Non-Electric Dehydrator - How to Build an Infrared Solar Dryer

[@terrychrist1383]

Making noodles and jerky when I was a kid, we would hang white sheets on the clothes line to dry the noddles and jerky etc.

[@papadiouf5204]

Looks great. I live in the USA but I was born in Sénégal west Africa. Sénégal has the world best mangoes but guess what 60% of the country mangoes is wasted. Too much people don’t know what to do with it. A food dehydrator would be great to show people how to build it and be in business for themselves preserving the mangoes. Thanks

[@DoctorSuezz]

Hey guys!! THIS is HUGE!! I absolutely love this idea!! I am going to try this... in Texas. Lol. I'll keep you posted!

[@cgt6497]

As always, your video was incredibly informative! I can definitely build this and give it a try. It will be my first attempt with off-grid food preservation. I'm really appreciative of your channel. I think you offer the best advice out there! Please keep it up!

[@farmuntilthemoneyrun]

This is wonderful, thank you for taking your time to share this with us. I am wondering where you got the food safe stainless steel mesh? I am having no luck finding it. Thank you again!

[@amberemma6136]

I would love to know this too!

[@sailme2day]

on the warped poly , if you will drill just a little larger pilot hole for the gasketed roof screws. Then when setting the screws , leave them just a tad loose. yep , these two items should fix your warping. Why ? think of a house with vinyl siding or vinyl soffit. You can tell when an installer has driven the siding nails to tight to the siding. the nailing slots in the siding allow it to expand and contract , without buckling. Give it a try . really cool design and video. thanks for posting it . Be fun to see how it compares to other , old school sun drying designs .

[@blissfulacresoffgridhomest2098]

I put herbs in a thin cotton/or organza bag and hang until dried. I also use my solar oven but it is really too small to do much. I have been known to use my car and use the dehydrator tray placed on top of a dark cookie sheet. Mostly I use my electric dehydrator as we are on solar. Turn off the machine at night and turn it back on when the sun is shining.

[@blissfulacresoffgridhomest2098]

@@TheProvidentPrepper I want my honey to make me one just like yours!!!

[@suevanhoose6672]

About 45 years ago we used a old window screen and put it in the rear window of a car. Sure worked real well. Those were the days.

[@thegardenguy9160]

Pretty nice build good job but I have a challenge for u try to make a similar dehydrator that can dehydrate liquids to make things like egg and milk powder

[@patrickcayton4480]

That is a really great design , simple and efficient . As far as sealing the wood may I suggest beeswax butcher block sealer , it is used to seal butcher block's and coming contact with food. As far as the oil canning that you experience with the polycarbonateI I would suggest mounting the polycarbonate with thin mounting tape And then secure it around the edge with a lightweight angle putting the fasteners through the side, I would apply the polycarbonate In the direct sunlight so it can pre Expand A little bit It will contract when it cools off but probably not enough to come loose from the mountain tape , thanks for posting this And all your other prepping videos

[@patrickcayton4480]

p.s. I am a contractor specializing in bath modifications For the disabled , I take out and throw away Tempered glass shower doors all the time I will not be doing that again lol

[@cwilken]

Thanks so much... This inspired me to build one. I dont think you mentioned the purpose of the polycarbonate on top of the tin sheet or maybe I missed it. I presume this is for the greenhouse effect of trapping solar energy in between to help heat up the black side of the tin.

[@garymiles8216]

If you take the stews out of the two ends and top and put a wood outside corner on without going through the plastic it can expand and contract without the flexing

[@honestlee4532]

I dry a lot of herbs around the house by just putting them up high for a few weeks. I use the racks from my electric dehydrator. They stay out of the sunlight and I don't use any electricity.

[@enragedbutterfly]

In 2022 that’s $7,924 in lumber. Thank you for the great info and explaining so much! I like This design a lot. How could this be used to turn a purée (super hot pepper) into powder?

