DIY 60 Site Aero Cloner - EZ Cloner Replication

[StealthSniper]

BIG thanks to KingRalph for his awesome tutorial and to all the others who contributed to this thread. This is a very simple project that anyone with even the slightest amount of experience building anything can easily accomplish.

I picked up the parts today, broken down as follows:

1 - 114 Litre Rubbermaid Toughneck hinged - $12.87

Danner Mag Drive 500 - $118

10' - 1/2" PVC Schedule 40 pipe
4 - 1/2" elbows
3 - 1/2" T's
1 - 1/2" female connector
$11.89

20 Misters ordered - $11
60 2" net pots and neoprene pucks - $33.00

Total: $186.76 including taxes

Time spent so far: 1.5 hours

Aside from the pump, the cost is very low to build this unit.

Here's what I"ve done so far:









I'll update as progress is made!

Stay safe

 

[StealthSniper]

Day 2's effort!

I drilled all the holes and cleaned them up with a sharp blade, which was time consuming. It doesn't help that things have to be done near perfect...

I think the hinged lid is going to be a nice little touch for opening and closing, and not having it fall off! Now I just need to drill in the misters, insert netpots with neoprene, and we're off to the races.

Here's some more pics:

 

[Guest]

Nice design, too bad you didnt see this first though lol http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/pumps_power_danner2.htm

live and learn Im hoping to build one soon as well in hopes of cutting down clne rooting time from my current bubble cloner. Best of luck with yours Take care

guerilla

 

[Guest]

looking good man! Have ya tried it out yet? I have to run up to the depot tommorow and get my parts =]

 

[StealthSniper]

Hey Guerilla, that's a good price, too bad they don't ship to CA. I could've probably found a better price, or even gone with a different name brand, but it was there for the taking. Convenience has it's price! $103 cdn + tax. It woulda costed me close to that with shipping, exchange rate, and duties at the border to bring one in.

Indicasativa, what a name man! No, I haven't tried it out yet, as I had to wait for the right misters to come in. I'm getting the actual EZ Cloner replacement misters to put in. Hopefully tomorrow.
This thing should kick some major butt here when we're up and running!

Stay Safe

 

[Pipedream]

Stealth - Lookin' mighty good. I'm in the process of doing the exact same project. Albeit in a different order. I've got my internals finished, but have yet to do the top. My issue is, that when the system is up and running, so much water is hitting the underside of the top, that its leaking out all around the edge. The big advantage to the Original EZ Clone is that the top sits inside instead of outside. Please keep us posted as to wether you have the same problem and if you come up with a solution. I'll do the same.


One more thing, don't forget to seal up the holes in the molded-in side handles from the inside.

 

[StealthSniper]

Hey pipedream, yours looks awesome too!

I am a little concerned about the water leaking out the sides, but I chose this container because the lid is quite deep around the sides. I'm hoping it's not going to be a huge issue, otherwise I'll just silicone the edges to prevent the water from leaking out.



Once the misters come in, I'll be able to tell you pretty quick!

Cheers

 

[Guest]

ahh, didnt realize you were in canada. theyll kill you with shipping/handling/customs etc. either way, as long as it works as well as other aero cloners ive seen, its worth every penny best of luck with it

guerilla

 

[StealthSniper]

ahh, didnt realize you were in canada. theyll kill you with shipping/handling/customs etc. either way, as long as it works as well as other aero cloners ive seen, its worth every penny best of luck with it

guerilla

Thanks guerilla, roots in 5 days. That's my goal! I'll post my first cloning attempts in it when the time comes.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

I'll be looking forward to it, I really need to improve my times to keep up with my perpetual harvest. I know I could just figure out a way to take the cuts earlier, but sometimes I just dont have the patience lol. If you get roots in 10 days or less Im going out and putting one of these things together asap. Good luck, I wish you all the best

guerilla

 

[Lucid]

im looking at building one as well ..... almost went out and bought one the other day ... .

