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Josborne
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Registered: 11/18/20
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$350 flowhood?
#27127763 - 01/05/21 08:56 AM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Professor X
School for the Gifted



Registered: 04/18/19
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Re: $350 flowhood? [Re: Josborne]
#27127855 - 01/05/21 09:53 AM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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I built mine for about 120 bucks
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Josborne
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Registered: 11/18/20
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that's awesome
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Professor X
School for the Gifted



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Re: $350 flowhood? [Re: Josborne]
#27128050 - 01/05/21 11:51 AM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Those are top flow clean room flow hoods not laminar flow. Different beast altogether
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Marxcelium
Mushroom Instrumentality Project

Registered: 05/12/20
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FFUs typically do produce laminar flow, actually, and many members use them as flow hoods. I'd recommend a unit that's designed to use a prefilter, though, because it'll greatly increase the life of your primary filter.
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Josborne
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Without a prefilter, what do you think the lifespan of the primary filter would be?
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Marxcelium
Mushroom Instrumentality Project

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Re: $350 flowhood? [Re: Josborne]
#27128209 - 01/05/21 12:56 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Not speaking out of personal experience here since I've only ever used a hood with a prefilter, but I would say, depending on the conditions of your lab, it would probably be dramatically less. If you're working in a positive pressure clean room, you'd probably be fine without a prefilter, but my hood is in a carpeted room, and I have dogs and shit, so that prefilter starts looking visibly dirty after like 50-75 hours of runtime. I wouldn't want large particles like hair and stuff clogging my HEPA. If you use a prefilter, your primary will last you a decade or so, so I think it's probably worth it in the long run.
Edited by Marxcelium (01/05/21 12:57 PM)
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gone-pear-shaped
Stranger than fiction

Registered: 10/30/17
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If Josborne is a DIY type, this one looks like it would be fairly easy to adapt so a prefilter could be attached. I would make a wooden frame around the back (like a picture frame), as big as the prefilter. The frame would be glued on. A bunch of dowels or chopsticks would be glued on, in a pattern resembling a spider's legs, to prevent the prefilter from being pushed all the way into the unit's body by the pressure difference. Attach the prefilter to the frame with a tall bead of silicone caulk so it can be easily cut off when you want to replace it.
I'm not an expert on flow hoods (the one I built sucked), but wouldn't you also want to attach a frame on the output side to prevent the clean air from mixing with room air? Like in this image (I don't know whose it is):

Though if you have the skill to make those adjustments, you also probably have the skill to build it from scratch.
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Marxcelium
Mushroom Instrumentality Project

Registered: 05/12/20
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Only thing to watch out for here is that adding a prefilter will add resistance against the fan, and, if the fan in the FFU isn't powerful enough to handle the extra resistance of a prefilter because it wasn't designed for one, it'll drop your airflow below the FPM needed for laminar flow. Just something to consider before putting any money down on this plan.
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Phlat_Circle
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Registered: 12/08/15
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I’ve also been searching around for fan filter units for laminar flow fro Alibaba.
I’ve found this one that is available in several sizes and has a housing for a prefilter. The specs all check out so I’m going to contact the supplier and see whatsup. If it’s worth it will try one, maybe with an extra filter.
https://m.alibaba.com/product/60690646752/FFU-Fan-Filter-Unit.html?__sceneInfo=%7B%22type%22:%22appDetailShare%22,%22data%22:%7B%22filterKey%22:%227.8.2_share%22,%22cacheTime%22:%221800000%22%7D%7D
These all look like the ones sold by Meyers, I imagine he orders a bunch of them to his specs from one of these companies or a similar one in the us and rebrands them.
Some of these different ones on Ali baba use the same stock photos as the poorly reviewed FFU that you see on Amazon.
I ordered a blower and 18x24 HEPA from a smaller mycology supplier last month and unfortunately it’s looking like I got burned.
For me it’s either going to be a perfecti grab or take a huge risk on one of these.
I feel like if you can get a well made 24x24 consistently from a supplier on Alibab that didn’t require freight shipping in the US you could really fill that void of the ~$400 or $500 premade FFU/flow hood for the home enthusiast in a small space, like the 12x12 bonsai one from Midwest grow kits
-------------------- I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know.
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leormiller
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Registered: 11/29/18
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Hi. Any update on these alibaba FFUs? Curious what the total cost to usa is
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dfwerydfhg
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Registered: 05/04/20
Posts: 194
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In this price range ebay is way easier than dealing with shipping from China. Either way you're SOL if something's wrong, at least you can leave a bad review on ebay!
Search for "FFU" "laminar flow""cleanroom" and note all the brands of units you see. Then set up saved searches for those names. Don't be afraid to send the seller an offer, most of them are clearing out stuff from shut down businesses, and just want to get it out of their warehouse with some minimal cash to show for it. I offered $350 for one listed at $500 and it was accepted immediately. Could probably have gone a lot lower. Be patient, it might take a month or two to find something that looks in good shape.
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