[@JoshuaCussins]

If you make a trim piece to go around the top. It will help keep the edges of plastic from bending. Maybe some wood strips or perhaps some sort of metal L track. Like a picture frame

[@JoshuaCussins]

Your welcome. Great video. Considering making one with a built in ??° angle top. Trays will lay flat. Back hindged wall will be slightly taller than front entrance wall.

[@JoshuaCussins]

@@TheProvidentPrepper I'll update you once I make it. Have a few projects going but I'm excited to get around to it. Thanks again for the great video.

[@upvotecomment2110]

Could you please link who you are referencing at 8:46

[@czed7515]

Maybe you could stake the screws out and then put 2x2s on top then screw it together. That way you it would be clamping down so it couldn't warp and bow the polycarbonate. Also maybe try making black walnut stain from the hulls. It should be non toxic.

[@czed7515]

You can also use the walnut stain on metal. Some people stain their foot traps in it. I tried it on a hatch head I rehandled but I had to boil it in the stain to get a good coat or bluing I guess you would call it.

[@desijrichert]

I'm sure you aleady figured this out but velcro to hold down the plexiglass would work fine. I mean you don't need it structural, it just needs to not come off, right?

[@Akolkar2]

Thanks for detailed video .can we use uv ptotected sheet tarpolene or 3mm glass because polycarbonate will create gases due to sunlight heat. Your design looks like commercial branded product .👍👍👍👍👍

[@Akolkar2]

Can we use glass ?

[@ninadelarosa5265]

Thank you!

[@1962jassy]

Thank you, if a sudden storm comes up, does it get wet inside?

[@ddrogordo3432]

Insted of plastic on top could one use glass?? would it heat up the same? And great video

[@theyoungnative93]

does this work for apples? and if so how long do the apples last?

[@SSR000]

How the mousture will escape?

[@1962jassy]

Also did you use it in the fall? What is the coldest temps you have used it with? Thank you.

[@KellySandra716]

Interesting, I'm not sure about that pollycarb* plastic top, I'd go with stainless steel but very nice design. thank you for taking the time and sharing.

[@rubygray7749]

You've missed the point here which may not have been explained. Sunlight passes through the the polycarbonate (or glass) and hits the black flat metal. The sunlight is converted into infrared heat which radiates down onto the food below. The polycarbonate cover keeps heat inside the solar collector. The metal sheet protects the food from UV light which denatures nutrients.

[@KellySandra716]

​@@rubygray7749 indeed I get it all. It's the chemical compound of everything this is my issue.

[@nits1313]

Wats d thickness of steel sheet used ??? Upto wat thickness we can use??

[@nits1313]

@@TheProvidentPrepper Sir i m still waiting for reply coz i have steel sheets range of 0.1 to 0.5 mm left spare from my previous job...hence i wud like to use them in this project...so kindly let me know if i can use that thickness.

[@JonathanBJones]

I used 20 guage tin, which is just about a millimeter thick. You could go a bit thicker if you want, but it would add some weight, and would take a little bit longer to heat up. On the other hand, the extra mass will hold heat a bit longer once heated. Because I move ours around a bit, I would probably not go any thicker than 14 guage. I will be interested in what you end up doing! Thanks for being part of the solution!!

[@nits1313]

@@JonathanBJones thank you Sir seems i need to gona buy a new sheet but still i am gona giv it a try.

[@thehazelnutspread]

Pardon my ignorance but infrared are the rays that we can't see. What does that have to do with this dehydrator? Isn't the HEAT from the sun's rays doing the dehydrating? If possible, would you please explain what makes this an IR dehydrator.

[@rubygray7749]

The sunlight shines through the clear top (polycarbonate or glass) which prevents heat kiss. The black metal sheet converts light energy into infrared, which is the heat that radiates down onto the food below. Direct sunlight on food is bad. It destroys nutrients and bleaches foods.

