the dirty secret about portable a/c's

[smokey_waters]

I have a dual-hose SPT portable a/c pushing about 9K BTU's.

Despite advertising claims and my best efforts, the motherfucker still takes air from THE ROOM, thereby exhausting air that SMELLS.

I need a filter that will still allow the hot air to be exhausted out the window, NOT spread out of the sides of a carbon filter. No, I'm not willing to pay $200 for a fucking ozonator, and, no, I cannot scrub the air in my tent anymore- it's a noise issue even w/ a muffler/silencer. How is there not an affordable solt'n sold at hydro stores??

tl;dr: How do you reduce the smell of the exhaust from a portable a/c w/o spending hundreds???

 

[hiboy]

Yes
Your right about sucking air in. You can put a carbon filter on the output of the a/c and that will reduce the smell. I want to upgrade to a minisplit in the near future... like most probably do
h

 

[smokey_waters]

Thx hiboy,

Do you know of any carbon filters where the filter runs perpendicular with the exhausted air and not parallel??

The only carbon filters I've found have the carbon on the side (phresh filter, odor sok), so the hot air would be blown all around the window instead of OUT of the window- which is necessary to keep temperature down. The only one is a cam fan that's 8"- ridiculous for a portable a/c (my tube's 4")

 

[dank_]

Putting a carbon filter on the AC exhaust would restrict the airflow of the unit. On my unit, there are multiple warnings about NOT restricting airflow of the exhaust.

I had a similar problem. My solution was to exhaust into another room and deal with the heat/smell in that room.

 

[DrCALIGREENTHUM]

Build a box surrounding a carbon filter setup, exhaust your ac air to the box and have the scrubber exhaust it elsewhere

 

[dirk d]

pretty much no way bro. you got to get a scrubber. you could spend all this energy trying to go around it and in the end you will still need a scrubber.

 

[hiboy]

Putting a carbon filter on the AC exhaust would restrict the airflow of the unit. On my unit, there are multiple warnings about NOT restricting airflow of the exhaust.

I had a similar problem. My solution was to exhaust into another room and deal with the heat/smell in that room.

If your worried about this situation
get an inline fan and that will bump up the flow
h

 

[AzGrOw-N-sMoKe]

Lung room for the win... Az

 

[skywalkerOG]

I put the 6" big blue ozone filter in between my AC exhaust. Works like a charm!

 

[TylerDurden119]

Dryer sheets bro, change them twice a day.

first thing i thought of. or get a scrubber.

 

[Cort]

Clean air through a sealed hood and pump that heat outdoors. Stink free

A small scrubber on a 4 or 6 inch fan being fed with passive intakes blowing this mildly warm air into the room your tent is in. stink free.

The room can now be cooled by the portable AC stink free.

To do it right its gonna cost a dollar or 3

 

[smokey_waters]

Big blue works like a charm, a $200 charm!

Can't do a lung room cuz I only or the one room, already have a scrubber in the tent that's not cutting it 100% (10x10 room), The fabric softener idea sounds good, provided I could have u come over twice a day and replace em- lol.

How about carbon filters on the back of the AC unit in place of the thin lame filter that came w/ it???

 

[Cort]

My filter cuts 100% of the smell in my tent.

Filter > fan > light > out the tent

dont smell a thing. Are you just scrubbing the air and dumping back into the tent?

 

[Aligee]

heres a suggestion sell that portable get a window unit and build a box around it for intake and exhaust of the ac theres tutorials on the net for this its the cheapest and most efficient compared to a portable besides a mini split good luck bro ~AliGee~

 

[Rushed]

Take out the dust filter in the unit and replace it with a flat carbon filter.
You will have to cut it to fit.
You can buy a flat carbon sheet, I found 1 at walmart it was like $20 depending on the size of your filter you should be able to get 3 or 4 filters out of it.

You can also take your unit apart and seal the exhaust with spray foam, so it doesn't suck in room air.
These things are made so cheap, for what they cost you would think they could close up the leaks.
The exhaust is only for heat that the unit makes it doesn't mix with room air that is recirculated in your room. (well it's not suppose to)

Good luck

 

[KennyPowers]

my mountain air filter came with instructions for putting it in inside a 55gal drum (large filter) if you wanted to use it inline. let the air flow into the carbon filter inside the drum, then put the exhaust line out the other side. with a tent setup you could use something much smaller than a drum as long as its not too tight around the filter.

stealth air box also makes inline carbon filters with replaceable slats, but their 4" model is pricier than the 4" big blue so i dont think you are going to be interested in those.

 

[smokey_waters]

Last couple day's really sucked. I got fucking neighbors complaining of noise, I will have them complaining of smell too if I don't get this sorted.

I got a carbon filter- goes to a stove range. It's kinda thick- 1/2" maybe- put it in and it gave the tent CRAZY negative pressure. Whats up w/ that?? I have a closed system- my lights are air cooled and ducted in a closed system- the only leak is the exhaust of portable a/c. How bad is neg pressure??

 

[Legallyflying]

It's not a secret that the exhaust air...I mean, dude, they come with an exhaust hose. Lol.

The big secret is that the are THE most inefficient AC unit you can buy. My split AC was $300 more but uses 1/3 of the power of a comparable portable

Don't mean to diss but in the end I think a carbon filter and a box around the motor to silence it is going to be the answer

 

[Legallyflying]

Are you exhausting the carbon range hood? Don't. Just let it run in the tent. It shouldn't cause neg pressure

 

[Dr.Pepper]

i've been in this exact situation before, i hate the portable AC's never worked for me.... BUt the part that stumps me is that i used to read about grows on OG back in the day about people using them successfully.....

is it even possible?