Our little solar dehydrator | Construction and DIY projects | Forums

I grabbed my 1 inch wood bit and drilled out vent holes in the top and bottom of the frame

I spray painted the whole thing flat black

I had picked up a 2x4 sheet of lexan. I laid it on top of the frame and pre-drilled mounting holes

and screwed it down to the frame

I set up my thermocouple to check the temp and it was climbing

I let it sit in the sun a little longer to see what I could get the temp to

and was able to get it to 123 after about 15 minutes

I grabbed some more 2x4's to make the frame for the dehydrating chamber

and stood the panel up into the frame to test the angle

and was able to get the temp up to 136

so I took the lexan panel off

and mounted some netting across the bottom holes to keep bugs out of the chamber

I used some soda cans I had and placed them into the chamber to increase surface area for creating heat

I used the scraps from my whole saw to block up the cans so they didn't interfere with air flow

and spray painted the whole thing black

I used the netting to hold the cans in place

is this showing screwy for anyone on firefox?

I used some scrap T&G pine I had to cover the outside

I picked up a vent for the roof

and spray painted it black to help with draft