diy mister?

whitruss

New Member
hello!
i have a question i would like to do.
Sorry for posting like this but has anyone built a diy mister?
i searched a litlle but i couldnt find it yet
thanks in advance
 
hello!
i have a question i would like to do.
Sorry for posting like this but has anyone built a diy mister?
i searched a litlle but i couldnt find it yet
thanks in advance

I'm assuming you mean automated misting system. Otherwise you can just buy a pump sprayer or a spray bottle and have at it.

For automated I've done two different ways.

A pump sprayer bottle with the outlet adapted to a sprinkler solenoid, the solenoid hooked to a sprinkler timer. You'll need an adapter called a manifold to adapt from the solenoid valve to your drip tubing. At the end of your drip tubing if you want a fine mist you can get nozzles from KES, but they have a $50 minimum order.

The second way, order a high pressure pump from China off e-bay and some mist nozzles from KES. For a timer, use a digital minutes timer from Lowes or Depot. You'll need a bucket for a reservoir and of course tubing and fittings.

The second method is cheaper and does not require frequent pumping, as well as providing a finer mist because the pressure is higher.

Now, if none of this makes sense, you'd be better off just buying a Mist King setup. The DIY approach can be built for half the cost, but the quality is not as good either. The Mist King timer is way better, their nozzles are better, their pumps are better then most you can find for cheap on e-bay. But if money is tight and you don't mind doing legwork and experimenting, go for it.

I use the second version listed and am constantly tweaking it to make it better. I have probably spent more time than anything getting it going.

One of these days I'll put up a detailed blog on how to do it.
 
First of all thank you very much!
And yes, i meant automated misting system.

I was thinking on something like the second choice. a timer conected to a Pump conected to a reservatory thats conected to the tube system with the nozlles, to create the "rain" in constants time intervals.

i kinda understand the basics of the system. the thing is i dont know wich pump i will need (i guess it will depend on the capacity of the reservoir, the diameter and quantity of tube and nozlles).

i guess ill reserch a bit more and w8 for your deatilled blog setup :p or buy a misting system ( designed for plants or the one desiged for gardens, wich i think might be cheaper) instead of going for the mist king (wich i would love but they are far to expensive)

And really dude, thak you! :)
 
You have a few problems.

1. to make a true misting system you need something called a membrane/diaphragm pump. Standard pumps dont provide enough "head", and they are designed for low head high flow setups. Membrane pumps are $$$. You would need at least a 60psi/.5MPA unit. Ebay has lots of 12v ones, but good luck finding a 60 watt dc transformer on the cheap.

2. Garden type misting systems rely on house water pressure. So if you dont have your misting system connected to the tap, thats off the list.


The cheapest way, as pointed out, is a 5 gallon self pump reservoir (lawn sprayer) with a solenoid manifold mean for lawn sprinklers. You would have to manually pump it every few days because you will only be using a gallon for every half hour of misting or so.

Other than that you can make a cheap dripp system out of a fish power head and some nozzles. You just drop the head in a bucket and it will dripp out of 10-20 dippers just fine, it just wont mist.
 
It's really easy to set up the misting system but as others have pointed out the pump is what will make or break the system. When I built my first DIY enclosure I wanted to do everything as cheap as possible like you and found some good ways of setting up a misting system using 1/4" drip line and an outdoor misting kit from Home Depot (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Basic-12-ft-Outdoor-Mist-Kit-31760/202271381). The problem I had was finding a pump that was strong enough to get good atomization through the misting heads. I was lucky enough to have a family member that owned a hydroponics store and let me try out several traditional pond/irrigation pumps and even the big 1100 gph pump barely pushed enough pressure for the misting heads to "mist" (think squirt bottle for your hair) and it was loud enough to be heard from across the house when it kicked on. I wound up picking up a Mistking unit a few weeks later at a reptile show and their pumps are AWESOME. They're very quiet (almost can't hear it kick on when in the same room), they're strong enough to get a very fine mist from any misting head I've tried so far, they will work with any 1/4" drip line, and you can run over a dozen misting heads off the same pump. If money is a big issue you can pick up a garden sprayer like the others have suggested but if you want something that's easy, reliable, and totally automated I would definitely recommend getting a basic Mistking or Aquazamp kit and then building a DIY system really cheap if there aren't enough misters for what you're doing and just tie it in to your new system . I don't mean to discourage you from trying to be creative but I wanted to share my experience since I probably spent more money trying to find a cheap way of building my own version than if I would have gone out and bought one of the kits from our site sponsors to begin with lol.
 
