Have to build a big orchidarium...pls help

[bodaciousbonsai]

laeia, epidendrum, dracula cool growers though,bulbo,etc. Theres alot actually.

[Chas]

Hello Ocelaris, I was inspired by your setup.. I happened to get the same humidistat on ebay. I was wondering how you connect the humidisat to the fan-fogger set up you made? Do you use 12volt fans? I was thinking of trying a icecap 12v fan made for aquarium/high humidity use. Thanks, Chas

[Ocelaris]

Hey Chas, I think the price is a bit high, and it has a thermistor which isn't particularly useful in our case. I've found a way to get more life out of the fans. I use a PVC tube above the bucket, to keep the fan away from the moisture. It's a 120mm fan, or roughly 4.5", and I use a 4" tube, and that works just great. You can find other parts at home depot/lowes, like a 4" PVC pipe extender etc... the sky's the limit, but I've found just keeping the fan back from the moisture a tad makes them last as long as could be expected under normal wear/tear.

I have gone back and forth between the AC and DC fans, I now use generally AC Comair Rotron fans. Just because I can find them fairly plentiful on ebay, and their spec sheets are readily available. I prefer the Whisper series, as the orchids are in our bedroom. They come in DC and AC. If you're more comfortable doing DC, that's a tad safer, but it's all personal preference. I think I can get a little more pressure out of the AC, but that is probably an incorrect assumption. Just check ebay for comair rotron, but don't be buying them all up now that I've given away my secret! Pretty much any of the muffin fans from comair rotron are great, the 1" or greater thickness ones hold up better. If you can find a "environmentally protected" one, THAT is the one you want. They sell a few varieties of the moisture protected, and they are about ~30-40$ a piece brand new from a distributor. Just scan through the comair rotron site, and some of the fans you can have a "environmental protection" coating to the windings/bearings etc... I would reccomend that over the Icecap, since it says it can get up to 56dba which is decently loud...

[Chas]

Hello Ocelaris, Thanks for the feedback on the fans. I am not sure on how the AC fan is wired. Did you splice your own wire to the fan to plug it in ? And is that what you did for the fans inside the case, and how is this all tied into the humidistat? Having a quiet fan is important also.. How long does the water in the 5 gal. bucket last? Chas

[Ocelaris]

Well, the AC fan has 2 wires, positive and negative (figuratively), and the comair rotron fans use a very small female spade connector, you can get them here:

Parts Express:.110" (16-14) Female Disconnect 50 Pcs.

Or you can solder on to the little tabs that the fans provide. They also sell power cords with the connectors for the fans, but it's more expensive than making your own out of home depot lamp shade cord ~16 gauge, and a little power plug.

The wiring of the humidistat is pretty straight forward, you have a common, a normally closed, and a normally open switch. When a certain humidity is reached, the plastic sensor stretches taught and makes a connection between the command and the normally open pin. When humidity is low, it's loose and rests between the common and normally closed pins. They call it "close on contact" or "close on rise" for the normally open pin, and "close on lower" or open on lowering, something like that.

You will need to distribute power to your ultrasonic humidifier and the fan. The simplest way is to cut up a power cord, something like a 6-10 footer, you know the ones with 3 female outlets on one end, and a male plug on the other. The positive side is the bigger prong, and is marked by ribs on the wire. They're very subtle, but it's pretty much universal, either to have ribs, or a dotted line to denote the "marked" which is usually the hot/positive and the "not marked" is negative or neutral.

So to put it all together, you would cut open the "hot" or marked wire on your extension cord, and run 2 wires to your humidistat. Basically you are interrupting the power running from the plug to the 3 outlets. The 2 wires you spliced into the extension cord go to the humidistat common and "close on lower" or normally closed. Because you want the humidistat to normally be on (when humidity is low) and to only turn off when humidity reaches the preset point. I could have this backwards, but there are only 2 combinations, common and Normally open, or Common and normally closed. If it doesn't work the way I say, try the other!

So you'll plug your ultrasonic fogger and fan into this extension cord, and that is that! I can draw a picture if t his isn't clear, I'm just tired at the moment.

Water in the 5 gallon bucket lasts me about 4-5 days, depending on how large of a space, and the humidity outside, and if you have a exhaust fan running. Eventually my tubing or the holes in the bucket get messed up and I my humidity will not get very high, and I have to fix it... but usually it keeps the humidity around 65% during the day, and naturally it goes up to 70-80% at night.

[calvin_orchidL]

Great info (as usual ) Just a question though - for the fans, don't you need some sort of adaptor?.... - but I guess that's only for 12V DC fans which is what I have (I'm a total idiot when it comes to electronics). I didn't know the AC fans didn't need one though - that is so much more convenient if you can just slice off the end of a power cord and wire the fans up. I ended up wiring two 12V DC fans in series to get a more gentle air-flow because it was just WAY too loud! I too have my setups in my bedroom so I definitely need to invest in some quieter fans.

I also got an ultrasonic fogger and this is a fantastic setup idea - I'm thinking of implementing it in my new aquarium. Thanks!!

[nenella]

Great thread! very interesting !! I have been trying to persuade hubby to build me one...so all info is extremely useful ! grazie Massimo for starting this !
ciao

[Ross]

Originally Posted by calvin_orchidL

Great info (as usual ) Just a question though - for the fans, don't you need some sort of adaptor?.... - but I guess that's only for 12V DC fans which is what I have (I'm a total idiot when it comes to electronics). I didn't know the AC fans didn't need one though - that is so much more convenient if you can just slice off the end of a power cord and wire the fans up. I ended up wiring two 12V DC fans in series to get a more gentle air-flow because it was just WAY too loud! I too have my setups in my bedroom so I definitely need to invest in some quieter fans.

I also got an ultrasonic fogger and this is a fantastic setup idea - I'm thinking of implementing it in my new aquarium. Thanks!!

Just my 2 cents: 12 volt fans may be safer for many intalations if you plan to subject them to high humidity or water. Mine are subjected to 99% humidity. I would never subject A/C fans to this, even with adaptors. Mine get dripping water on them and have gone for nearly 2 years 24/7. Water drips off the blades and the housing constantly. I use Coralife Aqualight 3 1/8 Cooling Fan Kit

[Chas]

Thanks for the info and time Ocelaris, I will include some pictures of what I am building when I get some more time. I will start looking into the getting some fans soon also. I like Ross idea using the 12v inside where the humidity is high. Ocelaris, how long do your fans last inside the orchid box? Chas

[Ocelaris]

I would try Ross's idea! I have never bought aquarium fans, so I would say go for that! If water is dripping on them, they might last 2 months (literally water drops every 30 seconds). But otherwise I think they've lasted 4-6 months? I haven't had this tank going all that long... but I have gone through enough 12v computer fans...

If you want to run a DC fan quieter, try a 9v power supply... that will usually run them fine, but a tad quieter.

I just got my new electronic ballast, and it actually works! meaning I may be taking some pictures and mounting some orchids in my new tank soon... *edit* I realized there are no pics in this thread of my new tank... here you go: