Would an "air purifier" unit help in a (dusty) darkroom?

[jay moussy]

I seem to have a minor dust problem in my basement darkroom.
A lady has two 'air purifiers" for sale for cheap locally, one being a "TrueAir Air Purifier".
That was used for a (late) COPD patient.

Would such a device help keeping dust to a minimum?

 

[Paul Howell]

Living in Arizona I use one in my small bathroom darkroom, I got it at a Walmart, has fiberglass type filter that can be washed. I also use a high grade AC filter, and put a filter in the AC/Heat duct that feeds the room. All seems to help.

 

[George Collier]

I have a small one in my basement darkroom. The air in there always feels better when I run it, more in different seasons. Worth the expense.
Be sure you can get replacement filters for it.

 

[jay moussy]

Worth 50 dollars (my local used price)?

 

[juan]

For two? That’s a bargain.

 

[Donald Qualls]

An electrostatic filter (sometimes called a precipitator) will pull particles as small as cigarette smoke out of air circulated through it, but this has some potential drawbacks for a darkroom.

First, all of the devices I've seen that do this have status lights on them -- you'd have to disable those for film loading, or filter them even for B&W printing. Second, by their nature, these devices can intermittently arc between the high voltage plates, which will produce a short-lived but brilliant light source; same problem as the status lights, but less predictable. They need the plates cleaned regularly, and cleaning these can be a chore (they're typically fairly large and have rather small spacing between elements). I had one for years in my bedroom, but I had to simply get used to going back to sleep after the "snap" of an arc discharge.

HEPA filters aren't prone to arcing, but still have status lights and need the filter elements cleaned or replaced on a regular basis.

One option that might work well is to install a filter with a built-in fan that blows into a darkroom ventilator -- the device is outside the dark area, but blows the cleaned air in to the darkroom through a light trap of some kind.

 

[Rick A]

I have a small electrostatic air cleaner that runs continuously in my DR. Is there a ceiling in the basement? If not, you need to put one up. Even a plastic sheet stapled up will significantly reduce the dust.

 

[jay moussy]

^^ yes, @Rick A is right, I should do that, as i have an open joists.

When we re-permitted our garage (PO never got final!) town had us use some plastic sheeting that is fire-code suitable (TBD). I should use that.

 

[gone]

My experience was that they work, but they work really well in a limited area. Close to the unit, no problem. As you get further away, it works less well due to the distance. Some filters you can clean, others may need to be replaced after a few cleanings.

I doubt you need one w/ a HEPA filter, that's for airborne particles that may be smaller than dust. Those are more for people w/ bad allergies. I was very concerned about dust myself, but even w/ a lot of dust, that tended to be local, not global. The only thing I made sure was dust free, along w/ the enlarger's light path. Paper usually isn't out long enough in an unexposed condition to worry about dust getting on it.

 

[Rick A]

My experience was that they work, but they work really well in a limited area. Close to the unit, no problem. As you get further away, it works less well due to the distance. Some filters you can clean, others may need to be replaced after a few cleanings.

I doubt you need one w/ a HEPA filter, that's for airborne particles that may be smaller than dust. Those are more for people w/ bad allergies. I was very concerned about dust myself, but even w/ a lot of dust, that tended to be local, not global. The only thing I made sure was dust free, along w/ the enlarger's light path. Paper usually isn't out long enough in an unexposed condition to worry about dust getting on it.

I have two large area air purifiers running in the house (besides the electrostatic unit in the DR). One is in our bedroom the other in the living room. These have been added since my return from the hospital, both use HEPA filters, electrostatic filter, plus UV sanitizer, courtesy of my near death lung infection from allergies. The small unit has been in my DR for years.