Live Stoner Chat Live Stoner Chat - Jan-Mar '25

[Olderfart]

Home centers sell sheets of perforated aluminum for radiator grills, you can cut it easily.

Yeah, I looked at aluminum sheeting, but with the number of shelves needed, the cost added up too much for me, at least for the initial attempt. I would have gone for aluminum sheeting or expanded metal of some sort but my option was cheaper, although more work. Pretty much anything will work as long as it allows air circulation, supports the bud, and does not contaminate the bud with anything bad.

Just in case you consider expanded metal, I now understand that doing that with styrofoam shelf supports would have been a bad idea. Even jaggers from the aluminum screen are an issue, I had to revise my screen attachment from staples to epoxy as a result. With the cut edges of expanded metal, you would be best with metal shelf supports, although with care wood supports might work without too much wear and tear from the metal edges.

 

[Olderfart]

If it has a built in dehumidifier it kinda proves my point that its not just a box with a humidity controller and an extraction fan! I don’t have one but assume for almost $2k they gotta have some kinda technology in it they don’t think u can replicate at home! I’m definitely down with the diy tho if a homemade option that works the same comes out! I’m way too cheap to ever spend that kinda money on one!

They have nothing that can't be duplicated at home, they have just applied widely used food tech to the problem of drying and curing cannabis. The principle can be used to dry a ton of bud, or a cupful as long as the design permits reasonably quick drying to but not past something less than .6 water activity. As my blog mentions, any device that can control humidity to around 57% while quickly drying the bud will closely match or duplicate the results obtainable with the Cannatrol. The Cannatrol controls internal RH by using an internal dehumidifier, my design uses external dehumidification, the bud does not care or know which, it just sees air circulation at the right RH.

The references to vapor pressure in Cannatrol's online marketing are more marketing than reality. There is zero difference between controlling RH in the dryer and controlling vapor pressure in the dryer, they are the same thing described using different measurements (remember ppm and EC when talking meters? Same thing.). The single most important thing the Cannatrol does is not permit the RH to drop much below 57% at any time during the dry and cure. By doing that, the process guarantees that the bud equilibrates to a water activity of less than the standard target to eliminate mold risk, which is 0.6. If you don't know what water activity is, there is lots of information online.

One final note here is that the widely accepted idea of drying at 60 degrees F and 60% will (if RH is actually kept steady at that level - unlikely in most cases, in my experience) produce bud dried to exactly 0.6, the minimum dryness to meet standard levels for resistance to mold. I suspect that this works mainly because during the cure, most processors would actually get the bud a bit drier than 0.6, or mold issues would be more common than they are with this approach. In any case, the Cannatrol experience suggests that taking bud as far as .57 does not sacrifice quality of the final product, and taking it that far ensures that minor variation in instruments or technique don't result in bud a bit too close to the danger levels of water activity.

All just my opinion at this point, but I have been doing my homework.

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

They have nothing that can't be duplicated at home, they have just applied widely used food tech to the problem of drying and curing cannabis. The principle can be used to dry a ton of bud, or a cupful as long as the design permits reasonably quick drying to but not past something less than .6 water activity. As I stated in my blog, any device that can control humidity to around 53% while quickly drying the bud will closely match or duplicate the results obtainable with the Cannatrol. The Cannatrol controls internal RH by using an internal dehumidifier, my design uses external dehumidification, the bud does not care or know which, it just sees air circulation at the right RH.

The references to vapor pressure in Cannatrol's online marketing are more marketing than reality. There is zero difference between controlling RH in the dryer and controlling vapor pressure in the dryer, they are the same thing described using different measurements (remember ppm and EC when talking meters? Same thing.). The single most important thing the Cannatrol does is not permit the RH to drop much below 53% at any time during the dry and cure. By doing that, the process guarantees that the bud equilibrates to a water activity of less than the standard target to eliminate mold risk, which is 0.6. If you don't know what water activity is, there is lots of information online.

You got me thinking i need to drop the rh in my tent setup next dry cycle! The temp stays around 68F and I been keeping it at 62% and i do notice after the first few days the smell of the bud gets fainter each day so maybe i should try the lower rh and see if i can get the dry time down to 3-4 days instead of purposely dragging it out!

 

[Lil Dab]

Canntrol uses dew point not relative humidity

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

Canntrol uses dew point not relative humidity

I thought it used something along them lines but I can’t afford one so haven’t researched them to know what all they got going on with their dry process!

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

I definitely don’t have any way to get my tent down to only 60F tho! Mid 60’s low as it gets but not steady!

 

[Lil Dab]

I thought it used something along them lines but I can’t afford one so haven’t researched them to know what all they got going on with their dry process!

Yeah I don't know exactly but watched enough videos to know they preach dew point

 

[Drownomatic]

I definitely don’t have any way to get my tent down to only 60F tho! Mid 60’s low as it gets but not steady!

Bring in cold outside air, try reversing the exhaust fan.

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

Bring in cold outside air, try reversing the exhaust fan.

My tent is in my bedroom so outside air isn’t colder than what inside of tent sits! It always sits a few degrees cooler if no lights on inside it!

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

And both my tents have an extraction fan hooked to rh controller and intake fan hooked to temp but when drying in tent the intake fan never comes on cuz the outside air isn’t cooler than inside temps! I have to disconnect intake during dry or it warms temp when it kicks on!