UV lamp and sterilise the air too
@@dreddwailing5505 You know, I was thinking superluminescence the other day.
You have restored my faith in my existential crisis ❤ just knowing someone else thinks about filtering chandeliers too makes everything feel okay 😂
I recommend you use Arctic P12 fans. These are Pressure optimized and will likely work better when air flow is constricted, such as when you're trying to move air through a filter media. The difference being, the P12 has wider impeller blades and theoretically will be more efficient in this use case. The one you're using seems to be the F12, which is air Flow optimized, suitable for applications where there's little to no air resistance to overcome.
I do use the Arctic P12 fans in my PC case and yes they do move a lot of air and are of great quality and they're cheap!
Thanks for the tip. Found the Artic P14 Silent with 950rpm. That may move more air and don't needs extras to run slow and is cheap .
@@underwoodblog P14 is a 140mm fan and will need the script editing.
@@AtAGlimpse_UB They're really great for the value i have both p12 and p14 in my system since feb 2020 and theyre running great ever since. my gpu fans are louder than any of the arctic fans
Yeah, the arctic P Fans are pretty great, just dont accidentally connect + and - incorrectly or they will be dead instantly.
The ones with CO in the model name even have actual ball bearings instead of glide bearings, so they will last longer.
Big thanks again Clive, I got two filters from B&Q for £15ea, grabbed two old fans and reused two 12v adaptors and now I have one of these for use in my office and bedroom to remove dust from the air.
Excellent design there Mate! Did a similar job with a generic vacuum cleaner HEPA - which really did work (I have access to a particle counter, and I was more than surprised with the end result!)
This is beautiful. I would suggest three improvements.
1. A pressure or static fan as suggested by other commenters.
2. A slide compartment to accommodate a pre-filter before the fan.
3. A clamping mechanism, perhaps similar to that found in your car's engine air filter container to manage seal/leakage.
Great video. Might get a local shop to print and ship this out to me.
If you don't have a 3D printer you can use plastic food and drink containers. Dip them in a bowl of hot water for a minute or so then reshape them, then dip it in cold water and it will more or less hold the shape.
For this project a 2 litre bottle would be perfect I think, just cut off the top part (which should be near 120 mm wide at its base) and cut where it tapers to the right width at the top.
One would not guess from your typical teardown video that you are in fact quite an artist. That's a beautiful industrial design.
Love to see reuses for replacement parts... even when the original product is no longer made, the filter tooling stays useful. They're noisy, but would there be a benefit to the higher static pressure of a dual counter-rotating fan? Their use in blade servers make them quite low-cost on the secondary market.
Rule .1 Never buy secondhand Monitors, Keyboards, and Fans. You're just getting someone else's problems, burn-ins, germs, muck and fluff...
Just add a static pressure boost plate....stationary vanes. Don't need two fans!!! Boost Plate vanes are at the OPPOSITE ANGLE of the Fan blades!!!...just look at a cross section of a turbofan!!!
use centrifugal fan if pressure is needed - can be very quiet depending on design
Rule #1: Always buy secondhand monitors, keyboards and maybe fans.
For the price of a pair of gloves, a bowl of lukewarm water, some q-tips and if you're feeling enthusiastic a bit of isopropanol, you get a massive discount on whatever you want. You also play your part in reduce, reuse, recycle by getting more use out of a still perfectly fine product.
I'm saying maybe on the fans because they are sort of mechanical products with associated wear, but with modern bearing magic the cost saving of 2nd hand probably weighs up again being pre-used, especially if you consider bathtub failing curves.
@@snakezdewiggle6084 i get fans and keyboards, why not monitors?
I just came across the video and just wanted to say thank you for it and for making the models publicly available. I noticed Cabb Arot below changed the script in order to use a 140mm fan. I modified it so that the fan size is now configurable.
For those not comfortable changing code, when using OpenSCAD, after pasting the code in the left hand pane there is a pane on the right hand side of the window that allows one to change the values without modifying the default values. I've added a check to the code, which is at line 22, that will stop processing if the size of the fan is set to be larger than the size of the hole in the filter. The program creates cones with "negative heights", which is just wrong. If you are running an old version, before 2019, of OpenSCAD and this model doesn't run from the beginning then try removing the following line:
assert(fanwidth>=filterhole,"The width of the fan must be equal to or greater than the width of the opening (hole) in the filter.");
If one sets the fan width to be less than the value for the filter hole then nothing will appear in the main part of the window where the model is usually displayed and below, in the area labelled Console, there should be some text highlighted in red that states the following:
All that needs to be done is change the value for the fan width or the filter hole so that fan width is at least equal to or greater than the filter hole.
