Jet air cleaner $150 at Menards

[AL]

I just wanted to point out that Menards has the Jet air cleaner on sale for $175 plus a $25 rebate.

[Larry Jaques]

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 06:42:17 GMT, "AL" calmly ranted:

I can't see why anyone would opt for that expensive type of cleaner when they could have fun by building one much more cheaply. That said, I tried a furnace filter on the back of the 20" box fan and it, er...sucked--Not much flow. 4 or 5 filters in the shape of a box might be enough area to reduce the drag, though.

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[AL]

I'd like to see someone try to build something of comparable capability for $150 unless they already had many of the parts.

[Dave Balderstone]

Do you want pictures?

;-)

[Todd Fatheree]

Not everyone is looking for another construction project when they want to filter their air. For $150, they get something with known performance characteristics and they get it now. Some people have limited time available in the shop and might want to spend it making sawdust instead of an air cleaner. That said, I built one from a blower my neighbor the HVAC guy gave me, which works fine with the small exception that the blower is going out (could be why the furnace it was in was replaced). No worry, though....he can get me another one.

todd

[AL]

No need for pictures, but I'm curious how much you paid for the blower and the inner filter. I suspect you either already had the blower (perhaps from a old furnace), or knew someone who would sell it cheap. Just try and find an affordable unit (either used or surplus), of comparable power, on the open market.

I consider the remote control and timer on the Jet to be a luxury so I wouldn't expect to find them in a home made unit.

[B a r r y]

While building one could be great fun, it takes up valuable wooddorking time.

Few homemade machines would have variable speed, timed shutoff, or a remote control, all features that I've found useful. If they did, they'd probably cost more to build than buying the Jet unit. Also, many of the shop made units seem to focus on "found" blowers. Paying for a blower changes things significantly.

Barry

[David Hall]

I would think that anyone willing to get their tools and remove a blower could get one for free from most any HVAC installer. They just sit out back until the trash hauler or scrap metel hauler comes along to cart away those old furnaces. To me the value of the store bought models is the nicer filter (they do in fact beat multiple layers of pleated furnance filters)and the light weight (that sheet metal will almost always be lighter than a wood case). The timer and remote is a nice plus, too.

That said, my shop made unit moves more air, does not rattle and with two sets of three pleated 16x20 filters does a good job of removing the dust. Its heart is a 4 speed blower from a furnace out of a 9,000 square foot fieldhouse. I have the medium and high speeds hooked up to a 2 speed switch. The filters are on the two sides of the box and the air blows out the front. At high speed you do not want small pieces of wood laying around in the wind's path ;) Clears my 2 car gar....shop pretty quick. Too heavy to hang from the ceiling, though, so it sits on top of a cabinet (its that 3/4 plywood I had sitting around when I got the blower :)

My cost was $0 for the blower, $0 for scrap plywood (although it could be done probably with a 1/2 sheet of CDX or something so count $20), $6 for the switch and $0 for the filters (they come out of my furnace periodically), $0 for the cord which I had around, but an appliance extension cord for $8 to $10 would be fine and $10 for the metal grates for the intake and outflow openings. So, assuming your furnace uses pleated filters, you ask an HVAC guy if you can scrounge the blower and you buy everything else you might have $50 in it. If you have to buy the filters just for this, add another $20.

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 05:12:11 GMT, "AL" calmly ranted:

HVAC squirrel cage motor: Free from most HVAC dealers. (or use any household's in-stock 20" box fan) Plywood: In stock in most shops, under $20 if not. Tubatwo: tubucks from the Borg. Switch: $1-5 from the Borg if not in stock. Line Cord: in stock or under $2 from the Borg. Filters: $8-30 a dozen. Glue: in stock or $4 a pint from the Borg.

What's to buy besides filters, Al?

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[AL]

The problem with this setup is that a pleated furnace filter won't filter down to 1 micron. It will capture large particles and recirculate small particles. The large particles are what settles on your tools. It is a nuisance but is otherwise harmless. The small particles get inhaled and collect in the lungs. They are the problem. By recirculating them, instead of allowing them to settle, the situation is made worse.

An replacement inner filter from Jet is $40. That leaves $110 to buy a blower, and the other parts.

