112 site machine better than ez clone for half the cost, DIY

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fractal

fractal

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I just made a high quality clone machine from an insulated cooler, based on the ez clone design but improving on it and saving a lot of cash at the same time. I am going to be setting up some vertical racks to maximize my return on the costs of growing, mainly power bills. So I needed a high capacity clone machine that can crank out 99 at a time because vertical racks with small plants require a lot of small plants.

First off, I bought a Coleman brand "Extreme" cooler because it is the right size, approximately 3 feet long by 1.5 feet wide and also the lid is nice and flat for drilling the holes that will contain neoprene inserts.
 
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fractal

fractal

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163
Because the lid is insulated as well as the cooler body and the underside of the lid is not flat it is necessary to remove it. This will leave a single thickness lid of plastic to drill holes in, while leaving the rim around the lid that will retain the proper seal.

The perfect seal on the lid is why I wanted to use a cooler, along with the double thickness insulated construction. With root zone temps being so critical, I thought that a cooler would make the perfect DIY clone machine. It is a no brainer, apparently one that slEaZy clone overlooked with their flimsy plastic unit that cracks easily, is not insulated and is also black to make sure your roots have no chance of staying cool with bright lights shining on the unit or outdoors.

It was a challenge to remove the underside of the lid and not mess up the lip of it to retain the perfect seal. I used a "keyhole" saw which is a hacksaw blade in a knife-like handle instead of a hacksaw frame so that the blade can be inserted in small spaces. With this I cut around the inside of the lid and then used the green handled tin snips in the picture to remove the plastic pieces that could not be easily cut out. This is a time consuming step and also dangerous because the sharp plastic edges can cut hands very easily. After removing the insulation and all plastic remnants I marked out a grid that will allow me to drill 112 holes in a 7 by 16 pattern. Using a pyramid step bit like the ones you may have used to drill flood trays for drain and fill connections I drilled 1.5 inch diameter holes to hold the 1.75 inch diamter neoprene inserts that will hold the clones. The slightly smaller hole will securely hold the squishy neoprene plugs with a clone in each one, you obviously don't want to drill the hole the same size as the plug or it will fall through.
 
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M

mal

Premium Member
Supporter
2,069
113
lookin good

looks great so far, bummer they included can holders on top. what pump/mister are you gonna use?



mal
 
fractal

fractal

2,009
163
slEaZy clone machines produce great results and I never said they don't. The problem is that they are cheaply made and extremely overpriced. I did use the identical 360 degree sprayers found in the slEaZy clone unit because they work well, that is the only part I think is fit to use from the entire unit they make. My pump is a mag drive 350 with a simple manifold built from 1/2" pvc. I drilled and tapped the holes for the 360 degree sprayers using a 10 x 24 t.p.i thread tapping drill bit to make a secure and watertight fit between the pvc pipe and the red sprayer pieces. When this is tested I will find out if I need to use pvc glue or not on the manifold although I don't think it will be necessary and would like to avoid using pvc glue in this clone machine because it is toxic. The joints fit very tightly as it is.

Entire cost for this project was about $160, which if marked-up for retail and time + labor added to the cost (it definitely takes some hours to make, and removing the inner lid was a chore and a half) it would come in right around $450 which is the price of the largest 130 site slEaZy clone machine. This unit is much higher quality though and made entirely in the USA except for maybe the mag drive pump. If anybody in the states is interested in their own machine contact me and I would make one for $420 including shipping to the lower 48 - hope this is OK I am not making an advertisement here just documenting my own project but I am thinking people might want one and not want to build it.
 
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C

cooperji

14
0
I wonder if you can just flower SOG style with one of these things.....
 
crom

crom

Cannobi Genetics
Supporter
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That is a pretty slick way of making a cloner. I do agree that those EZ Cloner spray heads are great. I use them on my aero unit and my cloner! I wonder if there is any other brand of cooler that would work better and be easier to remove the inner liner? Also I would think that no cup holders on the lid would be nice, though not that important. Im just a stickler for those clean lines. It's funny that I find this thread because I was thinking of a way to make an EZ Cloner that is stronger yet cheap to build. Great idea! Rep in store...Cheers
 
beezleb878

beezleb878

226
18
I applaud your handiwork. I recently purchased 49 site aero that fits my needs perfectly but your approach probably would have gotten me all home improvement like hehe.
 
F

Frank_Castle

75
8
Great cloning machine - I think I am going to try and copy your project.

Couple questions: is your pump on a timer or are you running the sprays continuously?

Are you using EZ clone neoprene inserts?

Thanks bro!
 
K

khaoticOrder

25
0
Beautiful Design bro! I did the same thing with a storage tote from walmart, and a pond pump from lowe's. But i like your ingenuity. Good work.
 
justanotherbozo

justanotherbozo

952
143
your work looks very clean and i'm sure it'll work like a charm.

so i hope you won't take this the wrong way when i say you
might want to give this method a try, it's simpler and cheaper
while being equally reliable, plus, you don't need any DIY skills
other than the ability to use a drill.

frankly, i don't expect you to abandon your new cloner, i just
hope you won't react by feeling offended as i am NOT saying
your way is wrong or that my way is better. in truth, i offer
it here for the noob's still struggling to find a reliable cloning
method, as an alternative, especially for those who are DIY
challenged.

anyway, here is a link to the simplest cloning method i've
ever seen and it's not only simple, it's cheap and reliable with
a success rate of nearly 100%.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=42847


ps the pics are from a run that i let go for 17 days.
 