the thing is i dont know wich pump i will need (i guess it will depend on the capacity of the reservoir, the diameter and quantity of tube and nozlles).

Like nightanole said, you need a high pressure diaphragm pump. A pond style pump won't cut it. I use a 12V pump and appropriate wall wart transformer. I keep old wall warts just for my experiments. Looks like Mist King is using a laptop style transformer. Just make sure the transformer output does not put out more juice than the pump is rated for. And make sure you get a self priming pump, otherwise it can cavitate which burns up your pump and makes for thirsty chameleons.

To determine what pump to buy, you need to know what your nozzles require. If they require 80+ psi to atomize then you should get at least a 100 psi pump. If you get less than the required, your mist nozzles will just drip.

If you have a lot of nozzles, then the pumps maximum flow capacity comes into play, and then it starts to get expensive. For very large systems it may be cheaper to use multiple systems than try to fit it all on one pump.
 
The pump you are looking for is a reverse osmosis booster pump, they are pretty expensive.
 
The pump you are looking for is a reverse osmosis booster pump, they are pretty expensive.

While I'm sure those work great, there are plenty of high pressure pumps in the 80 to 100 psi range on e-bay for ~ $25 delivered. I own a few of them and so far so good.
 
tHank you guys!
Yeah more and more ill think ill "have no chance" but to go for one of the misting systems.
Now i have to say i dont rly know what is a high pressure pump or high pressure diaphragm pump or if they are the same but i do understand why i should use it and what it does. didnt think i would need a transformer either.
still i think i would be able to mount one if i had the parts to assemble it. the problem is the money, dont know then what should compensate me more, trying to build one, or getting a mist system.
guess ill have yo w8 to see a more detailed, assembeled mist system.

Btw has anyone heard or use those misiting system people use in cabinets in the garden? to refresh them? something like is, is this viable? (and i mean the model of the equipemtent not this rquipment itself)

thank you guys!
 

Would you be using it inside or outside?

If inside, it is a really bad idea. Because it hooks to the municipal water supply, if you have a leak or it malfunctions in any way, you have an unlimited source of water to enter your home. Basically it could flood you out of your house causing a lot of expensive damage. Probably not worth saving a few bucks up front. That's why the commercial systems use reservoirs limited to a few gallons.

You can use that system you linked to if you use a garden sprayer pump bottle for reservoir and pressure, run that to your solenoid valve, which is wired to your sprinkler timer. You can probably put it together for between $50 and $75. Of course you can buy the starter Mist King setup for $99, so the call is yours. :)

I prefer the electric pump method these days because pumping a bottle every day gets old real quick.

Sorry for the confusion over what pump to get. Here's a link to the style pumps I use:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-12V-60W-.../400505263778?pt=BI_Pumps&hash=item5d3ff956a2

They use 12V DC, so you need a transformer, so if you have an old wall wart that puts out 12 to 15v and enough amperage, you are in business. You only need an appliance timer that can be programmed for minutes, a bucket, some hose, and of course your nozzles. If you don't have a transformer, you can get those from ebay or a place like MPJA.

After you buy all of this and pay shipping on everything, you'll probably come out close to the Mist King starter setup. I honestly don't know how they can stay in business by selling so cheaply. It really is a good bargain for what you get. I don't think I could source parts and offer a DIY kit for less especially when you figure in hidden costs like packaging, instructions, support etc.
 
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