Cleaning mineral salt from Carbon Filter

[BirDMan420]

Hey guys, didn’t have the money to buy a ton of distilled water or have an RO system so I was running hard water through my humidifier.. which led to my filter sock building up minerals on it and a little bit on the filter itself. I have read that lemon juice and vinegar can break it up.. so in theory I wanted to wipe the filter with a damp cloth of lemon juice with air blowing out of the filter.. would this work? Or are there any other ways to clean the filter? It’s an ac infinity filter. Also any ideas for the time being with how to purify my water without an RO filter or buying the distilled water? I plan on buying an ro system but just need the funds

 

[BII]

I presume you are referring to mineral build-up on an AC Infinity air filter, with its outer pre-filter (the "filter sock?) having collected mineral dust from use of an ultrasonic humidifier?

Perhaps try the simple, safer, on-hand stuff first, such as lemon juice (citric acid) and vinegar (acetic acid). Then if really needed, get a descaler/lime removal liquid product (likely hydrochloric or sulfuric acid - be careful).

You may not need to bother to get it wet, if you can shake off the crud. I've often taken pre-filters (and air conditioner and duct filters) outside and beat them against a post, a clean surface, etc., knocking the dry particulates into the air.

 

[BII]

I think if you get a cheap RO-including filter system, it will 'pay' for itself in even the first grow in terms of quality, yield, and/or less worries and problems. Use it for feeding the plants and your own drinking water, besides desalted water for the humidifier. For ex., see Amazon product

 

[DCLXVI]

I second the cheap RO system. I have the $50 RO buddy and it works great.

There are small mineral absorbing thingies you can put in your humidifier to help cut down on the white dust. Not as effective as RO in the tank but a cheap stopgap for the moment. I think Target has them on the shelf by the pharmacy section. I remember it looking like a plastic fish.


Here's the Amazon version

Amazon product

 

[BirDMan420]

I presume you are referring to mineral build-up on an AC Infinity air filter, with its outer pre-filter (the "filter sock?) having collected mineral dust from use of an ultrasonic humidifier?

Perhaps try the simple, safer, on-hand stuff first, such as lemon juice (citric acid) and vinegar (acetic acid). Then if really needed, get a descaler/lime removal liquid product (likely hydrochloric or sulfuric acid - be careful).

You may not need to bother to get it wet, if you can shake off the crud. I've often taken pre-filters (and air conditioner and duct filters) outside and beat them against a post, a clean surface, etc., knocking the dry particulates into the air.

I think if you get a cheap RO-including filter system, it will 'pay' for itself in even the first grow in terms of quality, yield, and/or less worries and problems. Use it for feeding the plants and your own drinking water, besides desalted water for the humidifier. For ex., see Amazon product

I second the cheap RO system. I have the $50 RO buddy and it works great.

There are small mineral absorbing thingies you can put in your humidifier to help cut down on the white dust. Not as effective as RO in the tank but a cheap stopgap for the moment. I think Target has them on the shelf by the pharmacy section. I remember it looking like a plastic fish.


Here's the Amazon version

Amazon product

I just bought that ro filter with a faucet adapter! This is why I love this forum! The sock and filter itself has mineral build up unfortunately but I will try to hit the build up off when I can and try the lemon juice or vinegar to clean them if need be. I’ve noticed that the negative pressure isn’t as great after using my cloudforge t7. This has only happened in the past month. I’m just glad I have literally a few more days left with this plant. Thanks again guys as always