Boundryconditon did a really nice remix from archipelagourbanfarms that I wanted to try but my 155^3 printer doesn't have a large enough work envelope. My first thought was to rework his geometry into a more compact format. It took a couple days to realize that was a dead end so I started from scratch borrowing a couple critical dimensions from his working design.
Rather than print the net pots I designed this for the 3" size you can get from Amazon really cheap. The parts are stackable so you can pretty much make any configuration you like.
The distributor and cap go on top. Run the flexible plastic tubing from the pump up along one of the short corners and join multiple towers as shown in the first picture.
With PLA use 75 to 100% infill and at least two shells so it doesn't leak. Use super glue (I like Loctite Super Glue Gel Control), hot glue or silicon adhesive (aquarium cement) to assemble the sections. No supports or rafts are necessary.
Print in a dark color then spray paint the finished assembly white. If you only have light material handy spray paint it black then again in white. Basically, just use whatever leftover spools of material you have around and it'll look and work fine. The dark blocks light that can form algae in the nutrient solution and harm the roots, the white reflects solar radiation that can raise the temperature of the nutrient solution.
2019-04-07 Assembly Update
Forget the silicon adhesive and super glue, hot glue is your friend on this one. Tack the modules together then use small nylon wire ties between the column supports and mason twine to hang it.
2019-04-14 Assembly Update
Depending on your pump the distributors probably have a lot more holes than you'll need when using multiple towers. I'm leaving the design as it is because it's easy to seal some of the holes to balance the flow. It's not easy to add more holes after printing and assembly.
Food Grade Vinyl Tubing - 5/16 ID - 7/16 OD
Cotton kitchen string like you'd use to truss a boid. If you want to go all extra you can also use 1/4" paracord Blue Hawk 0.25-in x 100-ft Braided Polypropylene Rope.
2019-02-26 Updated ht_distributor.stl to fix a minor flaw. Most were ok but three or four of the holes printed solid and that bugged me. Either version will work in practice.
2019-02-28 Added support/spacer. Full disclosure; I pushed the design envelope on this one a bit so if it looks like the print is failing after the first couple layers do not be alarmed. Just let it do it's thing for a little while and your patience will likely be rewarded.
2019-03-09 Added single support (2 lugs) and no lugs (spacer). Go with this if you're going to use two or more modules side by side.
2019-03-10 ht_support-1 is tricky to print. Either use a brim or switch to ht_support-1a (recommended) then remove the excess material.
2019-03-24 Added ht_distributor-1 and ht_distributor-2.
| ht_bottom_drain.stl | 148.7KB | |
| ht_bottom_drain_supply.stl | 161.0KB | |
| ht_distributor-1.stl | 695.9KB | |
| ht_distributor-2.stl | 749.4KB | |
| ht_distributor.stl | 1.4MB | |
| ht_module.stl | 798.7KB | |
| ht_support-0.stl | 552.8KB | |
| ht_support-1.stl | 624.1KB | |
| ht_support-1a.stl | 626.4KB | |
| ht_support-3.stl | 773.9KB | |
| ht_top.stl | 361.1KB |
