Box Fan Filter?

[kmmcrafts]

Some years back I thought I run across a metal type filter that could be washed off with a water hose etc. Anyone seen that or using one? 

My box fan quit working after 12 years.. they just don't make them like they used to.. most times I forgot to turn it off and I'd go to the shop the next day and not even need to turn it back on.. Some dust escapes the filter and covers the blade, motor etc.. used a air hose over the years to blow the dust off the blade etc. and blow it directly into the motor for more power.. but never helped. Honestly amazed that that cheap Lasco fan made it more than a year.. Must have been a bad day because I normally try repairing things.. not this time.. as I heard the garbage truck down the road at the neighbors I hurried out the shop ran out there so I could throw that thing in the truck myself... boy that felt good.. Now searching for a new one and WOW.. prices have doubled.. thinking now I'm mad because I tossed it out.. I'm almost 100% sure it was just the 3 speed switch.. it had been turning hard for maybe 5 years, motor always ran good and smooth.. most of the fans in the house the switch works but to motor makes a buzzing sound.. couple drops of oil and it repairs it for a couple years until the same thing... that shop fan never once did that.. maybe all that sawdust helped, LOL.. Looking online I found they sell replacement switches for just a couple bucks.. but that doesn't do me anything now that I tossed it in the garbage truck..

Anyway, I guess I need to shop for a new fan, and was wondering about those metal mesh filters.. I have the air filtration system that hangs from the ceiling.. That thing doesn't get even half the fine dust floating around.. Sure miss that fan and I never realized how much that thing filtered out until it was gone for the last couple weeks the shop has had a dust cloud.. Thinking I'm going to get two of the fans..

What filters you all run since I need those too.

[Mark SW]

Kevin check out McMaster-Carr

  different metal filters   air filters | McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr   maybe?

Reusable Metal Panel Filters, 1/2" Thick, 13 x 16-1/2 Trade Size | McMaster-Carr  this one is $9.25

Hope this helps.

Mark

Edited October 28, 2021 by Mark SW

[kmmcrafts]

11 minutes ago, Mark SW said:

Kevin check out McMaster-Carr

  different metal filters   air filters | McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr   maybe?

Reusable Metal Panel Filters, 1/2" Thick, 13 x 16-1/2 Trade Size | McMaster-Carr  this one is $9.25

Hope this helps.

Mark

I might try one of these.. I need a 20 x 20 butthey have them for around $18.. Buying the better furnace filters for allergies cost close to the same.. and they clog up fast.. I do use them for 6 - 12 months.. I just tap the loose dust off and once in a while take it outside with the air hose and blow them out good.. They start falling apart after 6-8 months but I push them out to about a year if I can.. But the metal one should last a very long time if I could wash it out with a hose.. 

I wonder how well they filter..in comparison to the furnace ones.. It says for use with dust etc.. Hmmm.. Anyone have experience with them?  I might have to be the try.. 

[Mark SW]

 

This is an old Lasko and the refrigerator on the left side is over 50years old and still works.

[Scrappile]

Here is my take, and it has nothing to do with the metal filters,,, I know nothing about them.. I had a fancy setup with the pipes,,, fancy nice Fein Dust extractor.. I use it for 2 month past its' three year warranty and the motor fired..  I am not going to buy another,, I dug out my old Lasko and hung it on a projector screen stand,,,and have it right next to my saw, I can adjust it to the height I want and easily move it between saws... I've decided this is what I will use from now on..  I honestly have less dust in the shop and house... I know it is working better than the fancy set up I had because my nose does not get plugged up like it use to after hours of sawing... I have more sawdust under my saw that I have to vacuum up, but that only takes a minute and that dust is not floating around the shop or up my nose..  So I am back to where I started many years ago.  I am really happy with this setup...

