Our little solar dehydrator | Page 2 | Construction and DIY projects | Forums

temp check

I mounted some simple piano hinges

and mounted the door

I used more scrap and set up the roof and traced out for the vent

I cut out the hole for the vent

and mounted the vent

I stapled a piece of screen across the opening

I picked up a cheap digital thermometer

With everything that happened last summer with the loss of my wife's father and everything else that happened we didn't get a chance to play with it a lot. A couple of design flaws that I need to fix this year. The bottom is a dead space where the solar panel comes into the chamber, so I want to install insulation to fill the space. Second is airflow through the solar panel, the way the cans are set it restricts the air flow to much and actually overheated the panel and caused the lexan to buckle and shatter.

I think it would have been better served with less cans and leaving a straight shot for airflow. A lot of people will actually just use the solar collector without any cans. Airflow is more important than heat. This project will be continued!