I hope that I've added a little something useful to the great work that Clive has given to the community.
//HEPA filter fan adaptor
//You can adjust these five variables
//Primarily the filter hole diameter
/* [ Global ] */
screwhole=5; //fan screw hole diameter (5)
filterhole=92; //HEPA filter hole diameter
thickness=1.5; //Thickness of plastic layer (1.5)
insert=10; //Length of insert into filter (10)
fanwidth=120; // Width of fan being used in mm (120)
$fn=100; // number of fragments, higher provides smoother curves, 0 > $fn >= 360, impacts time to render greatly
/* [ Hidden ] */
//Do not adjust anything below here
cone=(fanwidth-filterhole)/1.5;
wall=thickness*2;
halffanwidth=fanwidth/2;
screwoffset=7.5;
startingdiameter=fanwidth-4;
endingdiameter=filterhole-wall;
assert(fanwidth>=filterhole,"The width of the fan must be equal to or greater than the width of the opening (hole) in the filter.");
difference(){
union(){
//flange
translate([0,0,0])
cube([fanwidth,fanwidth,thickness]);
//taper to filter insert
translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,0])
cylinder(h=cone,d1=fanwidth,d2=filterhole);
//filter insert
translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,cone])
cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole);
}
//taper to filter insert
translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,0])
cylinder(h=cone,d1=startingdiameter,d2=endingdiameter);
//filter insert
translate([halffanwidth,halffanwidth,cone])
cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole-wall);
//fan attachment holes
translate([screwoffset,screwoffset,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([screwoffset,(fanwidth-screwoffset),-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([(fanwidth-screwoffset),screwoffset,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([(fanwidth-screwoffset),(fanwidth-screwoffset),-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
}
This was my first project when I made an enclosure. Mines used a lot more plastic though lol. It did work well with a hepa filter pad and a bag of activated carbon. ABS fumes can make you ill I found out. I love the engineered version you made, if you lift the bottom a few cm and add vents and you could sell it to new age people for 3x the price lol
This is so great! Thank You! And Thank You for publishing the open scad scripts. I was going to make something out of cardboard but this looks nicer. It can be given as a gift to others without looking extremely home-made, it can be taken to hotel rooms, and it can be transported easily. Well done!
For those wondering what kind of fan to get: there are CADR calculators out there to help you calculate how many air changes per hour you are going to get depending on the size of the room and the m3/h or CFM of the fan.
Great project Clive! Had only larger fans on hand, so I have changed up the code to work with 140mm fans. The four variables can still be adjusted freely.
Here's the code if anyone needs it:
//140mm fan adaptor HEPA filter
$fn=100;
//You can adjust these four variables
//Primarily the filter hole diameter
screwhole=5; //fan screw hole diameter (5)
filterhole=119; //HEPA filter hole diameter
thickness=1.5; //Thickness of plastic layer (1.5)
insert=10; //Length of insert into filter (10)
//Do not adjust anything below here
cone=(140-filterhole)/1.5;
wall=thickness*2;
difference(){
union(){
//flange
translate([0,0,0])
cube([140,140,thickness]);
//taper to filter insert
translate([70,70,0])
cylinder(h=cone,d1=140,d2=filterhole);
//filter insert
translate([70,70,cone])
cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole);
}
//taper to filter insert
translate([70,70,0])
cylinder(h=cone,d1=136,d2=filterhole-wall);
//filter insert
translate([70,70,cone])
cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole-wall);
//fan attachment holes
translate([7.5,7.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([7.5,132.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([132.5,7.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([132.5,132.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
}
i’ve been strapping furnace filters to box fans for years, but this seems much quieter and more aesthetically pleasing. thanks!
Its surprising how much crap a decent filter can catch, even in area that seem relatively fresh and clean already.
