Classy Herp's Home made Fogger Redux

[Tragic Image]

So... I started out trying to mimic Classy Herp's (rephibiankid) home made fogger but found out that the design had changed on Walgreen's ultrasonic humidifier.

http://youtu.be/3dH6z3-23FE

I know that the video for that is quiet often referenced for people that need a cheap and reliable way of upping humidity either because they live in a dry climate or they have tropical animals that require high humidity.


So here was my solution.


This is what I started out with:



It was Walgreen's ultrasonic humidifier, I picked it up for 40 bucks.



These are you options for tools:





Start out by removing this top cap. On the first one of these I did, I had to pry it out (hence the screw driver) but this one I was able to rotate and lift out. Your mileage may vary.





You'll get this once its removed:




I used my drill to perforate the edge of the plastic "1/2 moon" baffles, but you could probably use brute force and bust them out. Brute force is going to require some detail work to get as clean of a result, but sometimes when all you have is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail.




I did a sort of "Jethro" method and used the side of my drillbit and just connected the holes. Its functional.




Repeat that for the lower baffle as well. If you're using a drill and you are concerned about looks, be sure not to hit the clear plastic on the back side of the lower baffle. It marks up pretty easily.


What you should be left with is a straight show down.





Now here is where I diverge from Colin's method. Mostly because he's use of 3/4 clear flex tubing was expensive restrictive and in my mind, unnecessary.

I prefer PVC pipe. As a home owner, I have TONS of it, and its dirt cheap.

So my next step was to grab a length of PVC pipe from the garage, and a few fittings.




I used one 3/4" slip by slip fitting, and two 90° elbows. The amount of PVC pipe that you use is going to depend on your set up.

First off grab your Slip x Slip fitting and push it onto the end of your PVC. No glue is going to be required, but a small dab of dish soap will make adjustments easier.






Push the end of the PVC pipe with the fitting on it down into the opening on your humidifier. I don't have a great picture of this step.

Next you'll want to measure the exterior height of your enclosure. So for my Exo Terra Large the exterior dimension is about 18.5 inches, but I need to pad that number a little for error, and for the next joint so I measured to about 20". You'll want to give yourself some room for adjustments so cut your piece a little long.



I use PVC cutters, but you could probably use a small saw.... Make do with whatcha got.




so you should end up with something similar to this.



So now you have something that will bring the humidity up, all we have to work on now is bringing it over and directing it down into your enclosure.

The simplest way to do this is with your two 90° elbows and a short section of tube, like this.



Now just lube up the connection with a tiny dab of dish soap, and slide the two pipe assemblies together, to get this:




Now its time to test fit, to make sure that everything we did is validated. just put this up beside, or behind your enclosure. The nice part is that the back is relatively flat so you can get very close with it.

.

Now, like I said earlier, I left some extra on the riser pipe, just to give me a margin for error.



I could leave it like this, or I could trim down the riser pipe for a close fit. I prefer a close fit, so I trimmed it up to remove the 3/4" mis-match.

Now that everything is matched up, you can do a few different things.

The original video has a bunch of Great Stuff expanding foam, and silicone. I don't think its required for this set up, as the humidifier puts out such a low pressure that its going to take the path of least resistance. If you get leaks at the interface between the pipe and humidifier try pushing the pipe in a little more firmly.

Also, if you don't permanently attach the pipes, it makes refilling much easier.


Finally, if you used soap, and you're sure you're done with all your adjustments, run some hot water down the pipe assembly or you'll end up with some really cool mist filled soap bubbles.

This should be your final product.




You can put this on either a timer, or hygrometer... whatever you need to get your numbers to jive for your animal and enclosure.

[jclaiborne]

awesome little write up!