MaxYakov

53 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

OK I live just outside BK ... 400M from Klong Prapa which is the boarder. This morning the AQI is low ... took reading about 5:45am and it felt really humid outside which my meter showed that it was..

 

Air purifier and Air Con running all night in the bedroom

 

In the house down stairs

 

Outside

 

Just wondered what reading people are getting 'in the smoke'  ....

Sorry, Klong Prapa doesn't do it for me. Can you give us your latitude and longitude (aka GPS coordinates). These are readily available in Google Maps (if one knows how to use Google maps effectively, that is).

38 minutes ago, DaveInSukhumvit said:

Has anyone seen where you can buy filters like this in Bangkok?  They are common in US at 1" thick.
 

Probably HomePro, if they're not sold out and if they even stock it. HomePro may not stock it because looks like (from the size of it) a main HVAC system filter rather than one of a smaller electronic air purifier such as the Hatari HA 9218 HEPA filter (a filter for which I have in the past purchased from HomePro at Chitlom, Bankok). the HA 9218 filter is about 1 inch thick because it combines the HEPA particle filter material component with a charcoal odor-reducing component. Air should always be directed to go through the HEPA particle filter first. The HA 9218 HEPA filter is marked with an air-flow direction arrow and a clean-to-dirty color gray scale on the outside of the filter.

You could, I suppose, put two HA 9218 HEPA filters (or any smaller air purifier HEPA filter side by side to make one as wide or even wider than the one shown. But it gets a little expensive to buy the dedicated HEPA filters for air purifiers (> 600 baht), depending upon how quickly they get dirty - in my experience (depending on whether I'm filtering outside air or only room air) very quickly.

If you're thinking of using such a filter with a box fan and the filter has a charcoal odor filter, you might dump the carbon layer to get better air flow. You might also with placing just the HEPA, folded filter material component in the fan's intake rather than in it fan's output. This may require that the filter be spaced further away from the fan so as to not interfere with the fan's aerodynamic characteristics. Such a spacing would require building a simple plenum out of corrugated plastic construction material or even cardboard. At least with such a plenum you could get away with having only one smaller air purifier HEPA filter rather than two by designing the plenum to "narrow-down" with distance from a (larger width) box fan.

Have fun with your R and D DiY project!

1 hour ago, fishism said:

I think the one I bought could be for the HA9218 looking at the size.

 

The PBC-555 looks too big for me, I have zero spare space. They had something like that, or that, on the display but I didn't see a price. In tesco similar machines or the same started at about 2000 baht so significantly cheaper than the purifiers but had no bells or whistles.

The evaporative coolers will be larger by necessary design (water reservoir, cooling insert, etc). But they are coolers so the fan is very powerful - enough so that installing a moderate filter is not a show-stopper in terms of air velocity/volume. My PBC-333 has an ionizer output vane oscillator and an infra-red remote control (I bought it on CraigsList, second hand so I didn't even pay full price). Probably, the PBC-555 has the same PBC-333 features and is about the same size.

I chose the HA 9218 HEPA filter because it was a good fit for the PBC-333 air intake. I'm going to attempt to use it rather than having it sit around gathering dust. I plan on pre-filtering it with a single layer of 3M Filtrete filter material so that it catches what the Filtrete layer misses and, hopefully, will extend its useful life. I don't know what to do with the restriction of its carbon layer if that layer is there only there for odors. I may attempt to remove it. the main filter is folded so it's air flow restriction should be relatively small.

Hey, if space is too tight for a PBC-xxx cooler, then maybe you should consider wearing a dust/fume mask while in your abode and same a lot on electricity and air purifier expense (i.e. turn your body into an air purifier as when you're outside????). I do that partially these days when on the balcony or in the bathroom (which is separated from Bangkok air by only an single layer of 3M Filtrete filter material). 

14 minutes ago, fishism said:

So this is what I went with today, the extractor fan is very noisy and not sure if i can change the speed. The Hatari fan doesn't have much air flow with the filter just sat on the top, i'll probably change it to the back.

 

Anyone know if the motor will burn out or catch fire if it cannot turn at the speed it wants to?

I experimented trying to filter the air through a 3-bladed fan but it did not like the flow restriction on it's intake side. I don't know if that's what's going on with yours. My evaporative cooler conversion to be an air purifier/cooling fan was a lot more successful and I still use it today. Description Ref: HERE

As far as the temperature/fire issue I can't help you other than to monitor the motor temperature. A box fan may have been a better choice. My PBC-333 evaporative cooler uses a very powerful squirrel-cage fan (rather than the conventional 3-bladed fan) and functions very well (on low) with the intake restriction of a single layer of 3M Filtrete filter material.

