Bud dryer - manicured to smoke in 3 days

Hmm... if you had to buy all parts new... just guessing some of these prices...

30-50L storage tub - $10
120mm fans - $17/ea (qty 2)
wire mesh (hdwe cloth), 1/2" grid - about $10/roll
open link jack chain - $8/pkg
resistors, 680 ohm, 25W - $5/ea (qty 6)
500W incandescent light dimmer - $12
150mm x 75mm x 45mm aluminum heatsink - $20
Thermostat - $40
__________
Total $167

There's a lot of wiggle room to use cheaper bits as well as second-hand parts to save money. Improvise! I sure did.

You're only making some slightly warmed air and moving it through a box- doesn't even need to go up to 29C, just needs to be a couple degrees above ambient to drop humidity and dry buds fast. You could use 100mm, 12V computer fans instead of ball bearing 120mm units, could use only one fan, etc. It will work best with the components I list, tho.

I don't like the hanging racks. One hand has to hold the lid & racks in the air while loading with the other hand. I used this arrangement because it was most practical given the materials I had on hand when I built the first version of the dryer in 2000. You could get some stackable freestanding plastic racks that could sit in the bottom of the tub instead of being hung from the lid. Probably cheaper than buying a roll of hdwe cloth and a packet of jack chain, too.

is there any chance you could use a intake hole, and a exhaust fan but put a heater inside the box set on like 25*? like a fishtank heater down on bottom on the box?

Fish tank heaters are designed to run immersed in water. If you try to run one outside a tank of water, it'll pop in seconds.

What's an electric heater? A big spanking resistor.

My plan has you make your own heater, cos it's as simple as bolting some aluminum body resistors to a heatsink and connecting them with wire.

ah didnt know that... hrmmm! just wanted a simpler way with pre bought heater etc... not having to make up my own

Nice.
By using this process, do you still need to cure or is it all over in 3 days and roll a fatty?



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sens1 said:

Nice.
By using this process, do you still need to cure or is it all over in 3 days and roll a fatty?

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Wet manicured bud to smoke in 3 days.

BRSkunk said:

ah didnt know that... hrmmm! just wanted a simpler way with pre bought heater etc... not having to make up my own

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I made my own because I could not find a heater assembly with a LOW enough output. I only needed about 80-100 watts worth of heat to get my coldest winter temp (12C) air in the dryer's area up to 29C.

Al B. Fuct said:

I made my own because I could not find a heater assembly with a LOW enough output. I only needed about 80-100 watts worth of heat to get my coldest winter temp (12C) air in the dryer's area up to 29C.

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i suck bigtime at trying to understand the whole concept...! of putting together your own heater thats why i was after a pre-made/storebought one... just wondering would just having circulating air? and putting ur drybox into a heated room work... if room temp is around the 27 - 29 mark?

maybe a heat rock or like reptile enclosure light?

also i was looking on the net and found some herb drying machines from like a hydro site, and they have only got a exhaust fan? no heat and apprently it drys em within hours? this possible?

BRSkunk said:

i suck bigtime at trying to understand the whole concept...! of putting together your own heater thats why i was after a pre-made/storebought one... just wondering would just having circulating air? and putting ur drybox into a heated room work... if room temp is around the 27 - 29 mark?

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Sure, that'd work fine.

maybe a heat rock or like reptile enclosure light?

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No lights! Buds must have total darkness. Light exposure breaks down THC.

also i was looking on the net and found some herb drying machines from like a hydro site, and they have only got a exhaust fan? no heat and apprently it drys em within hours? this possible?

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Got a link?

'Hours' to me conveys a notion of at least less than a day. To dry that fast would not only require adding heat but would require temps well above 29C.

Mini Quick Herb Dryer by Homegrown Hydroponics

But would a heat rock work? or a couple to get the temp up?

BRSkunk said:

Mini Quick Herb Dryer by Homegrown Hydroponics

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nah, no way that tupperware tub & a cheeeep duct fan will dry buds in less than a day.

Saw the price- $350!!! Hey- I'll build you one and only charge you $325!

I can NOT believe they are asking HUNDREDS to THOUSANDS for these stupid boxes with fans. How fucking dopey do they think we are?

I may have been born at night... but it sure as fuck wasn't LAST night.

But would a heat rock work? or a couple to get the temp up?

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I've never seen a heat rock. Does it heat air or does it just get a bit warm to give your iguana something to cosy up against? If it's the latter, it's not a good air warmer.

would this sort of thing work? if it was able to be kept at right temp?

2000 watt FAN HEATER - eBay, Heaters, Appliances, Home. (end time 06-Apr-08 13:50:07 AEST)

IXL 72030 Jetstream Fan Heater 2200 watt - eBay, Heaters, Appliances, Home. (end time 05-Apr-08 13:56:56 AEST)

BRSkunk said:

would this sort of thing work? if it was able to be kept at right temp?

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IF it was able to be kept at the right temp... but with 2000-2200W, you'll have Buckley's chance of that! You need less than 5% of that power! I don't think the thermostat would shut it down fast enough before air temp far exceeded 29C. If the heating element were under 500W, you might be able to open up the heater and install an incandescent dimmer on wiring to the heating element itself (NOT the entire heater, inline with the power cord- the fan motor would not like the dimmer much)... but even on LOW these blow heaters are pulling 1000W. This is why I built my own heating element!

Really- this is not hard! Can you rewire a lamp? Can you install a dimmer? If so, you can do this! You may even learn how to solder, if you don't know how already!

The short answer is no- they won't work. They will cook your buds, evaporate your resin & destroy what THC is left.

Al B. Fuct said:

...Really- this is not hard! Can you rewire a lamp? Can you install a dimmer? If so, you can do this! You may even learn how to solder, if you don't know how already!

