Bonsai XL 24" X 18" 99.99% HEPA Horizontal Laminar Flow Hood - Version 2.0

I was working with a Bonsai HEPA 12 x 12 flow hood before upgrading to this flow hood. It is 400% greater in area which makes it much easier to work with greatly reduces the possibility of contamination. It costs roughly double, but it is well worth it.

The unit was easy to assemble, and almost impossible to put together wrong . The unit comes with a pre-filter. I recommend using masking tape around the edge of the pre-filter to get a better seal. The pre-filter will extend the life of the main HEPA filter by preventing large particles from clogging it.

I have had great experiences purchasing from Midwest growth kits. I recommend this Bonsai flow hood and this vendor highly.

I thought seriously about trying to make my own box using the various plans I've found online. Ultimately I bought this one instead, as I concluded I'd be spending a lot of time to save not that much money.

Everything arrived undamaged and well packed. Assembly was pretty simple. All I needed was a screwdriver. I'm glad to be done with my awkward still air box.

I recently got into mycology work and was initially using a SAB. While the SAB worked ok, it was time consuming to setup. I decided it was time to take the plunge and get a flow hood. I did days of research on flow hoods vs FFU's and looked at various companies who make them. I decided on the Bonzai XL because of its larger size and the fact it provides true laminar flow. I'm the type of person that if I buy something, I want the best and I can honestly say this is one of the best flow hoods you can get. The assembly as many mentioned is very easy and it took me under 30 minutes to assemble. It does require using silicone to seal all the seams, so once it's together you can't really disassemble it without having to silicone it again. The silicone is provided in the box though so you don't need to buy anything additional.
There are a couple caveats to this flow hood though that should be noted. This thing is borderline too powerful. Doing the "lighter test" it's a bit turbulent even when not close to the sides. I know the working area is close to the center, but even 3-4 inches from the sides it still gets a little turbulent. I expected a bigger working area. I was able to solve the issue with a router speed controller that I got at Harbor Freight for $18 and that allows me to turn the fan speed down a bit and at 50% power I get perfect laminar flow edge to edge.
Here is where it gets interesting. The speed controller worked perfectly, but the company who makes the blower for this flow hood says "not recommend for use with speed controller" and I don't really know why? For that reason I stopped using it out of fear of causing damage to the blower. Despite the working area not being as wide as expected, I use this thing all the time and have been contamination free.
Despite the Bonsai XL being slightly over powered, I would still absolutely recommend it, if you have the space. If you want true laminar flow and not just a box that blows filtered air get this one! You definitely won't be disappointed with it!

High quality materials and fairly straightforward setup. Took me around 2 hours to put together (I?m a slow and steady type of guy). Two snags during setup: when putting the back in the premade grove, it wasn?t seating properly, I almost continued to the next step but decided rather to go backwards instead. I found there was a small piece of wood that had fragmented and was protruding into the channel (only noticeable with my face 2 inches away from it). The other snag was a simple one: when assembling the pre-filter assembly, lock the quarter turn fasteners before installing the support braces.

Some tips for folk that will be moving their flow hood about: get one of those mats that are used to transfer older people between beds (the smaller variant), it works great! Also if you?re worried about dust in storage, invest $10 into a polyester grill cover, measure first and you?ll find a good one!

I did some agar work the other day, in a non-clean room, all 10 plates are looking clean!

The quality is top notch, both the wood cuttings and the electrical.
Reading the directions was a bit overwhelming for me, but the YouTube video turned the set-up into a breeze.
Machine runs quietly and looks good.
Very happy.