[@yeticrist]

Why choose tin over something like aluminum with conductivity of about 4X that of tin for example? (k_tin = 62.2 - 68.2 vs. k_aluminum = 236-240) Seems like thermal conductivity would be the method of converting sunlight into infrared wavelengths? Curious if I missed something before I go build one. Cost prohibitive? Sorry, engineer here too.

[@ilyaglar]

Thermal resistance(1/conductivity) of sheet is negligible here compared to compared to resistance of radiation. Actually you can use paper, fabric, thin plastic instead of metal here without loosing much efficiency

[@udincak3117]

@@ilyaglar wich is better use plastic with black both side vs aluminium black top side and raw bottom side?

[@ilyaglar]

@@udincak3117 u need no know emissivity of raw aluminium, I don't remember but it is good if it is not polished. And aluminium is better structurally.

[@udincak3117]

@@ilyaglar max emissivity very low about 0.2 (heavy oxidized) and structurally not important in this case

[@ilyaglar]

@@udincak3117 well, then plastic would be better. Or you 'll need to paint aluminium. Keep in mind that some plastics degrade quickly in high temperature and sun exposure. I think that painted tin is best solution, but it's your project

[@dustya1982]

Would glass work better than polycarbonate i only ask because I just replaced an old single pane picture window

[@AnnBearForFreedom]

Maybe fill the polycarbonate gap with a high heat food grade silicone? Too much offgassing? I really don't know.

[@craigboyd1888]

I made it to 5:12 before the math overwhelms me. I clearly see the $15 of hardware and many hours of open shop space plus framework with hanging rails to nest the drying shelves/racks. the shelve and the shelve hanger rails on three sides are good for 10 + man-hours. Tools are from scratch will set you back around $350.00. Now you have 10 to 20 h0urs of manufacturing and assembling. With the added time to and from the supply store. for the construction material. I am sure that I missed something. simple

[@amandacottles5445]

Would this work when there is high humidity??

[@alexcole4970]

Great question.. was thinking about this but don't think the UK would be a good place for it!

[@rishabhsingha9498]

Can i dehydrate meat in this?

[@shannonhicks8755]

Maybe put a trim of wood to help keep it from bowing up.

[@trumplostlol3007]

The best "infrared" dryer is your car. Put whatever you have into your car during a hot summer. Voila.

[@joeljones6728]

Awesome IDEA,, will get me some wood and build me one ASAP.. Keep up the Awesome Videos Jones's

[@sheepseven7588]

Nice

[@lindabrown69]

I thought the sun was bad and takes vitamins out of the food

[@slavenkabozic9655]

Molim vas omogucite prevod na srpski jezik !

[@steveb855]

Search for 'Dilbert the knack' or 'he'll be an engineer'. It's a curse!

[@JohnDoe-zl6qw]

What is the purpose of the polycarbonate sheet? It appears superfluous. Perhaps it's there to create an insulating layer of air between the tin sheet and the polycarbonate to ensure temperature stability inside the dehydrator? Same question for the pro-panel. What is it's purpose? Limiting airflow into the interior of the dehydrator so as to maintain high temperature?

[@bobleponge1301]

Transparent material are used on top of solar heating equipment to limit cooling of by wind draft. A polyethylene 4 or 6 mil would do the same but at a lower cost. If you want it to stay tight, you install it when temperature is already hot, so expansion would be limited and contraction will keep it tight without sagging.

[@JonathanBJones]

These are great questions. As for the polycarbonate sheet, it is designed to create a greenhouse effect. To some extent, it does stabilize the temperature, but more importantly it traps heat, much like a car interior in the summer. The outside temperature may only be 90 degrees, but the "greenhouse" in your car my be 140 degrees. This helps drive the heat into the dehydrator, even on days that might be on the cooler side. Obviously, the polycarbonate also protects the painted surface, shedding the water. The pro-panel creates a channel for air flow and produces a "stacking effect". With the upward angle, the warm air flows up and out and and pulls cooler air in that is then heated and exhausted. While it is true that this dehydrator would work without these components, I believe they create a more efficient design. Thanks for the questions...and thanks for being part of the solution!