The short answer is no- they won't work. They will cook your buds, evaporate your resin & destroy what THC is left.

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I built one of your dryers out of a rubbermaid bin but I didn't have the stuff to do a heater element just yet. I took a bunch of fan leafs that I cut off and the bottoms of some clones to test it out anyway. Even without the element I can get the stems to snap in about 6 days with no mold (I had a big pile of leaf in there). I'm thinking about putting the dryer near my grow room exhaust port as the air from there is slightly warmer than ambient air. Looking into how I might rig a soldering iron element too.. got an old one laying around somewhere Thanks for the Info man! Rep 4 U! I'm so stoked my first indoor cut day is may 10th

SG, good deal. 6 days to dry without a heater sounds about right.

Putting the dryer in or near your warm exhaust airstream is good and bad; it's free heat, but that air is carrying humidity from the grow- and possibly mould spores. If your buds dry quickly, you won't care how many spores land on your buds as mould won't have time to grow.

You won't have much control over the air temp being fed into your dryer if you take a feed out of your exhaust. If you can be assured that the air coming into the dryer is no warmer than 29C, it's one way to avoid installing the heating element, but you can't control that with a thermostat.

Glad you find the concept useful- and good onya for building your own and not getting sucked in by the $350-1500 bud dryer ripoff artists!

Al B. Fuct said:

Glad you find the concept useful- and good onya for building your own and not getting sucked in by the $350-1500 bud dryer ripoff artists!

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LOL.. there is not a chance in HELL i would buy one of those! This seems like it will work just fine for now without the element... I can wait a week , Ive got other things needed more. I want to upgrade my exhaust fan and build a cool tube to go inline. What started out as a project to see if I can do it, is turning into an on-going hobby. I think I am set up right now to do 3 harvests this summer. In fall I want to go SOG on a small scale.. maybe 2 plants ever 2 weeks or 4 every 3 with a hope for 1oz per. I was thinking hydro but my closet may not lend itself to that very easily... Plus I know NOTHING about hydro. Ive learned a ton about indoor from my current grow and this site. I didnt have very good begginers luck either. Only 4 turned out to be female out of 13.

SomeGuy said:

LOL.. there is not a chance in HELL i would buy one of those!

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PT Barnum said there's a sucker born every minute. Time marches on- they're born every second these days.

I was MOST amused to see these thieves' 'April Fools Day Specials.' Wow, they lopped $1000 off their $1500 storage tub with a fan... Yeah, THESE are selling like hotcakes...

This seems like it will work just fine for now without the element... I can wait a week

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It'll work, as you've found, but it'll work better with a heating element that can be maintained at 29C. Once your other upgrades are out of the way, give it some thought.

What started out as a project to see if I can do it, is turning into an on-going hobby.

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Man... you and everyone else! If you're not careful, it'll turn into your occupation. I can think of worse jobs, tho- can't you?

I think I am set up right now to do 3 harvests this summer. In fall I want to go SOG on a small scale.. maybe 2 plants ever 2 weeks or 4 every 3 with a hope for 1oz per. I was thinking hydro but my closet may not lend itself to that very easily... Plus I know NOTHING about hydro. Ive learned a ton about indoor from my current grow and this site. I didnt have very good begginers luck either. Only 4 turned out to be female out of 13.

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Hydroponics is easier than you think, particularly flood hydro- not much harder than soil. You will need pH & ppm meters and cal solns and of course nutes, 50% grade H2O2 and pHDown sauce, but that's about it. The start-up costs are higher than soil- but the rewards of high productivity and conveniences of cheap, easy to dispose, lightweight media so you can use fresh every time more than compensate.

Once you're hooked on 'ponics, you'll never look back.

from harvest to snap i can do in like 5days without a dryer? this possible because i swear in my climate it happens...

oh, I believe it- conditions as needed to dry that fast in ambient air happen here too from time to time. However, when that happens here, tis because the ambient air temps are well above 29C and RH is in the scary single digit percents that favour bushfires.

I was MOST amused to see these thieves' 'April Fools Day Specials.' Wow, they lopped $1000 off their $1500 storage tub with a fan... Yeah, THESE are selling like hotcakes...

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LOL That some crazy shit. The most expensive thing in my grow so far is lighting. I build mine out of a bunch of shit I had laying around... total cost: FREEEEEE!

It'll work, as you've found, but it'll work better with a heating element that can be maintained at 29C. Once your other upgrades are out of the way, give it some thought.

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This will happen eventually as I know I will hate waiting 7 days over 3.

Man... you and everyone else! If you're not careful, it'll turn into your occupation. I can think of worse jobs, tho- can't you?

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Ive done worse jobs. I came back for graduate school so I can do what I would like to. But I don't think I could ever look at growing as a job, its just too damn much fun. Work is what needs to happen to fill the void between the things I WANT to do...LOL

Hydroponics is easier than you think, particularly flood hydro- not much harder than soil. You will need pH & ppm meters and cal solns and of course nutes, 50% grade H2O2 and pHDown sauce, but that's about it. The start-up costs are higher than soil- but the rewards of high productivity and conveniences of cheap, easy to dispose, lightweight media so you can use fresh every time more than compensate.

Once you're hooked on 'ponics, you'll never look back.

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Well.. it still keeps crossing my mind every time I have to haul the plants to the bathtub to feed/flush etc.. Can you suggest some reading material that I could study for a bit? I really dont like buying soil in winter. Only problem is no hydro shop here so everything will have to be mail order..

BTW.. here is a link to a thread I started: https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/62394-1st-indoor-progress-flowering-propagation.html
It has some pictures of my space and how its divided. Check it out and let me know what you think. Im gonna go hit the Sobe