Build Instructions

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• 1

  Assembly:

  As I have printed top and bottom tanks in so-called "vase mode" this has some drawbacks. Since vase mode gradually and continuously prints the part without moving the print head, it is only possible to print the surface of the model. For this reason, parts have to be assembled piece by piece after printing, since they cannot be printed all at once. Here are some tips according to my experience. First, I marked the drilling points. After marking, I used a 3mm drill bit and drilled the holes slowly and carefully without applying excess pressure on the drill from the bottom face of the growing tank. When the holes are open, reverse the tank upside down and then use a piece of wood to support the bottom face before widening the holes with a larger drill bit. Here, I used 6mm and 10mm drill bits to widen the ventilation hole and pump outlet piping holes. The 3 holes for drainage in the center are left as 3mm without widening. Check and practice the pipes on the holes and use a file if necessary to deburring the holes. Drilling steps are given in the following photo.

  The ventilation pipe is also printed in vase mode, but this time it is printed with raster. This enables gluing this pipe to the growing tank. This is shown in the following photo. The outlet pipe of the pump can be left without gluing only with a tight-fitting. In the following photo, the motor and the pipes are positioned on the growing tank. The pump cable will be routed through the gap on the sidewall. Press and fit the chimney properly to the end of the outlet pipe.

• 2

  Water tightening the reservoir tank:

  As I have mentioned earlier, I printed all the parts in a 3D printer with PLA. As 3D printer users may already have experienced, printed parts will most probably leak after a while. So to make it watertight I printed all parts not only in vase mode, but also covered the interior of the reservoir tank with a thin film of a food-safe film. Placing and covering the interior of the tank with a film is a little bit tricky. I have given a demonstration below describing how to install this film supported with photos, but for now, I will just go over some major points. First, the food-safe film should be roughly laid inside of the reservoir tank, and then a 3D printed rigid part should be pressed on top of it. This will help to stretch the film at the bottom and protects the pump from sucking the thin film. Then the sides of the film should be bent outside on the edges of the reservoir. After that, the upper growing medium together with the motor and pipes should be slid into the reservoir. As given in the upper dimensional drawing in the A-A section, the upper tank slides and fits into the bottom tank. Excess film protruding between the tanks should be cut with the help of a utility knife. These details are given in the following photos.

• 3

  Water-tightness test:

  Here is a quick test for the water-tightness of the reservoir and growing tank. Add half a glass of water or maybe less from the top; wait until the water is completely drained to the reservoir tank. Then start the pump by applying 5 volts to the ends. If the pump does not start, do not worry. This may be because there can be air trapped inside the pump's impeller. This can be easily fixed by removing the chimney from the outlet pipe and adding extra water from the top. You can watch my test results in the following short video below.

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