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87_botanist

Flow Hood construction

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Hey Crew,

 

I don't know if this already a thread somewhere but I need help. I want to build my own Laminar Flow Hood Due to been in Western Australia the shipping cost of some pre-made hoods is costly even the fans are up there.

 

I have made some factory direct contacts in China for the HEPA filters and fans which when posted still come cheaper than any Australian prices the quality of there products has been verified. So I am wondering if anyone has any good companies to acquire these materials and equipment (and yes I have been in contact with Aussi Mushroom Supplies). Also I am trying to judge if there is interest if I do order from China if anyone else is keen?

 

So back to my main point has anyone got the perfect hood construction that they would use again if they had to rebuild?

 

Regards 87_botanist :wink:

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Nice one botanist,
If you can get quality filters and fans at a fraction of the price I'm sure you'll do a roaring trade here on SAB & on ebay... 
I'd say Russel from AMS would likely be sourcing his fans and filters from china too, if not the exact same factory lol.

It's good offering some variety to the market, as apposed to one company owning the monopoly. 
I myself purchased from AMS and it did indeed cost an arm and a leg, (especially shipping & insurance) the thing weighs near 60kg...

Because I was lazy and purchased mine, I can't point you in the right direction to any perfect build instructions. I'm sure someone will though.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cool contribution man, welcome to the forums too by the way.
Hope to see ya round the traps  :)  and good luck with your hobbies mate. Mycology can be frustrating, but also hugely rewarding!

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Hi botanist, have a look at soma_seeker's tek on building a low cost flow hood at the link below. Some of the component items are cheaper today than they were in 2013 when soma_seeker posted this, ie the fan itself was $75 previously whereas now one can purchase the same from ebay for $60 which includes postage. Hope this helps, good luck with your mycology ;-)

 

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Hi samadhi_sam,

 

Cheers for that I had seen it before but I think it is a little small for my liking but again cheers for the input and really appreciate your time taken to reply :lol:

 

 

 

On 20/06/2017 at 7:35 PM, samadhi_sam said:

Hi botanist, have a look at soma_seeker's tek on building a low cost flow hood at the link below. Some of the component items are cheaper today than they were in 2013 when soma_seeker posted this, ie the fan itself was $75 previously whereas now one can purchase the same from ebay for $60 which includes postage. Hope this helps, good luck with your mycology ;-)

 

 

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G'day 87_botanist,

I haven't built one (yet) but feel this should be effective and suited for purpose.

I am contemplating supersizing this design and building it with two fans, filters etc. in a larger box, effectively doubling the size. I feel I need a larger working area and this should do the job quite well.

Let me know how you get on, whichever way you decide to move.

Peace & goodvibes,

Sam

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Hey Sam,

 

I have just brought this air scrubber it was a bargain its brand new ($800) I purchased for $200 it has a fan pre filter and HEPA filter. I can just take it apart if needed but I think I'll run it and have one of these cheap DIY hoods working in front of as well.

 

I might mode the hood though and add clear Perspex to the sides and top.

20170625_190143.jpg

20170625_190143.thumb.jpg.e5816fc7ead8d18525daa2d9e293151d.jpg

20170625_190143.thumb.jpg.e5816fc7ead8d18525daa2d9e293151d.jpg

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If you have the cash then these flowhoods are great. I paid a bit to buy it and have it shipped here but it was totally worth it and it saved me a lot of fucking around. I bought it when the dollar was at parity (or close to) with the American dollar. You can make the HEPA filter last a lot longer by buying a furnace filter and using it as a pre filter where the air intake is. 

 

http://www.fungi.com/product-detail/product/the-series-i-laminar-flow-hood-230v50hz.html

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Hi migraineur

Thank for the link it good to know there are quality products out there

 

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Hello 87_botanist,

 

Your air scrubber looks awesome. I'm in the same position regarding building a laminar flow hood and have been looking at a few DIY designs since freight to rural WA is especially pricey. I want to build something modular where I can replace the pre-filter and hepa filter. Do you know what size filter you'd ideally use?