As for mounting PC fans horizontally there's absolutely no problem as many cases have such fans in the bottom or top mounted like this. People saying otherwise are probably putting fan failures/noisey fans down to mounting instead of because they were using chinesium garbage fans that would of failed anyway.
*would have
@@Papperlapappmaul We're not in school here. You understood what ErraticPT said, otherwise you wouldn't be able to correct them. Chill out a bit.
Yes we are at school.
The teacher (aka Big C) would not make such a mistake and neither should you.
@@Xiph1980 I would tend to agree. The number of mistakes, misspellings and just awful grammar in comments says a lot. Many adults now would really struggle to read a children's book from the 1930s. Correcting every mistake would be a more than full time job.
@@Xiph1980 Oh, so "as long as you understand what's being said", it's okay to spell like utter crap? Then surely you wouldn't have a problem with me, totally accidentally of course, misspell your name as "lazy, indifferent, ill-mannered prick who doesn't wash hands after a piss, loudly blares music in public transport, talks with mouth full to leave it to any unfortunate listener to pick together his utterances from between the flying breadcrumbs, and generally can't be arsed to show even a modicum of decency because, hey, we're not at school here"? Got it.
You saved my final year group design project grade. Love for that
I'd recommend radiator (pressure optimized) fans for this application. Often labeled AP rather than AF, they will have fan blades designed for overcoming static pressure.
I love this idea, using a standard fan with a standard filter. I LOVE modular setups like this.
Can't get much simpler than fan+filter+plastic support+power.
I have something similar to this, except I'm using a inline duct fan that can move a lot more air at much higher pressure than those fans. I use it as a portable filter when I'm doing soldering, spray painting, 3D printing, etc.
I spent months building myself a PAPR since we didn't have enough for everyone... I will be building a new model based on this design for next time. I've never seen those circular filters before, thank you for making me aware of them.
Here is a tip for those who have many short leftover filament pieces.
You can weld them together and get a longer filament. Albeit different colors.
1- Cut a piece of Bowden Teflon tubing PTFE (about 20mm)
2- Put each end of the two filaments you want to weld together, so that they meet in the middle of PTFE tube.
3- Use a lighter or a soldering iron to heat up the middle of the tube where the filaments meet, until they melt at the location.
4- Press the filaments together slightly and let it cool.
5- Voila, slide the tube off and the two ends of the filament are now welded together.
I call it; "Good to the last drop" printing!
Do you know how the airflow direction is? Is the fan blowing down into the filter or sucking up into the sky?
@@boss47g you feel the air flow.....
@@boss47g the side with the braces is 'out'
I've knocked a few filters up using a cat litter tray with a carbon filter from a cooker hood, and a couple of PC fans.
Cut two holes for the fans and mount them with a glue gun. Then tape the carbon filter paper over the open side.
Some flat air filters from cars fit onto litter trays too.
Once they're done, I pop a hole in the edge and string them up from the ceiling, and let them twist in their own wind.
Great as a backup for clearing smells.
This one's leaps & bounds above the previous one that used toilet paper! 😜
I like the idea for a horizontal base-plate/flange, but I think it's fine as-is.
The only improvement I'd really love to see is the use of a "squirrel-cage" blower, because they can really move a LOT of air. The only trouble is that they're not universal, so interchangeability of blower motors might be an issue. However, if you can settle on a very cheap, very common blower motor -- something out of an older, say model year ~2000, Ford pickup truck -- then I think you have the potential for making a HEPA filter unit with a LOT of 'oomph' for little money. I've toyed with the idea myself, before I put a diaphragm pump & filter on my soldering station.
I guess my comment got deleted when I edited it. Anyway that filter is for an electrostatic unit, it's not really HEPA without the electrostatic guts. I found a blurb on the manufacturer website that says it uses bipolar ionization to achieve it's filtration. Great channel Clive, can't wait to see this years holiday specials! Thanks for posting interesting unique content.
Damn nice design!
I just used an old computer power supply fan...200mm and is horizontally oriented...with some flexible dryer vent pipe & aluminium tape for the connection :)
The German Ccc.media uploaded a video last year, that included airflow mapping and volume throughput as well as conection files to fit water pipes for seperation between input and output or changing angles.