I ran across this DiY conversion using a box fan and an HEPA filter with the filter installed on the output side of the rather than on the intake. The downside of this probably be that the high-velocity/high-volume output would be attenuated so much by the filter that it would not be useful for body cooling. Installing the filter on the intake side of the fan could interfere also with air flow velocity/volume. Here's the video (there are several DiY air purifiers videos on YouTube):

29 minutes ago, fishism said:

I was going to ask "What air purifier would you recommend purchasing while I wait for the Xiaomi 2s to become back in stock?"

 

But I went to Tesco and 2 HomePro stores today and they are all out of Air Purifiers of all kind including the display models. They had no Filtrete filters but one HomePro had a display with Hatari filters for something which they wasn't too sure what but they were suggesting attaching it to the front of an extractor fan. I had just purchased a new fan so I told her I would use that, she then got her phone out and showed me a social media feed, probably line, with all photos of ideas to make diy air purifiers, I then showed her another filter I had just purchased and she rushed off to get me the "correct" fan to use with it, I was thinking of making something using a computer fan and an adjustable power supply but was finding it difficult to find the parts.

 

I'm thinking I should have bought more but I don't have anyway to test if my efforts are working.

 

Does anyone know where I can get a 2.5pm meter or module so I can make my own. I can only find in china with a 3-4 week delivery estimate.

 

 

A long time ago I converted a PerfectBrandz PBC-333 evaporative cooler to be an air purifier/fan. While experimenting with various filter material for it, I bought an HEPA filter that was intended for an Hatari air purifier - Model HA 9218. I did a test installation, but didn't use the Hatari filter because I knew it would get dirty rapidly and they cost 600 baht each. In those days I was actually trying to filter outside air and bring it into the room for cooling. I don't do that anymore (haven't for years) because of the extreme pollution. I now run a relatively closed room and pay the electric for room cooling with my A/C unit. I also use 3M Filtrete filter material in both my A/C evaporator and in my converted evaporative cooler air purifier/cooling fan.

The PerfectBrandz PBC-333 is no long available. Its replacement is the PBC-555 which seems to be available in Bangkok. The PBC-555 might lend itself well to conversion to be an air purifier/cooling fan. Converting the PBC-333 was relatively easy and was less half the price of a single-purpose air purifier. I'm wondering if the air purifiers can generate the high-volume air flow that is needed to provide enough cooling as can my PBC-333 using one layer of 3M Filtrete filter material.

44 minutes ago, wood said:

Going the whole nine yards here....

 

More info on keeping it out of the home

 

We have 3 aircon units mounted in the false ceiling that are fed their coolant from external evaporator fan units, pretty standard set up..

Upon viewing today into the void space which is approximately 60cm deep i noticed in addition to the coolant feed and return pipes a good number of other "utility" pipes that run hidden up in the ceiling void.

These pipes all had a clear hole around them as they access our property from the outside and beyond, clearly a source for outside (polluted) air to enter our property, bedrooms and living areas.

Now then, I have previously stated that our Xiaomi 2S purifier was adequately managing the inside home Pm2.5 levels, but, this recent pollution increase has had it on full wack to keep the pm2.5 levels below 5mcg.

Off to Hompro again..... bought an aerosol can of cavity expanding foam and spent a couple of hours sealing all those hidden entry points up in the roof void, pretty easy to reach fortunately.

So here at 10.30pm is a shot of the Xiaomi pm2.5 running  at a register of 1 mcg and it is now maintaining this at the lowest nightime fan speed.

 

When will it ever end....

Thanks for the update If you're going to run a sealed room, don't forget the CO₂ scrubber and O₂ generator (or tanks).

I've read (and it makes sense to me) that it is not recommended (unhealthy) to occupy a sealed room for long periods (such as in the wintertime). I was a nuclear submarine crew member sealed up for 60+ days at a time on patrol and we were told by the Atmosphere Control Officer that the air pollution in the sub was actually worse the the LA smog at it's worst (there was cooking and smoking by the crew was allowed). The O₂ level would drop to the point where cigarettes would self-extinguish if they were placed into an ash tray. Believe it or not, the O₂ bleed into the interior was done manually.

I seemed to have survived the experience without wearing a PM2.5 mask, but these days I'm not as young so I'm not taking any chances.

