I got a free blower motor from a member of another forum. Its from a house HVAC this thing moves some air. It has 3 speeds. I only wired the low speed and it moves plenty of air.
I made a box to fit around the blower and the filters I bought. It measures 14.5” H x 25.5” W x 34.5” L.
Im using 12×24 filters. The prefilter I bought from Lowes it is a 3M 1500. Not sure what the micron rating is but it filters 93% which I know is good. The second filter I bought is a multi pocket filter from here. http://www.filters-now.com/products/ir5.html#products It is a 12×24 x 15 5 pocket 95% filter.
On this side of the box I made to seperate sides with a piece of foam sealing them. The front side has the motor mounted to it. The back one is made to come off so I can access the filters to change them. Other plans I saw used a hinge on the side but I didn’t think that it would seal well.
Spacers to hold the filters.
I decided to paint the blowers because it had a stink to it. The previous owner was a cigar smoker. I painted to seal in the smell. It worked.
Here it is finished and hung from the ceiling. I screwed 2×4’s into the rafters with 4” lag screws and then I put 3” lag eye screws into the 2×4’s. The S hooks I used are rated for 90 lbs each. I think the whole thing weighs about 40 -50 lbs so one hook will hold its weight. Overkill but I didn’t want this thing falling on my head. I also had to lower the light I had in this same spot as the air cleaner was blocking all the light.
I ran the power to a power strip on miter bench to turn on an off. I want to find a timer to hook up as well so I can run it for a couple of hours after I leave the shop.
In case you are wondering about the stain job this plywood was recycled from a display from work. I didn’t put a finish on it because I wanted to see if it was going to work before I invested the time. It works great so now I need to take it down and decide on a finish. I want to paint it blue to match my new cabinets but it might be better to paint it white to help reflect light. What do you guys think?
Bret
-- http://public.fotki.com/bj383ss/
8 comments so far
JPZ
home | projects | blog
16 posts in 643 days
#1 posted 457 days ago
Looks great and thank you for sharing all the build info.
IMHO, I would paint it white to reflect the light and not to stand out too much. Blue would make it stick out too much.
DIYaholic
home | projects | blog
7278 posts in 841 days
#2 posted 457 days ago
Nice job.
White is Bright!
I’m building one my self. It will be wall mounted, in a closet with ceiling level intake & floor level exhaust. I have 7’ ceiling, hence no headroom to install it from the ceiling. I have all the ply cut. I still need to assemble the unit, paint it gray, wire up the variable speed & timer, then install it in the closet. I will then be able to breathe easier, both figuratively & literally!
-- Randy-- I may not be good...but I am slow!
dbhost
home | projects | blog
4748 posts in 1398 days
#3 posted 457 days ago
That looks great. Those shop built filters do a little something for the shop air other than clean it…
If you must paint it, paint it white. Keeps it from becoming a light hog and darkening the shop up… I actually like the way it looks as is though…
-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!
Big Ben
home | projects | blog
69 posts in 1057 days
#4 posted 457 days ago
Great job, I have a similar motor that I want to use to make one.
How complicated was the wiring?
bj383ss
home | projects | blog
97 posts in 528 days
#5 posted 457 days ago
THanks guys!
@Big Ben. The wiring was super easy. The neutral to neutral. Run the ground to the chassis. The Hot wire went to one of the speeds. I was lucky there was a wiring diagram on the motor telling which wire was what speed. I am going to wire a timer into though.
Bret
-- http://public.fotki.com/bj383ss/
wolflrv
home | projects | blog
85 posts in 538 days
#6 posted 456 days ago
Great job!! I’d have to agree that as much as I like the blue…I’d paint it white..keep the ceiling looking “neutral”.
-- Handcrafted toys, models & gifts at -- http://www.wolfwoodworks.com
grumpy749
home | projects | blog
112 posts in 544 days
#7 posted 448 days ago
paint er white It will look great. When it gits dirty its telling ya what a great job its doing. I would say this is the second item every woodworker should acquire right after a table saw. It took me years to get around to building mine and every time I look at the dust laden filters it reminds me how much cleaner my lungs are. Very nice job by the way.
-- Denis in Grande Prairie. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mistery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.....Pink !
MrRon
home | projects | blog
1573 posts in 1410 days
#8 posted 288 days ago
I also built an air cleaner along the same lines as yours, but mine was a 220 V blower. If you paint it, go with a high gloss white so dust won’t collect on the surfaces so readily and be easier to keep clean.
Have your say...