Reptile & Amphibian Forums

is there anyone that knows how to make a misting sytem that i could put on a timer so it would be cheaper than the comercial ones.

Simply put the systems pump on a timer. Timers are available at all hardware stores and vary in size and number of modes. You really want to match the timer to the system. What system do you run?

If you are in the market Ecologic sells nice systems for good prices.

Good Luck
-----
Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.11 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
0.0.1 Youth -coming soon-

>>is there anyone that knows how to make a misting sytem that i could put on a timer so it would be cheaper than the comercial ones.

I'm assuming you want a misting system with an overall price cheaper than commerically available systems. If that is case, I can help. I've built systems using both piston pumps [less durable] and diaphragm pumps [more durable]. In both cases the pumps were purchased from a non-misting-system supplier and thus were much cheaper. A piston pump can be had for about $30 while a diaphragm pump can be had for about $90. In both cases much cheaper than buying a pump from Ecologic or another supplier. With them you're basically buying a pump that they've repackaged and added their own markup. Additionally, you can purchase misting nozzles from a supplier such as BARRS [www.barrs.com]. Your timer can be purchased at a hardware store for around $17 for a digital timer that allows a wide range of programming. Ultimately, depending on which pump you go with, you'll say a little or a lot. The major savings comes from the fact that most misting system packages only come with one nozzle or in the case of more elaborate packages maybe 4 to 6 nozzles if that. Most misting system suppliers seem to be pretty stingy with the number of nozzles they provide with their systems.
-----
Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir

any pictures or anything on how i would put all that together? im a beginner and i need every lil thing explained lol

Matt, If you don't mind me asking where do you get your diaphragm pumps? All the ones I find are about $120 without cord or shipping.

Thanks
-----
Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.11 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
0.0.1 Youth -coming soon-

>>Matt, If you don't mind me asking where do you get your diaphragm pumps? All the ones I find are about $120 without cord or shipping.

Jeremy,

Go to the website: [www.interlinksupply.com] - you'll have to enter your zip code and then search for pumps. The pump I'm specifically thinking of is listed as AP04 under their part numbers. It's a bit more expensive than I remember, at $106 - last time I checked I think it was a bit cheaper. It doesn't come with a cord although it has the three leads to allow you to wire on a plug. It's a 45 psi pump which incidentally is the same psi as the pump that Ecologic sells for $149. You can easily spend another $7 and buy a power tool replacement cord at a hardware store and open up the pump to connect the cord or simply splice it into the leads coming out of the pump.

Ecologic sells a 100 psi piston pump for use with their low-end system but I've run 6 nozzles with my Flojet 55 psi piston pump. A friend of mine bought the same pump [$31 from Interlink Supply] and he runs at least double the number of nozzles. He's been running his system for at least a year and a half or two years on the same pump with no problems. I haven't run my system in a long time because I dismantled it when I moved a bunch of cages around and reconfigured a lot of stuff. I also had run mine for nearly a year without complaint and that's just with the intermittent duty piston pump.

As for shipping, I'm sure it's not that expensive. Even if you paid $15 you'd still be cheaper than buying outright from Ecologic. Ultimately it's whether you want to get a pump all ready-made from a supplier or whether you want to get the parts and tinker something together yourself. For me, I'd rather make things from scratch so to speak. Maybe I won't save that much money in the long run but ultimately it's the feeling I get from working something out myself and constructing it myself versus just buying something ready-made. Heck, if that's how I thought all the time, I'd have a bunch of Vision cages rather than all the weird cobbled-together stuff I've got now.
-----
Matt Campbell

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." John Muir