 

 

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, Scrappile said:

Here is my take, and it has nothing to do with the metal filters,,, I know nothing about them.. I had a fancy setup with the pipes,,, fancy nice Fein Dust extractor.. I use it for 2 month past its' three year warranty and the motor fired..  I am not going to buy another,, I dug out my old Lasko and hung it on a projector screen stand,,,and have it right next to my saw, I can adjust it to the height I want and easily move it between saws... I've decided this is what I will use from now on..  I honestly have less dust in the shop and house... I know it is working better than the fancy set up I had because my nose does not get plugged up like it use to after hours of sawing... I have more sawdust under my saw that I have to vacuum up, but that only takes a minute and that dust is not floating around the shop or up my nose..  So I am back to where I started many years ago.  I am really happy with this setup...

 

 

Totally agree.. When I first got the hanging filter I could tell right away that it's not something that'll do great for the whole shop.. I have a big dust collector but it's only hooked up to my planner but that thing is more of a chip collector than fine dust.. Cheap box fan and filter set up has been the most effective and cheapest part of dust collecting. I'm going to get two fans to run.. I have a sanding station that is at the other end of the shop.. I got tired of moving the fan.. The hanging filter system does still get quite a lot of stuff in the filter.. but probably from my sanding station when I'm too lazy to move the fan.. just to sand something small real quick. 

I have always wanted to set up collection right at the saw.. and I bought a system to build with a cheap metro vac and dust separator thing.. I still haven't built it.. in part because I also bought a Seyco scroll saw dust vac.. basically what I bought to build at double to cost, LOL Anyway since the Seyco was just plug and play I did set that up to my Excalibur... but while not loud.. it's not quiet either and I like to listen to the radio while scrolling.. only time I hear the radio is in between cuts unless I blast the radio so the neighbors can also listen, LOL.. I'm not playing free music for them.. If I have to pay for the cd then I'm not playing it for free to them, .. they can buy their own cd

[OCtoolguy]

I was at H/D looking at furnace filters and ran across a 4-pak of thin filters for under $5. So, being the cheapskate that I am, I brought them home and put 2 on each side of the fan and held them in place with two long elastic cords thatcame with the tire covers for our old travel trailer. It works great. Between that fan, my overhead Wen air cleaner and the dust vac system I have on each saw, my tiny shop is fairly dust free.

[Puzzleguy]

I have these two  filters besides my Grizzly dust collection system  - The mobile k is no longer made , but basically its a box fan with a filter on a roll -looks like a fiberglass filter medium - ive only pulled it up two times - basically theirs like 90 percent of the roll still their [ i clean it with a shop vac every now and then -

but my primary filtration is from my N-95 
Mask !  ( never a mistake to over do protecting your lungs ! - )

Actually i dont think the total shop is made either - But i saw a smaller simalar unit on amazon 

Edited October 31, 2021 by Puzzleguy

[kmmcrafts]

16 minutes ago, Puzzleguy said:

I have these two  filters besides my Grizzly dust collection system  - The mobile k is no longer made , but basically its a box fan with a filter on a roll -looks like a fiberglass filter medium - ive only pulled it up two times - basically theirs like 90 percent of the roll still their [ i clean it with a shop vac every now and then -

but my primary filtration is from my N-95 
Mask !  ( never a mistake to over do protecting your lungs ! - )

Actually i dont think the total shop is made either - But i saw a smaller simalar unit on amazon 

I have the same Grizzly.. that other one looks interesting.. I find the box fan does way more than the Grizzly but maybe because the box fan sits closer to where it's needed while the grizzly just hangs around from the ceiling..

I never liked using the N95..but I do use the Elipse mask. https://www.gvs.com/en/catalog/elipse-p100-niosh-respirator

Edited October 31, 2021 by kmmcrafts

[BadBob]

I used a box fan filter for a long time and got rid of it because I constantly bumped into it and knocked it over. Plus, changing the filters was a pain. I taped mine on so it did not leak.

 

Unless you are doing a controlled scientific test, I do not see how you can determine if the box fan works better. Having used both, I can say for sure that a box fan has a lot lower initial cost, but not that it works any better.