 

[StealthSniper]

im looking at building one as well ..... almost went out and bought one the other day ... .

I had my eye on the EZ Cloner as I'd heard so many positive comments on it, other then the heat issue from an oversized pump (in the 60 site unit).

Hopefully my misters are in today, and I can git er dun!

My one concern is the possibility of leaks around the lip edge, even though it does sit quite deep. I think adjusting the height of the misters will probably make a difference as well. The pump is the biggest cost, there are cheaper pumps available. I found a couple different ones for as low 40 cdn, so it is possible to build the entire thing for around $100. Pretty sick when you see the price of a 60 site ez cloner!

Make it a great day, stay safe

 

[Pipedream]

I'm finally up and running. I gave it a two-hour run and found no leaks. Two things helped. I lowerend the manifold so now only a very fine mist is hitting the pucks, and the cord & airhose now exit thru the side wall instead of from under the top.

 

[Haggis123]

Very cool looking systems there guy's, well done.

 

[BunchOfPiranhas]

What sizes

What sizes

Great cloners Pipedream and stealth sniper.

As much as I'd love 80 sites - its a little big for my needs. What size pump and containers did you use pipedream? That seems right around what I am looking for?

 

[Pipedream]

I'm running a 526GPH pump ($28) thru 12 EZ-Clone replacement misters (69 cents ea). The manifold is Schedule 40 half inch PVC ($3.89 pipe & fittings), and the tub is about 10-12 Gallons ($3.99) The pucks are cut from a workshop floormat ($2.50 for all) and they're set in cut-off baby cups from the Dollar Store ($1 for six)

I went with large pucks and holders as I plan to keep the plants in there for quite a while. If you arte just cloning, you could easily put 20 smaller ones in instead.

The only items not visable in the pic's are the airpump and stone, and the fitting where the electric cord and airhose pass thru the wall of the tub. I'll try to post them tomorrow.

Stealth - get those misters yet?

(EDIT) - Here are the pic's showing the rest, hope they help....

.... ....

 

[BunchOfPiranhas]

Thanks

Thanks

Very helpful - thanks a lot!

I plan on having this close to where I sleep. How noisy is it? The woman gets pissy about these things sometimes.

Also, I've never seen an airstone in one of these. Is that normal, or necessary? I suppose more oxygen in the water is never a bad thing. seems like a pretty powerful air pump you've got hooked up to yours there.

 

[Pipedream]

All of the store-bought units have either an air-stone or a bubbler-wand of some type built in. In reality, since you are constantly "misting" the water, its already holding as much disolved oxygen as possible. However, once these cloners get all wet, a fairly good seal is formed with the moisture. This seal prevents a supply of fresh air from entering the tub. The stone or wand solve the problem. Of course so does just an open ended airhose. Actually the airpump looks much bigger in the pic then it really is. Its a very small unit bought at a garage sale for 75 cents. Lastly, mine isn't very loud at all, but I'd think twice about putting in right in the bedroom.

 

[StealthSniper]

Well the misters arrived, I drilled the holes and turned them in. Filled her up with water and did the trial run. I just about blew the lid off!!! LMAO! I had to shut it down as water was flying everywhere. The magdrive is a good pump. I am going to lower the works down farther, and then see how it does. I may have to install more misters to reduce some of the pressure.
I wasn't able to see if water will leak around the lid yet, as there was water going every which way!

I'll update when I figure something out.


Stay safe

 

[Pipedream]

I know what you're saying about the Danner Mag-Drive. I run them in my outdoor pond and the pressure they develop is fantastic. I'm not sure if your model has it, but many of the smaller pumps have a restrictor that allows you to reduce the output pressure. You can also do it by covering part of the intake on the pump. If not, and you're already getting good mist coverage, an alternative to adding more misters is to drill a few pressure relief holes in the underside of the PVC pipeing. The water spraying straight down into the reservior will also help to aerate it. Just a thought.