My Juice Incubator

[PsiSan]

Hi Guys so I started getting into DIY and decided my Tanks is a bit juice heavy, and I needed to make a lot more juice . Also I am in a rural area and sometime we run out . So I took one of my old reptile incubators and made modifications to it.

So here we got a heat pad and thermal regulator which I proceeded to remove out of the worn polystyrene box.

And a old aquarium airpump.

I then cut the old box's lid so it fits in side the new box as such.

And then placed the magnetic motor from the fish tank air pump in a whole, made in the cut up lid.

I then took apart the arm of the pump and cut a piece of cardboard so it fits in to the inside of the cut lid. (not touching edges). I then attached the arm to the cardboard where the whole is made.

Added two wooden blocks on each side with screws to keep them in place, to maximize vibration. Put the cardboard on top of the wooden blocks with the arm and motor close enough to cause the mechanism.

Put the heat pad in the new box, put the vibrating panel on top of it.

Place the thermal needle where your juices will be vibrated and close everything up. ( Make sure where wholes are made for wires etc gets insulated again to keep the heat inside.) And set to desired heat

Will be replacing the cardboard with a more flexi-plastic so I can add humidity. Then all you so is simply add a bowl of water and place it on top of the heat pad. (make sure everything electrical is protected.

What do you guys think?

 

[PsyCLown]

The images are not loading for me

 

[PsiSan]

Looks like its working now

 

[stevie g]

Is that a 14w heating pad?.

 

[Silver]

Wow @PsiSan
Real McGuyver of note!
Let us know how it goes and how the juice incubation results are

 

[SAVaper]

Very nice. Great work.

 

[PsiSan]

@Sprint Yes it is.

 

[PsiSan]

@Silver @SAVaper

Thank you guys, waiting on my DIY order now. Will let you know how it turns out.

 

[zadiac]

@PsiSan , just out of curiosity and concern: what temperature will the juice reach in there?

 

[PsiSan]

@zadiac , the regulator can be adjusted. So was planning on starting out on 30C. So when it reaches 30 the regulator turns off the heat pad and when it drops below 28/29 it turns back on.

 

[zadiac]

@zadiac , the regulator can be adjusted. So was planning on starting out on 30C. So when it reaches 30 the regulator turns off the heat pad and when it drops below 28/29 it turns back on.

Ah, ok. Thanks for that. Glad you keep the temp there. Very nice invention there.
What I would suggest, is that instead of using a vibrating pad that would undoubtedly introduce small bubbles into the mix, rather build a magnetic stirrer to go with you temperature device and therefor keep the flavor in the mix and not let it escape by introducing air into the mix. Just a suggestion.
Some may not agree with me, but it's just my experience that shaking or frothing creates air bubbles that can make the juice loose flavor. That's why I no longer do that. I just swirl by hand every few hours. Busy building a magnetic stirrer with a heat pad to replace the swirling.

 

[PsiSan]

Thank you @zadiac. Will be making adjustments to it later, as this is a new venture. I still have one regulator extra so I might build another and run the experiment myself. Also adding the humidity later to first test the flavour on both.

 

[stevie g]

@PsiSan do you think humidity will improve the flavor?.

 

[PsiSan]

@Sprint I would think so, as humidity will seal in some extra air, and regulates heat easier. I would just in close the bottles in a extra layer of plastic to keep extra H20 from entering the bottle as a result of condensation. But that I will test my theory to make it conclusive

 

[stevie g]

Hmmm I might add water in my warm box somehow. Any hygienic methods you know to keep mold at bay or otherwise undesirables?.

@Sprint I would think so, as humidity will seal in some extra air, and regulates heat easier. I would just in close the bottles in a extra layer of plastic to keep extra H20 from entering the bottle as a result of condensation. But that I will test my theory to make it conclusive

 

[stevie g]

@psifan what happens if you don't bag the bottle?.

 

[PsiSan]

@Sprint I suspect water will start do condensate into the ejuice (rather safe than sorry). I must say I hardly had any mould build up when I was hatching reptiles. But I am a strong believer in warm salt water for cleaning basic things. Adding warm water should not be a problem in these polystyrene boxes, you actually gave me another idea. If you maybe add a water pump so it creates a current it should cause vibrations and/or a swirling motion. Just add a aquarium heater and there you go. They normally work on 1w per 1lt of water and go right up 300w+. So we have a heating solution. Maybe if you place bottles in a polystyrene casing so it protected with a weight it should swirl easily. Hmmmmm.

 

[Yagya]

@PsiSan ..exactly what im thinking of doing with a fish tank and aquarium heater and pump

 

[PsiSan]

@Yagya , I think ill build one over the weekend and do a similar post to this, got an idea or two extra. Then we can work out the kinks as we go. Would love if it is more of swirling than vibration, round edges and not to overpowering pump should to the trick

 

[PsiSan]

Did not get around to building the aqua version over the weekend, my water pump is abit large and I fear a disaster is imminent. Did order a smaller one so will get everything else ready while I wait