[@garymiles8216]

It’s for when it rains

[@anadubar4819]

That chain that was used as a dog collar though - ugh, poor doggie.

[@buteos8632]

Try having a big guard dog and you'll see you have no idea what you're talking about! The only useful dogs on a homestead besides sheep dogs.

[@AdoreTHEweed420]

I assure you, not only ‘’engineers’’ are implicated, interested and do these types of projects. It is so stereotypical of an engineer to always mention and have others mention they are an engineer 🤣 sorry I had to say it … that being said very interesting and well done in your trial and errors to make this thing work as it should ;)

[@CCoburn3]

Cut slots in the plastic, then screw it down (but not too tightly). This will allow the plastic to expand and contract but will not buckle. Make sure you use washers with the screws.

[@darkknight145]

re the buckling of the polycarbonate, I would just drill the holes in the poly slightly larger than the screws and don't tighten them down as much to allow the poly to move around a bit so it's free to expand and contract.

[@TheRainHarvester]

I thought airflow was necessary? How many days does drying take with this design?

[@rubygray7749]

The airflow is underneath the drying tray screen. Cool air flows in at the low end between the screen and corrugated roofing iron below, and the hot air heated by the solar collector flows up and out at the higher end. Thermal syphoning.

[@duanelee6208]

I built a solar drier48 years ago. Just a 3'tall x 1,5' x 1.5" box with a door. I made trays with copper screen with wooden frames. To regulate the heat I made a slot in the bottom and top with sliding panels, with both panels adjusted depending on available sun I could control the heat inside the box + or - 20 degrees F. On most fall days the drier would average about 130 degrees with both panels closed. The second year we had temps between 90 and 100 F and the box was cooking not frying the food so I bought a hair drier at a flea market and a small battery operated toy car, salvaging the fan from the hair drier and the motot from the toy car. Then for power I used 2 1" x 1" solar panels and wired them to the motor and the fan. For a drive shaft I used a small length of rubber tubing. My contraption provided enough air flow to keep air moving through the vent panels to maintaini cooler termperatures. We used our solar food drier for many years to supplemet pour family of four. The only material that wasn't repurposed were the llittle solar panels I bought fron Radio Shack for $2.

[@alwaystired973]

You could try drilling over sized holes to allow the polycarbonate room to expand enough to prevent buckling

[@moniquem783]

Fabulous! I’ve wanted a solar dehydrator for ages but they don’t seem to get great reviews. Knowing that an engineer thinks it’s good gives me confidence to try it.

[@EphraimKiptiony]

can I use aluminum instead of tin? since aluminum is a better conductor than tin

[@poisongods]

"I like measuring things" Holy crap do my excessive excel logs feel that. awesome video!

[@KuchBhiMehta]

Wowow watching this from India and this video is such a useful resource! Thank you muchly!

[@KuchBhiMehta]

@@TheProvidentPrepper haha far from it but we'll be fine.

[@TheRainHarvester]

Stainless steel screen is hard to find. What else can be used?

[@royormonde3682]

Get rid of the rubber washer screws and use loosely screwed in pan head screws or roofing nails into one inch slotted holes to allow for expansion and contraction. This method is used when installing vinyl siding which expands and contracts also, the key is to leave fasteners slightly loose. Just look up vinyl siding to see their design. Great idea here, I'll try one this summer.

[@royormonde3682]

@@TheProvidentPrepper Well the harvest has been going on for a couple weeks now and I've built one of these babies out of stuff I had around in the wood shed, a couple old storm windows and it works extremely well, I put a couple wheels on one side and a couple handles on the other and it moves around like a wheel barrow. I highly recommend this design and it's certainly a much easier build than some of the others I considered. Nice work, thanks.