I did this with my milwaukee work fan, a sterilite tote, and a nice 24"x12"x4" hepa filter that was marked down 85% as it wasn't selling. Hole sawed the tote, fan in the tote, taped the filter on the lid, all done. Works fantastic, not counting the fan and tote which I already owned got a nice area air filtration system for about 7$.
The fan needs to be able to agitate the air in the room considerably in order to pull enough air/particles towards the filter. So an output duct at an angle might be worthwhile, combined with a fan that moves a lot more air.
Also, air should be blowing not into the filter but out of, so... get sucked into the fan via the filter. I fear some people won't even look at that aspect if it's not told.
Ive been considering it. Thats why im browsing comments lol
I was just thinking about making one these for a mini clean room for watch tinkering and this turns up in my subs, weird coincidence or maybe synchronicity, wooooooooooh. thanks big fella
When I solder, I use an improvised fume extractor that consists of a home furnace filter stuck to the back of a box fan.
I use just a fan for the same thing, and open a window.
I saw a CCC Video like this around Christmas, I am happy you made an English language version.
I've been using a box fan with a 20x20 fine furnace filter stuck on the back for a long time. Works amazingly well and it was super cheap. Not HEPA but it is MERV13.
When my wife's company decided to send them back to the office in the middle of Covid, I made a fancy version of the same thing - a nice wooden box with a box fan, merv16 filter and a baffle to keep the air from just recirculating inside the box.
(I learned the hard way that I can't put higher than MERV11 on my home HVAC without it freezing up.)
Great to see just a bare bones unit. Very refreshing.
If you’ve never used an air filter these are great. th-cam.com/users/postUgkx_dppjvjF8BYEmPSDTcgCUdRsgWYLXNHN I ended up with three after starting out with one. The noise level depends on the 1-3 settings with how hard you want the machine to work. You can also upgrade the filters and get one better for pet hair and smells which is a must have in my home. I noticed the air seemed lighter and easier to breathe when running the machine for the first time. Works great every time. Highly recommended!
is this a legit comment or just a bot pushing levoit as a 'good' option?
Outstanding Clive! Very good to have during a pandemic. My 2011 Honda CR-V has a cabin filter behind the glovebox and it is surprising how dirty it gets. I have an old 12 volt computer fan and will try and make one.
I'd certainly expect an indoor one to get less visibly dirty than the car filter, since those tend to clean air going into the cabin scooped with whatever is being produced at the road (exhaust, worn away tire rubber, whatever else). Reusing the old computer fan will work, however if it's an airflow optimised one it might be worthwhile getting a pressure optimised fan instead. You can usually tell the difference based on the gaps between the fan blades, when looking at a high static pressure fan head on you typically see smaller gaps between the blades and there are less but longer blades at a smaller angle to the air they cut into on it.
Have had a regular commercial model myself in both the livingroom and bedroom for a bit over a year now, the replacement filters aren't too expensive and I can certainly say they mitigated my what I assume to be allergy to some stupid pollen during the bad seasons very well. Could actually keep the windows open periodically without getting annoyed eyes and a runny nose. Another happy sideffect that I noticed is that while it doesn't totally get rid of the problem there's a lot less dust buildup on top of items. Doing it this way in hindsight would've been cheaper and maybe get the job done too, but I don't regret buying them.
I have made some with Noctua 140 and 200mm fans before, both the 12v and 5v noctua fans, they are way better than any filter around.
Noctua fans are the best !
To help me breath when camping, (asthma and badly built camp fires do not go well together), I built using a HEPA shop vac filter and a 400 CFM 12V bilge blower with a PWM controller to adjust speed.
I like your idea.
For sweeter 3D printing it is useful to set wall thickness to a multiple of your extrusion width.
For example a 0.4mm nozzle extruding at 0.4mm then a wall thickness of 2.4mm would be better than 2.5mm
This avoids a nasty void that is either left unfilled or "buzz filled" buy the slicer
I was expecting the fan to be a little louder, so I'm impressed by the voltage tweak. 👍👍
Computer fans are definitely okay being mounted horizontally. They are used on the tops and bottoms of computer cases all the time without issue.
Great project! With a bit of tinkering one could add an ionizer and have a complete air purifier.
I decided to make this project when I saw it on the livestream. I decided to go with a 200mm wide, 250mm long Philips filter, very similar to the one in this video. Cost of the filter was 16€.