 

I have a WEN 3417 3-Speed Remote-Controlled Industrial-Strength Air Filtration System (556/702/1044 CFM) that I run at low speed most of the time. 

[kmmcrafts]

45 minutes ago, BadBob said:

I used a box fan filter for a long time and got rid of it because I constantly bumped into it and knocked it over. Plus, changing the filters was a pain. I taped mine on so it did not leak.

 

Unless you are doing a controlled scientific test, I do not see how you can determine if the box fan works better. Having used both, I can say for sure that a box fan has a lot lower initial cost, but not that it works any better.

 

I have a WEN 3417 3-Speed Remote-Controlled Industrial-Strength Air Filtration System (556/702/1044 CFM) that I run at low speed most of the time. 

Well there is some said test I've seen on youtube.. while his test may not have been super sophisticated it was more sophisticated than mine... but my experience is.. I've almost always used a box fan since almost the day I started scrolling.. I added the 3 speed Grizzly ceiling hanging unit only a few years ago.. It does help.. but not perfect so I turn it on when I go to the shop.. Being my box fan broke I can certainly see all the dust that settled overnight.. that didn't happen before the box fan quit.. even though I'm still running the Grizzly..

I do not do any mounting of the filter to the fan as it stays in place by the vacuum of the fan moving the air.. each night when shutting the shop down I shut the fan off.. take the filter outside and tap it on a light poll I have in the yard, I then take it back in the shop and lean it on the stand my fan sits on so it's all ready for the next day.. I seen in Pauls photo that he had a stretchy cord holding his in place. There is a ( or used to be ) bracket you could buy that screwed to the back of the fan to allow a slot to side the filter down into so it'd stay.. 

[Mark SW]

5 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

There is a ( or used to be ) bracket you could buy that screwed to the back of the fan to allow a slot to side the filter down into so it'd stay.. 

On my fan I use 3 L brackets one on the bottom and one on each side.

I also have the WEN 3417 (my son lost the remote) air filtration as well as a single stage Delta dust collector and a Elipse P100 mask.

I always  use all of them.

 

[Puzzleguy]

We knock the old fashion box fan with a filter taped on the front of it,

I did that ( my mobile k is simalar to that ) sometimes something that works and 

cheap is the ticket -by the way sometimes your shop vac can clean them

and you don't need to buy a new filter -those 3m performance filters

are allot better than your standard dollar furnace filters .

Edited November 2, 2021 by Puzzleguy

[Puzzleguy]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:19 PM, Mark SW said:

On my fan I use 3 L brackets one on the bottom and one on each side.

I also have the WEN 3417 (my son lost the remote) air filtration as well as a single stage Delta dust collector and a Elipse P100 mask.

I always  use all of them.

 

Wondering if your couldnt contact wen for a replacement remote !  i found a wireless on and off box

that i run my ceiling unit from -in a discount bin at home depot years ago . my unit didnt come with a remote .

 

My method for the old Box fan and filter is basically the lazy man version - tape it on the front 

that was my first air filter

 

[Mark SW]

1 hour ago, Puzzleguy said:

Wondering if your couldnt contact wen for a replacement remote

Now I fill dum. Never even thought about that. Thanks

Mark

[OCtoolguy]

2 hours ago, Mark SW said:

Now I fill dum. Never even thought about that. Thanks

Mark

Those wireless controllers for Christmas lights are 15 amp rated and work great for turning stuff on & off. I use one for lots of things. They are cheap.

[Wichman]

   Here are metal mesh filters for HVAC system, they have 20 x 20 in either 1 or 2 inch thick units, they are fairly expensive and they are NOT designed for small dust.

https://www.grainger.com/search?cpnuser=undefined&searchBar=true&searchQuery=metal+mesh+filter+for+hvac+unit&suggestConfigId=6

   Back when I was using a wood stove I bought a unit with a washable prefilter (cat hair) and a washable electrostatic main filter. It has worked very well for 8+ years. I have it set up to blow fresh air across the saw, in the same direction the saw blower goes.