[@dans4270]

Or just put a wood strip all the way around.

[@sii6531]

What about air holes? Do you not need them for moisture to escape and inflow? 💚

[@TheProvidentPrepper]

There is airflow from the bottom!

[@benjilacombe7478]

Curious, you mentioned building 5 more of these. Are they still working out ok, did you change anything else? I'm currently building one out of steel so it won't ever rott.

[@orionlottering7349]

Hi. I f you make this box deeper, you could use it for a growbox for seedling also. Both use the heat and are not always in use.

[@hasdrubal121]

We're nearly finished our new house. When we've finished we will be jumping straight into self sufficient projects. Preserving food will be vital. You folks have a great channel, many thanks, God bless

[@sunitaagrawal740]

I like it very much

[@rubygray7749]

02:00 If that is the orientation you were using, little wonder your temperature was low! It's not facing the sun. At that hour, anyway. From the long shadow, looks like early in the morning with the sun due east, so very little solar radiation is being captured.

[@iwisindia7285]

I made Solar dryer and seen 8 degree celcius difference with ambient temp at 9 AM cloudy weather but seen moisture on poly carbonated sheet , Its common or need modification

[@Alien2799]

interesting. Thank you. Two questions please: Do you worry about small bugs getting in? I assume that it is not 100% tight. What if I want to dehydrate at less than 115 degrees? To keep food raw. Also herbs should not be dried at more than 95 degrees. Is there any way at all to modulate the temp?

[@heidicook2395]

I live in Florida. Will the humidity in the air be too much for the solar dehydrator to successful dry fruits and veggies?

[@udincak3117]

wich is better use plastic with black both side vs aluminium black top side and raw color bottom side?

[@rodney73991]

not much did canning. that house hot boiling water to seal jar pezza sauce. mason jars. figure way get water up boiling so can out side use sun that awesome.

[@sharriceowens913]

Do you have to use plastic poly carbonate the reason I wanted this is cause I don't trust the plastic food dehydrators

[@stephaniesparks1967]

The solution to the plastic bowing is to float it between a wood frame so that it can move freely in the floating frame.

[@garymiles8216]

If you use aluminum for the metal, it will probably get higher temperatures and faster

[@MrCntryjoe]

slots in plexaglass instead of screw holes ☮

[@thehazelnutspread]

The link for Tom’s free video workshop isn't working

[@garymiles8216]

One more thing maybe it should have a screen on the top and bottom of the metal roofing so bugs can’t get in under the trays

[@crosswireddroid]

Is it possible to use an aluminum or steel sheet instead of tin? Or a diffent kind of metal?

[@clarabrayton9360]

I like it. Just might build this one. Thanks so much.

[@GrillWasabi]

I've been trying to create something like this for dehydrating beef jerky! This will give be a better idea how I build mine.

[@GrillWasabi]

@@TheProvidentPrepper In my parents country, they've been dehydrating beef and poultry for years to preserve meats due to no refrigeration. After it's being dehydrated, before consuming, they will either grill it or fry it. So it's fairly safe.

[@countrydarlin8212]

That's so neat! How long does dehydrated food last?

[@harmenskalaja]

Any patent yet, whats the price or shop site?

[@mmo4754]

Why a stainless steal screen?

[@doge5995]

I wanted to build something like this to indirectly dehydrate some vegetables and your's seems like a great design. I will try to build it and hope it works as well. Thanks from India

[@doge5995]

@@TheProvidentPrepper It used to be crazy, but we've gotten used to it. The place I'm in , Chennai, has seen a flattening of new COVID cases even after lockdown has been lifted, so the hope is that it'd decline sooner than later. Many other metros are still witnessing a increase, but modest, in number of new cases, but they too feel that the worst has passed. Lockdown is being lifted in a phased manner here in India with media giving them versions like unlock 1.0 :D. Schools and colleges are closed in many states. Public transit is only partially running. Inter district travel is restricted in some high concentration zones. The economy has seen its worst quarter, but the market gurus are predicting that it would have no permanent impact. We're at unlock 5.0 now and it seems like two more months, it would be business as usual.

