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Deluxestogie's Endoskeletal Wood Tobacco Kiln / Flue-cure chamber

deluxestogie

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The safest approach for a small hole is to cut-off the Crockpot plug, leaving 6 inches of cord still attached to the plug. Pass the wire from the Crockpot through a small hole to the exterior, then reconnect the plug end, using twisting and taping. That way, the splice is outside of the kiln's moisture. Better yet, cut a big hole, and fashion a stopper with a notch, to reclose the hole after passing the intact Crockpot cord. [My preference is to be able to replace the Crockpot with a new one, if needed, without having to do additional work.]

Bob
 

deluxestogie

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The kiln itself (now 9 years old) holds up fine, and is still alive and well. By contrast, when I've used the kiln for flue-curing, the 165°F x 2 days of each run, x 6 runs per season, tends to bake the electrical cord insulation, causing it to become brittle. I've replaced the Crockpot twice (because of the stiffening cord), and wires leading to the bathroom fan once over the lifetime of the kiln. So use only as a kiln seems to have little impact on structural integrity, and zero affect on the Tyvek tape used to seal the seams.

Bob

Edit: I've replaced the Crockpot one additional time after refilling the hot Crockpot with cold tap water. The temp shock cracked the crockery. No problem when hot tap water is used.
 
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RoperLegacyWoods

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The kiln itself (now 9 years old) holds up fine, and is still alive and well. By contrast, when I've used the kiln for flue-curing, the 165°F x 2 days of each run, x 6 runs per season, tends to bake the electrical cord insulation, causing it to become brittle. I've replaced the Crockpot twice (because of the stiffening cord), and wires leading to the bathroom fan once over the lifetime of the kiln. So use only as a kiln seems to have little impact on structural integrity, and zero affect on the Tyvek tape used to seal the seams.

Bob

Edit: I've replaced the Crockpot one additional time after refilling the hot Crockpot with cold tap water. The temp shock cracked the crockery. No problem when hot tap water is used.
I'll have to do some thinking on how to shield the wires then. Thanks for taking the time to talk!
 

RoperLegacyWoods

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The kiln itself (now 9 years old) holds up fine, and is still alive and well. By contrast, when I've used the kiln for flue-curing, the 165°F x 2 days of each run, x 6 runs per season, tends to bake the electrical cord insulation, causing it to become brittle. I've replaced the Crockpot twice (because of the stiffening cord), and wires leading to the bathroom fan once over the lifetime of the kiln. So use only as a kiln seems to have little impact on structural integrity, and zero affect on the Tyvek tape used to seal the seams.

Bob

Edit: I've replaced the Crockpot one additional time after refilling the hot Crockpot with cold tap water. The temp shock cracked the crockery. No problem when hot tap water is used.
The kiln itself (now 9 years old) holds up fine, and is still alive and well. By contrast, when I've used the kiln for flue-curing, the 165°F x 2 days of each run, x 6 runs per season, tends to bake the electrical cord insulation, causing it to become brittle. I've replaced the Crockpot twice (because of the stiffening cord), and wires leading to the bathroom fan once over the lifetime of the kiln. So use only as a kiln seems to have little impact on structural integrity, and zero affect on the Tyvek tape used to seal the seams.

Bob

Edit: I've replaced the Crockpot one additional time after refilling the hot Crockpot with cold tap water. The temp shock cracked the crockery. No problem when hot tap water is used.
Forgive the newbie question please, is there a better/or completely different chamber design for flue curing?
 

deluxestogie

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a better/or completely different chamber design for flue curing?
Of course. There is always a better design. When home tobacco growers first attempted flue-curing, we looked at the massive, industrial flue-cure chambers, and considered how to duplicate the process at a home scale. My first experiment was what came to be known as the Cozy Can. It works, but is not really large enough to be practical. The Cozy Can's greatest value was in exploring the essential requirements for successfully flue-curing a small batch of green leaf, and it's worth reading, just for the concepts.

My endoskeletal kiln was designed specifically as a larger capacity kiln, to replace a converted, wooden toolbox that I had been using as a kiln (not flue-curing). The question of whether or not the endoskeletal kiln (specifically the XPS foam and the Tyvek tape) would withstand flue-cure temperatures was an open question, until I gathered the courage to attempt it—at the risk of destroying my kiln. It worked, and the materials of concern seem no worse for the wear.

That was the end of my journey of kiln and flue-cure chamber designing. It works for me, and that's what I use. Any member of this forum (and maybe their teenage kids) could certainly come up with improvements and re-designs. My goal was simplicity. I'm sure there are other and better approaches out there.

Bob
 
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