For the fans, I chose two Arctic P14's, one for each side. They are affordable at 7.60€ each, and claim to be quiet. They also list a high static pressure of 2.4 mm H2O. The 140mm diameter also helps with airflow. And being PWM their speed can be precisely controlled.
I'm currently designing the 3D printed stand/fan adapter that puts the filter in a horizontal position. Thanks for this great project!
I am going to use a Nocuta 140mm i have sitting around. Do you have a script for a 140mm fan?
@@Makaveli6103 I designed my own adaptor in Tinkercad. I think Clive's scripts could be edited to accomodate a 140mm fan. I'm not too familiar with openscad.
I'm currently experimenting with the video setup. I tried with two P14 fans first stack each other and then on the both ends of the filter. I don't have any instrument to measure the flow, but by hand I feel that fans stack each other is more efficient.
My PC is about both heat and filter my apartment's air this winter! Awesome!
Make sure your PC has plenty of air throughput. It should only have a coarse filter to avoid reducing airflow.
Please can we have an updated eBay link?
Love that there was an ad for a commercial air purifier at the beginning of Clive's diy filter video.
Which one did you get? My preroll was the one where the ceo goes into a chamber with a smoke grenade. My afterroll was for a shark filter.
Any good sources for the filter (which seems to be the pricy part)?
Clive you are a breath of fresh air ~ many thanks 👍🏻
I can't help but notice that you used an Arctic F12 PC fan, which is designed for airflow. If you were to use it's brother: The Arctic P12 which is designed for pressure, you will be able to push more air through the filter.
Just need to add a static vane boost plate!!!
Clive proves again, he deserves 1M of subscribers
Looks alot like something you would see on a stealth grow cabinet 🤣👌
would be good as backups
Thanks for the project. I watch your videos all the time, they are wonderful, thanks.
This is the first time I've seen something worth buying a 3d printer for. Making useful items. Awesome!
What's the power draw/hr or however its measured?
Well, I often adore how Clive's mind works and creates these 3D-printed things.
He mostly, if not always, provides openScad scripts for us to experiment on them further on, which I like even more.
0.12A 11.5V ~ 1W
I made one of your last air cleaners, the one that uses a square of toilet paper. It's been running fine with no bearing problems in the fan. It definitely collects dust, but I think I need to make something that pulls through a larger amount of air in a given time, as my room is fairly dusty.
i've been making a few designs using the hvac blower from ~2000 Dodge Ram (cheapest blower I could find, plus its mounting design is easy to model compared to some others out there) and a furnace filter.
it's kinda overkill, but it was a fun project
In my desktop computer, I have 2 such fans running horizontally almost 5-6 years. They didn't give me any problem so far(these fans comes with the computer case not special or expensive fans). I think orientation doesn't effect their lifespan.
I have a confession to make...
Over 2 years ago, I came across this channel after subscribing to Abom. I never even clicked on a video, I saw your profile picture, assumed shill, and went seperate ways.. now, I am subscribed as of a few days ago, and the regret I feel from assuming this channel was crap by your profile picture is something akin to self mutilation XD who knows WHERE id be if I had just taken the plunge, but being as conservative as I am with my clicks, I like to think it was for the best. You, sir, have a fantastic channel.
You could use a high static "pressure" fan they are more optimized for such an application.
artic p12
Noctua
Mine are all centrifugal
@@snakezdewiggle6084 Then it's no longer cheap. Arctic fans go 95% of the way at 50% the cost.
You can parallel 4 cheap PC fan and run them at 9 volt or less. Far cheaper than branded fan and have higher static pressure.
Yes! Years ago we had pet rats. My wife decide she was allergic, so we built a rat home with lots of clear plastic and in one corner we had a screened hole. This hole led to a box that contained a computer fan and a hepa shop vac filter (Like yours). This took a long time to build, because I made my little kids do some of the work, but looked great and solved the rat allergy problem. Nice to see you spread the knowledge and THANK You for all your videos. THANK YOU!!
Oh, nice to see Clive has the same fans laying around that I do. My choices are validated. (Now watch, later in the video he'll say he pulled it out of a bin...)
I bought 10 of them a few months ago, very nice units.
@@l3p3 They are! I have all F12's in my PC other than the cooler fans and I just bought four of the P12's for when I swap components in a few weeks.
going to try one for the grow tent! thanks for posting.
