Food Dehydrators & Paint Dryers

[Joker]

hey Mike ...

I used to live on Miller St.

Near the Boardwalk

in Kemah about 14 years ago.

Went to the model shows on

Nasa Rd One.

BTW..get a dehydrator

with a fan and temp setter!

This could happen to your build.

before

after

I took a nap...

later James aka Joker

Edited May 26, 2010 by kit bash

[crispy]

I concur with Dan.That is probably the best one on the market now. I've had mine for 5 years now. Works beautifully.

Chris

[Pete J.]

Ronco 5 tray food dehydrator. You can get them at Target, Kmart, Walgreen's, Amazon you name it. Get the 5 tray and not the 3. Very simple, vents at the top control temperature, nothing else to do but plug it in. Real consistent temperature. I have had mine for 12 years and never melted or damaged anything.

The reason I like mine is that I have cut the bottoms of the top three trays for additional height and left a partial tray on one of them to give me a shelf for double height. I use mine to keep the rattle cans I use the most hot. Even on the hottest setting I've never had a problem and mine is in the garage in So Cal so we get hot weather. Best of all, at $39 it is very inexpensive. If this one ever gives out, I will buy another.

[Abell82]

Why not just make your own?

There are TON"S of DIY's articles on making Dehydrators on the net. Personally I think the DIY's for making an egg incubator would actually work best. As they are designed for maximum adjustability.

The benefit to making your own, is that you can make it as big or small as you want. Just a thought.

[LOBBS]

This one.

I agree here, I'm on my second. The first one got dropped hard in a move and never worked right again. The trays were fine so I've got 8 on the new one. 4 have the centers cut out so I can put bodies and assemblies in and 4 are as delivered for holding individual parts.

[crazyjim]

How long do you keep a model in one of those things?

[Zoom Zoom]

How long do you keep a model in one of those things?

Until it's dry.

[Pete J.]

How long do you keep a model in one of those things?

Depends on the paint. Lacquers can be done in an hour, enamels and acrylics a couple of hours, if I am layering the paint. Final before polishing is always over night.

[crispy]

Until it's dry.

:D

[pharr7226]

Ronco 5 tray food dehydrator

I have the same dehydrator and it works well for me. As Pete J. noted the temperature is controlled by vents in the top. I can determine the temperature with a digital thermometer. You might be better off with a model that has a dial that allows you to regulate the temperature with some precision. I got mine for a great price... free But, if I were to purchase a new one, I would definitely get one with temperature dial.

[charlzrocks]

My RONCO food dehydrator makes AWESOME beef jerky! It was inexpensive and easy to use and clean!

[Hawk312]

I just painted a competition resins body. I am also impatient. Can these bodies be placed in the oven for curing in the same manner as a styrene body, which can handle temps up to 120?

Thanks!

[MikeMc]

Quick answer....no.....you will distort most bodies at 120...I feel safe at 100 - 105 with styrene, and I would not trust resin due to differing thicknesses of the pour in the mold

[Bruce Poage]

I have good and bad experience with resin in a dehydrator. The temp is very important and 120 is too warm. My problem was putting too much stress on the resin body while drying. I am referring to the rack you are using to support the bod while in the cooker. Be sure the rack is pressure neutral when drying.

[jeffb]

i dont recomend it for my resin

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

I would not recommend 120 degrees for styrene. I set my dehydrator on 105 for styrene.

[cruz]

Resin and dehydrators? they don't belong together, simple as that....

[Len Colombo]

I know many people use this item. Just wondering exactly what the benefits are. Does it dry paint jobs faster, make the paint harder, etc.? I'm guessing it speeds up the assembly time.

[MikeMc]

It removes all liquid carriers, lacquer, enamel, water. Dry is dry...this speeds things up for those of us that cannot wait a week!!!

[crispy]

Exactly! Speeds up the process. Also, if you paint with cans it works well for heating them. Decals is another item. It dries them snug to the body, but make sure they are on exactly as you want them.

I found it to be a pretty cool modeling tool.

Chris

[Harold]

I plan on taking the plunge and buying a food dehydrator. I've seen diagrams for one on this board, but any input from my friends would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance...on a lighter note, I can't believe its been 4 years and two days since I joined. How time flies.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Harold

[Terry Sumner]

I have a NESCO unit in my paint room. It works really well. The unit is designed to vary in size by adding or subtracting these rings that have porous plastic bottoms. You just remove the bottoms from all the rings except the bottom one and stack them all together. I taped mine together so they wouldn't come apart accidentally. Here's a couple of photos... I find that running it at about 105 degrees works best for me.

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

This photo will kind of give you an idea of the size of the dehydrator....

Hosted on Fotki

[Danno]

Ditto everything that Terry said. Only thing I do differently is that I run it at 95degrees for resin bodies or parts that I am unsure of, stability-wise. Don't want to warp anything.

Absolutely love it!!

[george 53]

I've got a Mr. Coffee dehydrator that Ive used for at least 15 years now. IF you can find one with a Thermostat, that would be your best bet! I keep an oven thermometer in mine and it reads a steady 90 degrees when it's been running for about 5 minutes.It was SOOOO cheap( How cheep was it,Johnny???) That I bought TWO!!! I used the disc shelves from the second one in the first. It raises the drying platform about 10 inches from the base. it stays at a steady 90 degrees at that height. It works VERY well.

[MikeMc]

Here are all the notes you will ever want to read, and then there are more. The first link is back in 2007 and has great info, the rest just show more detail. I bought the WW special and made a "control box" that controls the voltage...and the temp. If you can get the one with the temp control built in do it...otherwise, you can regulate the ronco convection type like mine.... ;)

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7304&st=0&p=51109&hl=dehydrator&fromsearch=1&#entry51109

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18901&st=0&p=165404&hl=dehydrator&fromsearch=1&#entry165404

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=34471&st=0&p=350346&hl=dehydrator&fromsearch=1&#entry350346