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- Oct 23, 2019
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This is mostly musing after a rough turn of events and probably a slow build thread for my vision. I make water every ten days or so into my diy mixing station. Currently I use two brute trashcans for barrels. I also have a degenerative nerve condition that gets worse in the heat, and today I was making water and dropped my janky sifting array into the barrel and ended up with a lot of precipitation and wasted effort/salt. I currently use large wood clamps and the handles of a colander to create rails and manually sift it back and forth. It's worked for several years no problem, but I want to build something that's a little more sophisticated and easier to operate on my bad days.
I spent summers with my grandmother, and her "pastry cabinet" had a built in flour sifter. You put an entire large bag of flour in the top and sift what you need as you need. My thought is to build an entire new cabinet/hutch like a Hoosier kitchen cabinet to go in the space with water storage that fits inside the bottom portion of the cabinet.
The idea is that the cabinet will have a flour sifting attachment or similar for the salt to go into, a direct RODI line to my water storage, controlled by Hydros with the RODI solenoid and water level sensor I think (I need to research to see the actual capabilities of these if they'd work how I want them to.) My AWC pump would go in the salt barrel, ATO currently goes in a 5 gallon reservoir, but I'd be open to adding RODI in a separate water storage as part of my mixing station, waste water is plumbed outside to a brute that my wonderful partner empties as it fills. I'd swap my metal shelves to put my storage in the cabinet (food/filtration etc.) I would probably have the sifter printed rather than using a metal one to avoid rust/metal contamination. The water container would have a lid that could open for me to sift the salt into it with little mess, as well as a cover so I can use the hutch as a table for things like water testing.
Concerns (and initial thoughts on solutions):
Moisture causing the sifter to clog (dehumidifier?)
Mold in the enclosed cabinet (silica desiccants/airflow)
Keeping the salt dry enough to sift without having to manually load it each time (the idea would be to put a brand new bag of salt in each time I buy a box)
Measuring the salt accurately (perhaps can be achieved by graduating the outside of the sifter and using a translucent filament.)
My poor poor bank account (but I'm in the wrong hobby for that, aren't I)
I would love to hear y'all's thoughts on doing something like this - or if there might be a better solution. As my hands and legs get worse, I need ways that make reefing a little more accessible.
Editing to add - this could lead to motorized automation after the initial concept is proven pretty easily I think.
I spent summers with my grandmother, and her "pastry cabinet" had a built in flour sifter. You put an entire large bag of flour in the top and sift what you need as you need. My thought is to build an entire new cabinet/hutch like a Hoosier kitchen cabinet to go in the space with water storage that fits inside the bottom portion of the cabinet.
The idea is that the cabinet will have a flour sifting attachment or similar for the salt to go into, a direct RODI line to my water storage, controlled by Hydros with the RODI solenoid and water level sensor I think (I need to research to see the actual capabilities of these if they'd work how I want them to.) My AWC pump would go in the salt barrel, ATO currently goes in a 5 gallon reservoir, but I'd be open to adding RODI in a separate water storage as part of my mixing station, waste water is plumbed outside to a brute that my wonderful partner empties as it fills. I'd swap my metal shelves to put my storage in the cabinet (food/filtration etc.) I would probably have the sifter printed rather than using a metal one to avoid rust/metal contamination. The water container would have a lid that could open for me to sift the salt into it with little mess, as well as a cover so I can use the hutch as a table for things like water testing.
Concerns (and initial thoughts on solutions):
Moisture causing the sifter to clog (dehumidifier?)
Mold in the enclosed cabinet (silica desiccants/airflow)
Keeping the salt dry enough to sift without having to manually load it each time (the idea would be to put a brand new bag of salt in each time I buy a box)
Measuring the salt accurately (perhaps can be achieved by graduating the outside of the sifter and using a translucent filament.)
My poor poor bank account (but I'm in the wrong hobby for that, aren't I)
I would love to hear y'all's thoughts on doing something like this - or if there might be a better solution. As my hands and legs get worse, I need ways that make reefing a little more accessible.
Editing to add - this could lead to motorized automation after the initial concept is proven pretty easily I think.