PS: I believe the A/C compressor (of the refrigerant) is external (outside) and the evaporator (cooling unit) is inside. Also, it ends when the fat lady sings.

"I do not want to cause troubles to the people because I want them to have awareness,” said the prime minister."

Something (like logic) lost in translation with this quote from the PM?

4 hours ago, Pib said:

This morning/7:30am/31 Jan in my western Bangkok (Khet Talingchan) moobaan PM2.5 reading of 25 inside my air conditioned (standard filtering) bedroom.  Outside reading 183.  

What is the "standard filtering" of your A/C?

My A/C "standard filters" ( very coarse plastic screen) would not even have been able to stop a mosquito until I upgraded them with 3M Filtrete^TM filter material.

Does anyone know where I can buy a cheap CO₂ scrubber and an O₂ generator so I can seal my abode up like the nuclear submarines of my distant past?

I already have the air purifier (such as it is) and know where to buy the door seal tape thanks to this thread????.

3 minutes ago, RickG16 said:

Nice map... but when walking about, is there actually a lack of visibility? Can you feel it when you breath?

Sure, a lack of visibility when one of the diesel buses (or some other motor vehicle) belches a black cloud of exhaust which you should not feel because you should be wearing a decent mask when out and about in Bangkok. I can actually correlate the lack of visibility when I look across Lumphini Park at the buildings in the Silom area (a few miles) with the RTAQ level on the website.

Ref Reply: HERE

5 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Is that N95 or FFP2 certified?  I've seen those in the past at home improvement stores here....and not recall seeing any certification for PM2.5.

 

Excellent question. I don't know and they don't say even though it's a 3-layers of filter material. It seemed to be effective in that the outer layer would get dirty and the inner layer would not, although it's not rated like the 3M filters.

I've recently replaced the original filter with a 2-layer filter made of material I've cut from a 3M N95, PM2.5 disposable filter with an outer (pre-filter) layer of 3M Filtrete^TM filter material. Breathing restriction is not too bad with this dual-layer. That's one of the beauties of this unit - the filter material can be replaced with a custom (and hopefully, superior) filter material. This image actually shows the mask with the upgraded 3M PM2.5 disposable filter material installed before I installed the 3M Filtrete^TM outer layer.

4 hours ago, Pravda said:

Does anyone have a recommendation for a comfortable mask? I use 3M and it's really hurting my nose.

I've been using this type for ten years and it's well-cushioned on the nose. They've been available at HomePro and Central Chitlom department store, but these days who knows if they're sold out or not.

3 hours ago, Jajazazajaja said:

Felt like crap after just going for a 20 mins walk around Thong Lo just then. 

(And I’m a fit man!)

 

 

this is no good 

Were you wearing a decent, particle-stopping mask? I haven't gone out without wearing one in the last ten years (and I still feel like crap too ????).

5 hours ago, Bundooman said:

This sentence accurately sums up the Thailand of today. It hits the nail on the head and the 'government, police and schools should hang their heads in shame!

 

Shame? What is this "shame" word?

2 minutes ago, a977 said:

The rider was too immature to understand the road laws in that a motorcycle is permitted to carry only 2 people

Not to mention the latent directional instability that can occur with that kind of weight essentially over the rear wheel.

The children are running the motorbike-diseased asylum of Thailand. R.I.P. little ex-inmates.

Swim call! Life vests are optional. Who's got the shark watch?

16 hours ago, Lee man said:

Corruption in Thailand is a way of life,it will never be stopped...Its how the country works..

"And it has suggested that the cure is to take action each and every time the "symptoms" are spotted."

That's right. Treat the symptoms and not the root cause.

Is he going to use the "sex emergency" defense I wonder.

I've already declared my apartment to be a "pollution control zone". No cooking, smoking, talcum powder or any other atmosphere contaminant. Nothing wide open to Bangkok air with doors closed at all times. Filtering of air 24 x 7 with filter on bathroom window. I'm considering wearing my outdoor 2.5PM face mask 24 x 7 (except during sex and eating) within my apartment, but that may scare the geckos.

1 minute ago, retoohs said:

I recently read an article that said if every vehicle was switched from petrol/deisel to electric overnight they would need 200 new power stations to power them. We are still a long way from electric vehicles taking over

Yeah, if the people switched to bicycles overnight then they would need a lot more food (and they would be in my face a lot more).

How do you ease the I/Q gap? The motivation gap? The get-out-and-hustle gap? Going to do that by redistributing wealth from the rich and the productive or going into national debt for trillions of baht?