Material to Filter Air? Recommendations?

curiousjosh · Post by **curiousjosh** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:26 pm

Does anyone have recommendations on material that will let air flow through, and catch playa dust?

I'm making a dust free box for some electronics, and would love to know what kind of material I can use to filter the air

thanks!
-Josh

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:36 pm

there are many.
some use furnace filters, some use swamp cooler pads, some gause sheets.........

airflow and filtering are at odds with eachother........big open spaces that allow air to flow let dust by.....and, vice versa.

do you have a fan for airflow, or, is it passive?
I made a box for my generator, and it has forced air cooling.
I used swamp cooler pads, and, sprayed some oil on them. They worked really good.

also, if you use more restrictive materials, you'd want to increase the surface area covered, IMHO.

curiousjosh · Post by **curiousjosh** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:39 pm

Hmmn, well there's a couple of things.

one this would sound perfect for is an air conditioning unit that I want to set up. Sounds like some of these materials would be good for the air intake vents!

the other project is active too...

what does the oil do? does it make it unbreathable?

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:44 pm

the oil helps the dust stick to the material, and, therefore filter better, IMHO.......at a point, depending on conditions, it can build up so much as to restrict airflow beyond acceptable limits, at which time you'd either need to clean the oil/dust off and re-oil, or, change pads...........(grin).......

curiousjosh · Post by **curiousjosh** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:48 pm

the advice is appreciated!

would a description of the oil you're using and applying it be possible?

like how much? we talking a dousing or what? :)

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:52 pm

curiousjosh wrote:the advice is appreciated!

would a description of the oil you're using and applying it be possible?

like how much? we talking a dousing or what?

they make special air filter oil. K&N, but, I use wd40........but, really, any light to medium weight oil will work. ATF, 15W motor oil, hydraulic oil...etc.

not a soaking, just a good cover layer, wet, not running.......if you use spray, spray both sides.
If the material is something you dunk in oil, you'd want to wring it out really well. again, you don't want/need the oil to run...just coat the fabric to attract and keep dust.

curiousjosh · Post by **curiousjosh** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 2:54 pm

great!
will home depot have this stuff, or is it special order?

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:46 pm

Home Depot should have it all............
good luck.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 5:49 pm

I might add that if you go the paper furnace filter route, you'll not want to use oil. that's for the thicker type swamp cooler, gauze sheets, burlap sort of stuff......
if it's the thin one layer paper or pleated paper, it's made to use dry.
you can double them up for better filtering, but, as long as you have enough surface area, it should be fine single.

cunfuzelled · Post by **cunfuzelled** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:32 pm

i build safe devices for keeping electronics alive on playa. the filters that i recomend after a great deal of research and testing are as follows.

paper filters work well but are expensive and tent to be small for the price.

if you have a vaccume store around you ask them if they have hepa rated foam sheets. they are white about 1/4 inch thick and tent to be around 4by 2 or 5x3 they will sell you one of these for very cheep. they are wonderfull with a higher flow rate than paper and will allow air to flow naturaly.

paper filters when hit by a wind will redirect the movement of air over the filter and only allow a small amount to pass. because the foam is rough it grabs the air and allows it to pass through naturaly. i hope some day to make a tent almost entirely of this stuff.

paper filters are good if you have a fan or something of that sort to drive the air. oiled foam filters will work for cars and things of that type well

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Aug 25, 2009 8:48 pm

There is goretex filter material too.
Not supposed to hold dust.

Skyote · Post by **Skyote** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 11:05 pm

cunfuzelled wrote:i build safe devices for keeping electronics alive on playa. the filters that i recomend after a great deal of research and testing are as follows.

paper filters work well but are expensive and tent to be small for the price.

if you have a vaccume store around you ask them if they have hepa rated foam sheets. they are white about 1/4 inch thick and tent to be around 4by 2 or 5x3 they will sell you one of these for very cheep. they are wonderfull with a higher flow rate than paper and will allow air to flow naturaly.

paper filters when hit by a wind will redirect the movement of air over the filter and only allow a small amount to pass. because the foam is rough it grabs the air and allows it to pass through naturaly. i hope some day to make a tent almost entirely of this stuff.

paper filters are good if you have a fan or something of that sort to drive the air. oiled foam filters will work for cars and things of that type well

Bumping this old thread to get opinions. My bf and I are borrowing a pop-up trailer for BM this year, and it has an air conditioner that sticks out the side, similar (I guess) to something you'd put in your apartment window. I assume that just turning the thing on would clog it with dust almost immediately. Would it work to build a box of these vacuum filter sheets around the intake? Breaking the AC unit would be a bad thing, since the trailer is borrowed, but it sure would be nice to be able to use it.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 11:28 pm

Will you have enough power for that?

Skyote · Post by **Skyote** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 11:37 pm

gyre wrote:Will you have enough power for that?

We'll have a small generator, so that shouldn't be a problem.