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Old 11-05-12, 10:12 AM   #15
wyatt
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Join Date: Jan 2009
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Your story reminds me of how I insulated a cheap Harbor Freight dehydrator so we could speed up drying times when making fruit strips. It was our first time making them, and it was taking WAY too long. I devised a way to duct the flow inside the dehydrator to give better coverage. Once verifying that the ducted flow worked as expected (maybe 5 minutes of watching and feeling) I wrapped a blanket around the outside, leaving room at the bottom for fresh air to get in. Temperatures went up nicely (measuring with a cooking thermometer at the second level from the top [5 levels total]) and based on the smell of warm fruit, it seemed like we were finally on our way! A couple hours (of constant watching) later, something just seemed off... things were fine top-side (where I had primarily been doing my investigating), but when I removed the blanket, the grates of the bottom two racks were drooping, and very close to touching the heating element... It was definitely my fault, I should have tried ONE thing at a time, maybe ducting first, then insulation, then both (depending on results). I am glad the dehydrator was cheap. We replaced it with a CraigsList find of the day with twice the capacity and temperature control. Definitely be careful when modifying a piece of dumb hardware. Although our "new" dehydrator has "temperature control" it's not a thermostat, and I would guess that most crock pots and other plug in heating devices are the same way.
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