These homemade dehydrators are fantastic. Cheap to make and work exceptionally well. And best of all: They cost nothing to run!!!
If whacking together pallets is not your thing you could consider using a glass fish tank, or an old display cabinet. Even a pallet with plastic over it may work! Just remember, air movement is the key!
The Solar Dehydrator Plan
Some design basics
The bottom of the main body of the dehydrator and the top one third of the door are insect mesh. This is to allow air flow. Remember – hot air rises! The trays are also made from insect mesh or similar – allowing air to circulate up and through each layer. Whilst you want some air movement your don’t want to loose the lot! So finding a good balance for your size dehydrator is a bit trial and error.
I found that overlapping the plastic at the top over the sides was slightly more effective in keeping out insects and stopping too much air leaking out.
Obviously if you are using pallets as we did measurements may change to suit the pallet sizes you have. We just worked with what we had.
Materials:
Pallets (untreated – Check for the HT pallet marking)
Screws – I prefer Robertson (square drive) because even I have to work hard to strip them (but it can be done 😛 )
Plastic: Available from stores like Mitre 10, or a large plastic bag (such as the sort mattresses come in)
Insect mesh: Available from most stores, tulle could also work
Staple gun and staples
Two old kitchen cupboard hinges (optional) for door
Corflute, nylon webbing or similar to reinforce your staple areas and help avoid the plastic pulling in wind (optional)
The Plan
Obviously if you are using pallets the measurements will vary to suit your pallets – so use this as a guide.
Step 1: The Sides
Start by cutting two uprights per side (four in total). The tops are cut at at 10 degree angle. For this I used 65mm x 25mm pallet wood. The back uprights were cut to 1250mm on the high side of the angle. The front uprights were cut to 1150mm on the high side of the angle.
Screw two horizontal cross members to each side – one at the top, and one at the base of the dryer area (about 460mm up from the ground). Note that at each join there are TWO screws offset on a diagonal. On mine these were 580mm.
Step 2: Joining the Sides
Using six equal lengths of wood (720mm) join the two sides at the top edges.
The other four lengths sit on the base cross members. One at each edge and the other two equidistant in the middle. Screw them down to the cross members.
Affix as per the sides with two screws per join for structural integrity.
Step 3: Enclosing the Dehydrator
Starting with the floor: Stretch and staple insect mesh across the entire base over the four slat boards. If you are worried about the staples pulling you could consider using a scrap of Corflute or nylon webbing between the staple and the mesh).
Enclose the two sides and front by wrapping plastic around and stapling in place. Extend the plastic 150mm past the base slats so it hangs down past the base and mesh.
Finally place plastic over the top, again extend the plastic and wrap it down over the top of the sides around 150mm. Staple in place.
Step 4: The Door
The door is a simple structure. Two uprights measuring approximately
And three cross timbers as pictured.
The top third of the door is covered in insect mesh, whereas the bottom two thirds is plastic.
Once you have joined the wood affix the mesh and plastic and staple in place, again overlay the seam slightly.
If you have hinges available you can hinge the door in place, otherwise there are many ways you could fix the door (a simple scrap of wood fixed to the frame that can be rotated to form a catch would work well)
Making Trays for your Dehydrator
The trays are simply a box made from four lengths of wood (roughly 70mm x 10mm) cut and then screwed together with two screws per joint.
Note: in my example I made mine rectangular. I also offset the joints – as per the diagram. I did not add bracing – and two years on the trays are still going strong – but you could brace by adding a triangular square to the corner.
Lay out insect mesh on a flat surface and place the completed frame on top. Stretch the mesh over the tray and up the sides. Staple the mesh to the inside of the frame. Do this one side at a time, getting the mesh taut across the frame.
Using your Solar Dehydrator
On a sunny day, place your dehydrator somewhere where it will get good sun. Load up the trays, close the dehydrator and walk away. As you can see from the photographs – my dehydrator got to well over 50 degrees and broke my hydrometer! If the fruit/vege does not dry the first day – Don’t panic, just put it out a second day (I put my dehydrator undercover once the sun goes down)