I stand by my statement that you cannot build a comparable one for $150 unless you already have many of the parts, or know where to get them for free. None of my friends are HVAC contractors and I have no intention of panhandling the HVAC companies in my area.

[AL]

The 1 micron inner filter is $40. Furnace filter are useless--see my previous post.

I don't know any HVAC contractors and I will not panhandle a blower from the HVAC companies in my area. So that means buying a used or surplus one.

Regarding the box fan, it has no where near the air flow as the Jet.

[B a r r y]

Time?

Barry

[Larry Jaques]

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 19:35:42 GMT, "AL" calmly ranted:

Filtrete filters are HEPA certified. Why do you say they're useless?

OK, then buy one. See if I care.

True, but they will filter air for the budgeteers.

Ciao!

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[Scott Post]

Why do you say they're $8-$30 a dozen?

[Ba r r y]

Having had experience with both, I can add this:

1. Any filter that allows the fan to move a decent amount of air dosen't filter a very small particle. The fan will pretty much sit there cavitating in the air within it's own enclosure.
2. The box fan needs to be placed super close to the dust source to actually filter the air. Otherwise, it's simply dispersing the dust with air movement and not actually removing any dust from the air.

I used a box fan for years while hand sanding radio control aircraft. It worked OK if it was right on the workbench. The box fan *never* caught up with the dust cloud generated by table saws, miter saws, or router tables, especially with plywoods and MDF, and I'm only talking about the airborne stuff my 2 HP DC didn't suck into the pipe.

The sheer amount of stuff that gets stuck in the filters of a Jet or other store bought unit, as well as a properly made shop made version, is beyond compare to what the fan captures.

Non-woodworker visitors even notice how fast the Jet clears my 24 x 40 basement shop. I like it so much, I'd like to get a second unit and run them in a hurricane pattern. Two units would allow me to run both on low or medium, they do make a lot of noise on high speed.

Barry

[bob peterson]

$150 for a decne tair cleaner seems like a bargain compared to building something of comparable capacity. A box fan does not have anywhere near the air flow of a real blower, so while it may work for your case, its never going to be as effective as the commercial unit.

OTOH if you can get a decent blower there is nothing to prevent you from making something that would be as effective. The key is getting a decent blower, the rest is reltively straightforward. If you can find a used blower for free, its probably worth building your own. if not, I would opt to buy something.

[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 10:48:02 GMT, [e-mail] (Scott Post) calmly ranted:

Because I hadn't checked the ad and wasn't sure the Jet had HEPA filters. Cheap filters (1u to 30u) are that price. A HEPA filter could be that price each ($8 for Synfil, $9 for Filtrete.) A felt bag would be under $30 and accomplish the safer filtering for the upper price.

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[Larry Jaques]

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 11:01:54 GMT, Ba r r y calmly ranted:

I found that to be true in my quick test last week.

You'd be much better off with a HEPA-filtered DC for that.

Standard filter bags, no doubt.

Yes, I believe that without question, especially after my test.

Not everyone can afford $400 worth of filtering equipment on top of their DC purchase, Barry.

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[David Hall]

Well, as to the filtering capabilities of pleated furnace filters, I believe the medium level Filtrete filters from 3M which I use (MERV 11 rated) are better than 1 micron. The upper level units are at .3 micron. See

and when you stack 3 of those together and build a decent seal, it will beat that $40 jet filter in stoping the dust.

As to whether asking someone if you can have something they are throwing away is "panhandling", all I can say is to each his own. If you saw someone about to burn some 8/4 10" wide 10' cherry boards would your "pride" stop you from "panhandling"? I am not trying to talk anyone into building an air cleaner and even stated that there are real benefits to the store bought units. However, you most certainly CAN build one that has as good or better functionality in filtering the air for MUCH less than $150. Now whether you WANT to is a different story.

Dave Hall

[Ba r r y]

No, the stuff that comes off the top of the tools, especially saw blades. It never goes down the pipe.

I didn't believe that was the issue. I was under the impression that we were discussing if a fan and furnace filter were anywhere comparable to a squirrel cage unit, purchased or shop-built.

One $150 unit does great, the only reason to add a second is to get the same performance at a much lower noise level. No one ever said it was necessary to spend $400 to filter the air.

Barry