Activated Charcoal Cooker Hood Filters

Use to reuse activated charcoal in aquarium filters after boiling it.

That's just boiled up in a pan of water?

Thats all we ever did placed it in a pan and boiled it for a while. The boiling water would start to scum up on the surface when done. Then take it to the sink and flush and cool it with cold water. Try not to get the scum back on the charcoal surface as you flush it. Kills all the critters living in it. Dissolves most of the salts out and releases the oils which float to the surface of the water. If its really dirty mite need to do it twice. Once was usually enough.

Nice, I'll give it a go.

Better still Del - just take it out and chuck it saying to your better half that now you've cleaned it she will notice a much higher ventilation rate....

Result - You get brownie points for doing it so quick and she will think the sun really does shine where it shouldn't for a few weeks as well as saving the environment and most of all money and beer time... LOL

John.

P.S. is she blonde??

There have been a couple of suggestions that boiling use activated charcoal will rejuvenate it.

I would have thought that to open up the pores and expose the very large surface area to the imputities that you want the charcoal to remove would require burning off the imputies by heating the charcoal to red heat, and possibly re-activating it with chlorine gas.

I use charcoal in my aquarium, and have no idea of the quantiy of impurities that it would absorb before it is clogged up, so I change the stuff regularly (about once a fortnight) It quite cheap, and burying charcoal is better than burning it.

Finally a question i love to answer and also question I believe I am qualified to answer! I will explain you why!

I am a mechanical engineer with 25 years (exact) experience in manufacture and applications of AC..presently MD of a AC manufacturing company in Sri Lanka.

Back to the question...

Boiling will bring back only a small amount of activity back. If you really want to regenerate spent AC you have to heat it to about 650-700 Centigrade, preferably in the presence of steam. But when you do you have to incinerate the gases which come off, otherwise you will be doing more harm to the environment!

Sending it to a land fill or incinerator will be a better approach. Amount in cooker hood is too small to attempt regeneration.

About aquariums.. better do not use spent carbon from cooker hood. It again may do more harm to fish. This is specially true for marine aquariums.

Try also to understand the difference between charcoal and Activated Carbon. Charcoal is the raw material for making AC and has very low adsorption capacity.Never use charcoal instead of AC. Though both look same the characteristics are very different.

Del you live in this big wealthy country. So why do you want to be a cheapskate? I thought the that is reserved for lesser mortals like us who live in the developing poor world!

So why do you want to be a cheapskate?

GASP! <falls off chair>
The world is shot to hell because idiots spend vast amounts on consumer goods they neither need nor really want!

Because I'm an engineer!!!

Why do I make a longbow? An electric golf trolley? Solar panels? why do I paint and make sculptures?
Because it's fun, interesting, satisfies my need to actually DO something rather than sitting there seizing up and becoming useless.....and if it saves a few pounds in the proces then that's fine .
...read my profile!

Why transport AC around if there is no need? Ok your answer tells me it's the best option...that's fine...but I don't know until I ask!!!

I'm curious...surely the one defining characteristic of an Engineer!

(Ok when I called myself a cheapskate it was a bit of fun...that's the charm of British humour...we can be self deprocating and laugh at ourselves)

Anyhow cats do what the heck they like

Del

Hi again...

Another way to look at it...
I would prefer to spend a week re-roofing the extension flat roof, rather than work an extra two days a week for a few weeks so that I can pay someone else to do it!
I will also know the job is done how I like it, and I'll keep fit in the process (assuming I refrain from falling off )

Del