Have you got this setup to suck the air through the filter and then the clean air going through the fan and up, or is the fan sucking and pushing the air through the filter? Just curious if one way works better than the other. I would think sucking the air through the filter would protect the fan from dust, but then maybe the air flow is greater pushing the air through the filter :)
its pulling air through the filter to the fan
Hi Clive, love this wee project. Where can I get the script for 3D printing please? Thanks
The openscad script is in the video's description.
is that the right direction airflow for that filter
Based on having the coarse mesh on the outside, then particulate, then finally activated carbon, yes it's designed to have air go from the outside to the middle
Thanks I was quoted a stupid amount for a Hepa air filter. This will save me some money.
I've got some Honeywell units running in my room. They have coarse, black pre-filters used to collect the larger floating material which look a lot like that inner sleeve. You sure that's an outside-in filter rather than an inside-out filter?
The mesh suggests it was designed for outside in. It's usually better to have the carbon filter after the dust has been removed so dust doesn't keep it from doing its job. It's not a huge problem the other way around, though. I think a few manufacturers have it do double duty instead of having a separate mesh to stop the really big stuff.
What a neat idea. One could have some fun building this and end up with something functional in the end.
Nice choice of plastic color too.
Using a high static pressure computer fan with that filter would be optimal.
That's the type where there isn't a big gap between the blades right?
@@rct999 Yep.
Clive Many years ago i had a very dusty Room, i got myself 2 x 115v Server fans with guards on, and mounted them parallel , and mounted them over the top of a small tank of water, and mounted it low down, it was great, the dust used to get drawn in through the top and get caught in the water .. all you have to do it change the water from time to time .. i used to put zoflora in the water to stop it going bad, and make it smell nice .. ive though about making a newer version now i have moved house, but this time use a large candle jar with a pc fan on top .... if i had a 3d printer like you it would be an easy to make a fan to jar interface have a go works well and no costly filters to buy ... i have enjoyed watching all your versions ...De Paul
Our esteemed big guy is absolutely correct. All that these store-bought air filter units are simply a box with a fan, a controller, and a filter (and even an ionizer module if you bought one with that feature); the housing is pretty much what locks you into a particular brand/size of filter. He has shown us a simple Life Hack that can save people a ton of money over the initial cost of the unit and replacement filter media... As far as PC fans go, try to stay away from the absolute dirt-cheap fans with crap bearings, go for a recognized brand name. These will, by market necessity, be quieter.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR COMPARING FANS: Look for higher CFM (cubic feet per minute), not higher RPM. These numbers do not always coincide with each other. A fan can spin faster, but move less air. Fans can be rated at the same RPM but move different quantities of air. ALSO OF NOTE, I'm assuming the smarter DIYers here can do this: if you use a larger diameter fan, you can easily boost CFM at lower RPMs, so larger PC fans are usually quieter.
I have a Honeywell unit for a large room, and just recently have found generic-branded filters on Amazon that are exact replacements - I can get two full sets (two 1-yr HEPA filters, 8 3-mo prefilters) for less than one single Honeywell-branded HEPA filter alone. And they work just as well as the original filters. It took a while for them to hit the market, but I'm glad they're out there.
I really like your use of the word "concertina-ed." Just goes to show how English has diverged over the ages, we call it "accordion-ed." Which makes perfect sense, actually.
I wish I had an opportunity to use that word in daily life, because I totally would. Maybe I'll start pontificating about coffee filters one day just for fun, and sneak it in there.
I love OpenSCAD. Thanks for the HEPA filter suggestion.
These fans don't care which way they are mounted. There's no noticeable load on the bearings. But if you're concerned about that, you could use maglev fans.
Computer fans do normally run horizontally. You see fans on top of computer cases all the time.
And bottom of the PSU.
Awesome work, thanks!
