Cheap homemade air purifier using water -DIY

I wanted a rainbow rain-mate but didn't really want to spend that kind of money. so here we are. 1 peanut butter jar, 1 cheap chines made blower and some 1/2 inch tubing. the fan is a 12v fan and the transformer was a random 18v charger i clipped the end off of and wired to the fan. i originally had just the tubing adapter and 1 tube but it wasn't enough air flow so i added more tubing. Now it works great and is quieter than our microwave. Please feel free to leave comments or suggestions to make it better. It

[ChemicalChrisOttawa]

Perhaps add a second stage with air going through an aquarium air stone? Would produce much smaller bubbles (greater surface area) allowing much finer purification. The first stage would trap any large pieces of dirt that would otherwise clog the airstone. You could even consider using a stage with some kind of oil (ie hydrogenated vegetable oil) which would trap hydrophobic contaminants, and the oil won't evaporate off to mess up your room (the water stage would remove hydrophillic particles).
Just an idea.

[CARBIDE]

Great Idea. I was going to make one of these a few years back, but with a foam diffuser in the water to break any bubbles .

[BigDave]

i had this idea last night for a 5 gallon bucket, except i thought having one big pipe going into the water that has a bunch of small holes to diffuse the bubbles like an aquarium air stone, thus creating more tiny bubbles with more surface area exposed to the water so it takes more smaller particles out of the air

[alanalan-mqyw]

Back in the 80s there was a company called altex, that sold a portable device, I went to see demonstation they where hiring salespeople, and it held about 2-3 gallons of water in the clear plastic resivoir and pluged in and sucked air through bottom side inlet, it worked great and trapped lots of particles within minutes but was loud. Guess air filter companies didn't like this, water is inexpensive

[OsmosisHD]

I'd would add an 20mA fuse and maybe a zener diode just to be sure, in case someone accidentally knocks it over.

Mine "rainbow" is based upon an industrial coffee-machine and a magnetron/oven combi.
Used tubes&relays from the coffeemachine, and the magnetron has a very decent sized low noise fan running @ mains-voltage.
Even used the PSU from the magnetron for safety (had fuses, MOT, voltage regulators and such)
And as added bonus the watercleaned air passes an HEPA filter before being released into my room

[robbidi]

Cool idea. Should add a HEPPA filter to it though, as I doubt all the impurities are being filtered out (think of all the smoke that passes through in a bong).

[jimbopaw]

Not sure how much dust it will trap, and if it will trap tiny particules (asbestos, allergens). Maybe it's better if you can have it produce more, smaller bubbles? Some way of diffusing and breaking down the bubbles. Nice idea though and thanks for sharing. Might have potential.

[rilkatop]

clever man! i never thought of using water as purify medium!

[DanielJLopes]

18V PSU for a 12V fan? :) Shouldnt last long, I would advise you to get a resistor, or use a lower PSU, if it still has power, or a better motor :)
Aside from that, its really nice, well done :)

[Kevinob]

Hi, I already tried this kind of homemade air purifier before. To test it I put some cigarette smoke next to it, the smoke went out...it has no time to be trapped by the water. The water surface area circuit in contact with the air should be longer to have a chance to trap anything...

[abbahgracelwider]

Hello can i use 12v power pack or it should be 18v?

[megantoncray]

Could you possibly add activated black charcoal to filter out oders

[wingwing]

This is amazing
Do u have a tutorial or sth? thx

[SD-mxiv]

Very cool, Joshua. Do you think something like this could be adapted to filter shop smoke in an unvented room?

[MechInvent]

i just did this with a 3.5 inch pipe and the water didn't budge :/. not sure but I will do some research.

[LiliantiWibiesono]

I’m curious, does it really work? After 1 month the water become dirty?

[justin]

add a humidifier and a dehumidifer stage to the airflow. ever fart in the shower. the smell is stronger and doesn't linger as long. the deeper or longer the air travels near water molecules the more contaminates are removed.

[Texasredfish]

Great idea sir..what size peanut jar did you use if you don't mind I ask?

[ClownWhisper]

Why is the name of God when you put out a four second video

[mihirvardhan]

u do know that, what u have made can only filter out particulate matter that is huge. stuff like smoke wont get filtered. try it. im telling u