[@doge5995]

And it's the beginning of IPL(cricket league), so India has already forgotten about COVID :) Thanks for asking...

[@alanland9663]

Sunlight adds Vitamin D to foods. Why would you NOT want dehydrated foods exposed to sunlight? There are several YT vids of folks making "sun dried" tomatoes in the oven. People around the world have been drying foods in the sun for thousands years. It works!

[@buteos8632]

:D

[@horticultureandhomes]

Why not route oblong slots in the polycarbonate sheet so the panel almost floats on top? You may need to sandwich the panel between two pieces of wood and not tighten it down super tight to allow for expansion and contraction.

[@kai-uweschierz638]

Why do you need the Polycarbonat on top of the black tin sheath???? Is it to keep the tin clean and protect it against water? Couldn't you just use the tin sheath as lid? Thank you for your answer.

[@buteos8632]

To keep the heat in for green house effect.

[@trahtrebor]

Keep measuring dude! My wife says Im too precise. But she doesnt complain about things built right or centered correctly. Lol

[@rayg436]

you should try torch burning the wood to act as a preservative and helps keep bugs away

[@AudreyEWrobel]

I only grow herbs, so I use twine, cheesecloth, and such to dry my herbs. I like your design, but I read you can dry things on the dashboard of your car, like if you (like me) have not built anything like this. I would cover food with cheesecloth even in a car, and I saw where someone said you can crack the window to mitigate the heat inside in your car and help with airflow in there.

[@MrSatukali]

New subscriber. "Sun light will degrade some of the more vital vitamins". Kindly specify which vitamins besides C

[@rubygray7749]

It seems that Tom Bartels adapted the original design by Larisa Walk and Bob Dahse. Excellent!

[@dragoncarver287]

I put some herbs on a cookie sheet and set it in the back window shelf of our car. It made the car smell quite nice. Took longer than I thought it should until we went for a short ride. The system needed some air circulation and by the time we got back home the product was totally dried. I need a bigger set up though. gonna check out the other vids. Thanks.

[@albertrenshaw4252]

At 3:00 perhaps you should leave it in the sun, not mounted, and after many hours, once it reaches the conditions it will have in production, then bolt it in place.

[@ShadowTheShameful]

Luv you both, thanks no sharing, new to all this, want to try and take charge of MY OWN food supply

[@kennethdirst2461]

Very nice! Does this have to be moved in from the rain? Is it possible to make this dual purpose? That is, can it be adapted to work as an active dehydrator, with heat source and fan?

[@hillbillyfarms3714]

I want to make one for my mom. Does it have to be see through plastic on lid? Or can i make the lid aluminum on top and bottom?

[@terrynoraturner1848]

You need to make slot for the screw like they have on vinyl siding. That will solve your buckling problem. We use the wood stove heat in the winter . In the summer I run a 12v fan and pull hot dry air from the attic. I know its electricity but its at least run by solar and helps cool the attic and dehydrates food. Fixing to set up a closet and vent the attic into it to dry clothes or take suction for the drier from the attic.

[@mmccrownus2406]

how about plexiglass instead of polycarbonate?

[@comfeefort]

Has anyone dehydrated refried beans, this way?

[@glenjamin7]

How long has your drying time been?

[@finderpath3170]

Superb 👏👏👏 thanks for sharing

[@trahtrebor]

Oh yeah, THANKS. I had seen a really good design but your vid pushed me to plan on making one.

[@TheProvidentPrepper]

We would love to see your finished one!! theprovidentprepper.org/contact-us/

[@ryancastillo7240]

Thanks..very impormative

[@ryancastillo7240]

Wow..great..it helps a lot.