Quote:
Originally Posted by 4:21oops
Did you ever try wireing a dimmer switch into a dehydrator circuit?
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BudDryer v1.0 already has one.
This is the BD v1.0 schematic. It will work for 110V-240V but temp control is manual. Connect the 470R resistors to the dimmer in parallel for 110V. Probably won't get warm enough if in series, but you can try it that way first.
v2.0 doesn't need the dimmer as the resistor values have been matched to the 240V mains voltage. Now using 4x 1.5k ohm in parallel, directly wired to 240V. Each 25W aluminum body 1.5k resistor is dissipating 38.4 watts- keep in mind they are on a fan-cooled heatsink- and thus don't overtemp. A Jaycar thermostat is used to control temp. Fans stay on 24/7, heater resistors get switched on & off by the thermostat.
You could modify a standard dehydrator by putting a high-power dimmer (500W min) in series with the heating element. Check the wattage rating of the dehydrator before buying your dimmer. It is much cheaper to build the whole thing yourself- and you'll get a lot more room for buds, too. However, modding up a commercial food dehydrator will get the job done for rather small amts of buds equally well; more costly as you're buying a whole dehydrator, but with less fuss. It'd be a 20 minute job to mod up a commercial dehydrator.