 

It'd be cool to find out how soma_seeker's design worked out and whether anything should be changed with the next build.


 

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Hey small_rabbit

 

Where in WA are you? 

 

I dont know it there is an ideal size its just personal preference i think, of course the bigger the filter then you have a bigger area to work within but then you will need a bigger fan or fans for the filter.  http://www.aussimushroomsupplies.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=110_122 these are good, heard a lot of good stuff about them. I dont have that kind of cash sitting about once shipping is included but i would recommend emailing for a quote the quote from the web site was at least $100 more then the personal quote from Russell

 

I found through my contact with China that i can get it maybe $50- $70 cheaper so i was thinking for that if i was to buy one i would support local first. No one responded so i couldn't lock in other numbers to bring down shipping.

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I think I should have a picture of my flow hood that I have nicknamed "Big Bertha. She has a 24"x24" filter with a H14 rating, which is rated 99.995%.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HEPA

Biomedical applications Some of the best-rated HEPA units have an efficiency rating of 99.995%, which assures a very high level of protection against airborne disease transmission.

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Botanist_87, I'm way down in Albs and i've checked out the flow hoods on AMS, they look awesome but i can't afford one just yet.

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IMG_20170710_200352812.jpg

IMG_20170710_204048983.jpg

IMG_20170710_203937169.jpg

 

You can get a nice cheap blower from the wreckers, from a car AC unit, just saw it off and clean it up, maybe spray paint some white enamel or something.
Construct a "fluid manometer " basically a clear hose with water in it, to tune the pressure, or test the fan blows your desired pressure.

as for a hepa source

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Air-Filter-Good-Quality-laminar-air_60179232439.html

 

Shipping is about $20 for a single HEPA, and price is pretty constant per area, a 12x12" (30.5cm) x 9cm hepa costs about $30 or so, and one twice as wide in H14 will cost about twice as much.
each grade you go up the cost seems to be minor. Also they take paypal.

 

Edited by drpotato
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drpotato

That s a great link for the filters mate good spotto on that! I don't think that a car blower would be ideal for bigger filters but it looks perfect of the one your building.

 

small_rabbit

Have you considered an air box I personally haven't used one but it could be a start for you there are heaps of TEK's on it. Also I found this very helpful with all my calculations http://www.fungifun.org/English/Flowhood

I would suggest buying the filter first like it says in the above link if you flow those instruction you really cant go wrong .

Also these guys are in Perth http://www.airepure.com.au/products/airepanel/

Mini pleats are less pressure drop I think this AP4932436DB is about $390 pretty $$$ smaller one will be cheaper by how much I don't know. I would invest time into drpotato's link for sure.

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1 hour ago, 87_botanist said:

drpotato

That s a great link for the filters mate good spotto on that! I don't think that a car blower would be ideal for bigger filters but it looks perfect of the one your building.

 

Heres the thing.
Car blower fans almost always use shaft couplings with a wide tolerance, because they never rely on the actual shaft insert, as the shaft has a flat side. It uses that + a special clip that keeps it in place. What this means is you can easily substitute the motor for something like an RC outrunner like this https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbyking-donkey-st4010-820kv-brushless-motor.html

Something nice and slow, and worst case requires minimal machining. A car RC blower costs about $10-30 ive found today at the wreckers.

Car blowers are actually rather slow, it seems. Theres probably other more suitable motors however. Otherwise you can always double up too, its cheap as hell.

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Cue's Big Bertha is in this thread with some good notes, I dont reckon he will mind me jumping the gun.

dont go buying mag wheel cleaner off Alibabi...lol:wink:

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Just now, waterboy 2.0 said:

dont go buying mag wheel cleaner off Alibabi...lol:wink:

 

C'mon bro, its 99.5% pure wheel cleaner...   Primo   :P

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