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beezleb878

beezleb878

226
18
I get larger roots with my aero cloner and go straight into 2 gallon hempys and they are already comfortable in the rez so I think that method is great depending on the method for which you grow. Their are many ways to get where we are going, thanks for sharing.

Happy growing all.
 
fractal

fractal

2,009
163
I had huge success with the first go at this cloning machine. . . Root masses a foot long after 10-12 days. The pump was on continuously for the duration.

You should have seen how I got it back to my place from my friend's house where it was. . . Hooked the pump to a power inverter in my truck and drove a few hours with 80 clones in the machine in the back of the vehicle. Mobile hydro haha.

It would definitely be possible to flower a crop in one of these setups with larger holes in the lid and fewer plants. . . When this is filled with cuttings they get crowded after starting to root and grow.

Neoprene inserts I got on ebay for a good price, I'm using 1.75 inch plugs and also got some tiny net pots that fit in the holes with the neoprene in top of the net pot.

This machine is a serious money maker, at this time of year when everybody wants clones. I can deliver clones that are a foot tall and have massive roots in 2 weeks with this thing. Using trays and domes and plugs etc. . . Would take about a month to get big healthy starts like what I get with this machine.
 
T

tmantomhawk

1
0
I like what im seeing and reading......

This looks like a great set up. I have built a lot of DIY cloners and they've worked but I've had problems
1. With my tote builds the temp of the room causes the water temp to rise which slows the rooting process. I know this for a fact because I did a test where I kept putting ice packs in the tote to keep the temp at around 65 and my clones rooted in 7 days which normally took 14 with water temp at 79. This was a pain because I had to put new ice packs in the tote every 6 hrs. I fixed this by wrapping insulation around the tote which fixed the temp rising. It looked very getto.

2. After a couple days the tote started leaking cause of the constant spraying. This problem made me give up on the DIY cloner because I would leave the house and come back to a empty cloner and a floor full of water. I try'd solving this problem but and did but long story short it was a pain in the ass when I needed to change the water.

I was just about to bit the bullet and buy an ez cloner because I have try'd other methods but none gave me the root development as my cloner. So thank you for posting your project cause this method corrects my problem and saves me a bunch of money.

A way to improve on this design through my findings "BUT NOT NECESSARY" is to add a nebulizer "fog maker". Ive found that this causes the roots to develop some crazy feeder roots.

Also just a thought, I think I am also going to use a humidity dome for the first 5 days with a glass of water in the dome to raise the humidity which helps cuttings that haven't rooted yet. I also plan to put a air stone in the glass of water to help with humidity and oxygen.

Thanks for reading my two cents and thanks to fractal for sharing your design. I'll keep everyone on my "fractal cloner on crack"
 
C

Comercial

87
0
Good job

I have built these and Own the real EZ-clone for years. They key is finding the tote that wont leak. Yours looks really nice and I bet works great.

-Comercial
 
B

BluntForce

36
0
wow, excellent tute. I'm not the best with coming up with plans to build these kinds of things (though I can make a badass reflector out of windscreen car reflectors and satay sticks!) so thanks a heap for making it easy for me. I'm a barely competent cloner at the best of times so this should be of great help to me.
 
flyingpig

flyingpig

1
1
slEaZy clone machines produce great results and I never said they don't. The problem is that they are cheaply made and extremely overpriced. I did use the identical 360 degree sprayers found in the slEaZy clone unit because they work well, that is the only part I think is fit to use from the entire unit they make. My pump is a mag drive 350 with a simple manifold built from 1/2" pvc. I drilled and tapped the holes for the 360 degree sprayers using a 10 x 24 t.p.i thread tapping drill bit to make a secure and watertight fit between the pvc pipe and the red sprayer pieces. When this is tested I will find out if I need to use pvc glue or not on the manifold although I don't think it will be necessary and would like to avoid using pvc glue in this clone machine because it is toxic. The joints fit very tightly as it is.

Entire cost for this project was about $160, which if marked-up for retail and time + labor added to the cost (it definitely takes some hours to make, and removing the inner lid was a chore and a half) it would come in right around $450 which is the price of the largest 130 site slEaZy clone machine. This unit is much higher quality though and made entirely in the USA except for maybe the mag drive pump. If anybody in the states is interested in their own machine contact me and I would make one for $420 including shipping to the lower 48 - hope this is OK I am not making an advertisement here just documenting my own project but I am thinking people might want one and not want to build it.
Hi Fractal, I duplicated your design and I have a question. Did you have to glue the pvcs together? I was wondering whether the mag drive 350 created enough force to separate the pvc pipes if they were unglued? Happy Trails
 
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