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Originally Posted by EPIQTodd
Here's what they look like - as boring as they come.
http://www.epiqautosport.com/mode/products/prid/202/1143
I agree - the charcoal filter version is a waste of money unless you drive it year round and half the year you have the top up/closed. Not as much for odors but for allergies, if you have them. Nice to have clean air in your small cabin if you drive it closed up, which if you do, is a mortal sin. |
Hi,
I disagree about the allergies. This is a common misconception. Both filters filter down to say 30 microns.
Activated Charcoal is Charcoal which is heated in an Oxygen atmosphere. This burns off many inherent gasses which exist
between the Carbon Molecules. This results in highly porous Charcoal that has surface areas of 300-2,000 square metres per gram. This so-called active, or
Activated, Charcoal is used to adsorb odorous or coloured substances from gases or liquids.
A material adsorbs something, by attaching, or bonding, to it by
chemical attraction. The huge surface area of activated charcoal gives it countless bonding sites. When certain chemicals pass next to the carbon surface, they bond to the surface and are trapped.
Activated charcoal is good at trapping other carbon-based impurities (
organic chemicals), as well as things like chlorine. Many other chemicals are not attracted to carbon at all -- sodium, nitrates, etc. -- so they pass right through.
This means that an activated charcoal filter will remove certain impurities while ignoring others. It also means that, once all of the bonding sites are filled, an activated charcoal filter stops working. The filter must be replaced at this point.
Many Allergies are usually triggered by irritation of the mucous membranes in the Nose, Sinus and Throat. This is especially true of Pollen Allergies. If you looked at a Pollen Grain under a microscope, you'd see that they usually are rough, spiked, surfaced grains. This spiked surface evolved so that the Pollen Grain can attach itself to an Animal's fur or a Bird's feather to carry it away from the Mother Plant and stick to a Host Plant so that it can pollenate and produce a seed.
When these enter a Nasal Passage or the Throat, these microscopic spikes irritate the mucous membrane and the Body reacts by producing histomines which increases mucuous production so the offending particle can be shrouded in a smooth covering of mucous which also has an effect of breaking down the offender so the Body can remove it.
Consequently, it does not readily Bond Chemically to the Activated Charcoal but rather is usually trapped in the Paper Matrix of the Filter. A straight Paper Filter will yield practically as much
Clean Air as one made of Activated Charcoal, though it may not smell as nice. Hope this helps...
Happy Motoring!... Jim'99