Bud dryer/s

[Rwise]

I went looking at bud dryers, the little home units look just like a pancake style home food dehydrator, maybe they have better temp controls, but still. These would not do for me, my plants get bigger than that! So off to look to the commercial units which I like much better, and I think I could DYI one from an AC unit, or maybe an old refrigerator.
Anyone using a bud dryer? If so tell me about it!

[dphipps1020]

Listen to that podcast Nebula was in, she mentioned one that works really well. Can't remember the name of it though.

[UndergroundFarmer]

They stopped making Bud Dry years ago.

[dphipps1020]

Oh well I guess that's out then

[Dieselgrower]

my dad grabbed 1 of these . said it worked good but dried a little too much, but like I told him Im sure theres a learning curve. deff cut down time. he also tried his own thing instead of buying the moisture shot thing.

https://myherbsnow.com/

[Rwise]

What I have in mind is something larger, I want at least a 2 lb capacity. Looking at the large industrial units, they draw the air across a cold coil to condense moisture which is drained away. The air is then heated and move through the bud and back across the cold coil. I think I'll start looking into what it will take to build one.

[smoorman]

Wouldn't a "closed loop" de-humidifier work. Have the unit draw air in from the vessel holding the product and then exhaust back into the vessel. Probable want to put a timer on it as an on off switch to control rate of drying. There must be a bunch of ways to skin this cat.

[Farmall]

The Herbsnow dryer does work. It is so freakin’ controversial by parrot like repeated comments... I know of two in operation for people who’s yields are 3lbs plus each time and in the 4 days it takes to dry, they love it. Having watched it, the plates are removable and stackable so you can add very large buds or stand them upright in a cluster like Christmas trees. They are both pleased one of my friends told me she can have a few pounds in bags within 9 days , ready and curing without some of the negative issues like mold and hay-like taste

[Rwise]

What makes it different than a food dehydrator?

[Farmall]

From what I’ve been explained...temperatures are lower

[Rwise]

I had a large food dehydrator, it would go down low enuf the heating element would not kick on. It would also go over 180*F for smoking. I wish I still had it!

[Rwise]

We use the food dehydrators to bake RTR tapes (SSS), I think I'll check to see just how low they can go. And how accurate the thermostat is or is not. I should be able to get something local.

[UndergroundFarmer]

The Moody Blues' Days Of Future Past in its original mix was unavailable for years because the original master was stuck to itself until getting baked so it could be digitally transferred.

[Rwise]

UndergroundFarmer Do we have another tapehead here? Luv the Moody Blues!

[smoorman]

Used to have an Ampex and Wollensak (3M) reel to reels many moons ago. Ahh those were the days. At least those I can remember.

[Rwise]

If one reads enuf answers are there. The big dif I found between the herbsnow and any food dehydrator is the racks can be open in the herbsnow dryer so the buds can stand on end. Some like it some dont after using it, many say it needs to be in a humidity controlled room.
And they are on back order until June 15.
I have also dug into dehumidifiers a bit, I dont think the DIY units using rock salt or calcium chloride would work well enuf, also the lack control. I do see an electric unit, 30 pint, around $150 (+ the gov) with good ratings.
Now my brother has a portabuilding here, my thought is to talk to him, add a dehumidifier (with drain so no pan to empty), it has AC, add a heater, a few fans, racks everydamnwhere. Set the heater to keep it 75*F and the AC to 85*F, the dehumidifier on 40%, we could dry the whole grow at one time, maybe more! So for less than $500 (as I/we already have most everything to do it) I could have a building set up for drying! Of course brother would get to use it also.

[alltatup]

I have a small drying box that came with my first RoomMate:



It's nice because it has a carbon filter attached underneath to control odor. However, I hardly ever use it because I don't like a fast dry. It is just like a big food dehydrator.

[Rwise]

That looks a lot like the food dehydrator I had, cept mine was twice that tall. One could reduce the temp a bit and not go so low with RH to let them dry longer. I get it built I would have to play with the controls and see what works the bestest!

[Rwise]

Ok stepping back and reevaluating things, I think I am over engineering again. So, here in OK the humidity is the big issue, inside I am fairly stabile at 60% RH. But mold can grow at that RH, and this is my concern (not that I have had problems) and I think if I lower the RH I'll get better bud. So I am going to get the dehumidifier, set it in the (unused) growroom, set the AC to about 78*F. Then the dehumidifier, first day at 60%, second day at 55% third day at 50%, or something like that.
Your thoughts?

[golfnrl]

I bought a room dehumidifier from a big box store. It's set to hold the RH at 45%. With that and the grow room ac set at 72 the tent RH stays steady at 48-50%. And the temp holds in the daytime at about 74-75. It's kind of funny. I'm putting basically 5 gallons of water a week in my autopot rez it goes to the plants, they do their thing and I'm taking the same 5 gallons of water out of the air for the next several days. I have been able to lower the RH 10 points (&keep it steady).

[Rwise]

I dropped the hammer on a GE 30 pint unit, placed it in the grow room (no plants) and to my surprise the tank was full this morning. IDK exactly when it filled up, but it looks like I'll be checking the tank at least twice per day. WOW! Glad I didn't cheap out!

[Rwise]

So far I luv this dehumidifier, not filling the tank as fast as it did, but we have dry air for now. This is making a difference at least in the aroma so far. The buds do not drying real fast taking 3 days or so @50% RH, I can hardly wait to put a big girl or 3 in there, grow trees grow!

[AccidentalGardener]

How did it all turn out?