As I used a smaller fan I adjusted the script such that one could also change the fan size:
$fn=100;
//You can adjust these four variables
//Primarily the filter hole diameter
screwhole=5; //fan screw hole diameter
filterhole=50; //HEPA filter hole diameter
thickness=1.5; //Thickness of plastic layer
insert=10; //Length of insert into filter
side_length_fan = 92; //Length of the fan
fanhole = side_length_fan - 4;
//Do not adjust anything below here
cone=(side_length_fan-filterhole)/1.5;
wall=thickness*2;
difference(){
union(){
//flange
translate([0,0,0])
cube([side_length_fan,side_length_fan,thickness]);
//taper to filter insert
translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,0])
cylinder(h=cone,d1=side_length_fan,d2=filterhole);
//filter insert
translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,cone])
cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole);
}
//taper to filter insert
translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,0])
cylinder(h=cone,d1=fanhole,d2=filterhole-wall);
//filter insert
translate([side_length_fan/2,side_length_fan/2,cone])
cylinder(h=insert,d=filterhole-wall);
//fan attachment holes
translate([7.5,7.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([7.5,side_length_fan-7.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([side_length_fan-7.5,7.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
translate([side_length_fan-7.5,side_length_fan-7.5,-1])
cylinder(h=thickness+2,d=screwhole);
}
You'd want a fan that can create enough pressure. Every fan is different and computer fans usually are not optimized for pressure but throughput.
Not a big concern due to accordian-like folds of the paper portion which vastly increases surface area and ease of airflow. Computer fans often have to pull air through a plastic mesh filter case insert which gets loaded up with lint and dust. I only clean mine out about once a year in the back yard with a compressor. Been using the same Antec Sonata 2 case for about 16 years of hard gaming use. Internals have been upgraded over the years.... but not the chassis fans (yet).
if it meant to be left running all day / every day, as long as the fan is making a air pressor difrence from the onside of the box to the out the box (room/House)
Very nice Clive far as those fans go In my old LIAN LI computer case one the case fans that is mounted lay flat has been running for like 8 years with no issues !
Nice! Seeing as many computer fans are now 4 pin with PWM control, have you considered adding something like a 555 based circuit with a potentiometer to adjust fan speed? Nothing wrong with the diodes, but just a thought if you're bored one day :)
You could put it in the same unit as the ioniser ;)
Controlled speed drive (good for staying quiet) needs the tach feedback. A 555 timer can adjust to a drive percentage, but with an op-amp and another RC filter, it can apply full field current when starting. A microcontroller could probably do that for 8 fans at once, and drive an LCD at the same time. ;-)
Yes, PWM control is far better. Lowering the voltage can introduce, stater chatter, bearing chatter, blade flutter.
Hoky mackrel! This is so funny, i thougt about this sollution years ago for a family member, but as time and faith will have it, again someone else comes along and solves the problem! Thank you good sir for the upload, this is something i would like to make aswell!
That is a nice, simple, elegant design! I'm a little surprised that you used lime green filament. A fink air pilter might have been more on-brand. :)
I like the two diodes to make the fan run more quiet, Thanks! No wind noise heard with regular speakers (on your video).
But will it pull the smoke out of the air after you cook your coorned beef with the 240V forks of doom?
Very interesting. But... I recently felt the need for a HEPA filter and I had given away all of the ones I had bought years ago. Anyway, as you point out, it would have cost a ridiculous amount of money to replace the filter elements. So I pondered how to do it on the cheap and I discovered that there are inexpensive HEPA filters available for your home forced air furnace. And one of the sizes of cheap home HEPA filter elements is 20"x20", which is the size of a standard box fan. Not too much brainwork to mate the two. It is nowhere near as quiet at yours, but it moves a LOT of air!
I think I'm......I dunno. There's a fan project living rent-free in my brain. Just a computer fan with Arduino and sensor, doesn't have to make sense, LoL! Great content. 👍🏻
That is an incredible creation Clive!
Reading the video title I thought you would make your own filter. I was looking forward to see you fold paper and such. XD
20 inch box fan and a HEPA grade furnace filter. A real DIY without the need of an expensive 3D printer just some duct tape. I have made these for decades and they clean alot of air.
They don't really use furnace filters here. Our heating is based on hot water.
I used to do something like this on the side of my PC to filter the air going into it. Kept the inside really clean.
For my shop I have one of those cabinet style blower air cleaners, where 80% of its 1' x 4' x 4' volume is filter. Coarse furnace filter as a first stage and the big $40 filter is 1um rated. For a less dusty environment like in a home I'd imagine you would replace the filter like once every 10 years or so. Obviously its a hit loud for a house but no louder than an attic fan