Finally got my hobby lumber dryer going

doc henderson · September 15, 2019, 04:59:51 PM

what a gent. @beenthere pointed out (by PM) that the water weight is divided by the dry weight. that is sure correct. I know that in theory the MC can be greater than 100% in cottonwood and such, and that would never be poss if the denominator was the largest weight. so take the total minus the dry weight is the water weight that was baked off. divide that number by the final dry weight for the MC. as to not cause future confusion, I did modify my prev. post.

farmfromkansas · September 16, 2019, 07:42:45 PM

This morning the temp in the dryer was 106. Both dehumidifiers were running, could hear them humming from outside, and put my hand under both corners, and the ground was wet, and a few drips coming from hoses. Don't catch the water, just run it out. No scale other than the bathroom scale to weigh myself, but looks like the dryer is getting there. Funny thing, this afternoon about 3:00 checked temp in the dryer, and was about 119, and checked about 5:30 before coming home, and it was back to 115. So the sun works better earlier in the day, and although the fans keep running, the temp drops towards evening. These dehumidifiers seem to work at higher temperature than some, but would be nice if they would go below 35%.

doc henderson · September 16, 2019, 10:45:31 PM

@farmfromkansas I think early you want the heat, more than lower humidity. at 35% it will eventually reach 7% just like in your house. the heat speeds it up, @ 35% but 70° it will get to the same MC, but take longer just like putting it in your house.

farmfromkansas · September 18, 2019, 02:11:23 PM

This load will probably be done in a couple weeks, and I am wondering am I going to have to buy another container? Have a couple more stacks that need drying, but after that, what do you do with this thing, just unhook the collectors, turn the electricity off and use it for wood storage?