Grow light height extension mod for AeroGarden Harvest Elite

This model is only compatible with the Harvest Elite, Harvest Elite Slim, Harvest Elite 360, and potential future products from AeroGarden. It is not compatible with other existing products.

Disclaimer

This project requires modifying your AeroGarden by cutting and splicing in an additional length of wires in the top portion of the grow light cable. This is not a project for beginners. Using wires that are too thin or not properly insulating the wires could start a fire and result in serious damage to property and loss of life. You are solely responsible for any damage or losses resulting from the use or misuse of these instructions.

Instructions

Note well the gauge of wires used in your AeroGarden. In my Slim model the wires appeared to be very high gauge, but that is only because the insulation is very thin, about 0.15 mm thick. The actual wire diameter was around 0.5 mm or 24 AWG. The electrical design of your model may be different so double check this yourself. I used 22 AWG (about 0.64 mm diameter) wire for splicing just to be safe. You must never use wire that is smaller diameter than the original wire or your wire may overheat and start a fire. Use copper stranded wire and insulate the solder joints with heat shrink tubing. Additionally, you should use a single long piece of glue lined heat shrink tubing to jacket your entire splice and overlapping with the original cable (especially at the bottom portion) to provide strength and resistance to abrasion.

You will need to install a brass heat set insert into the model and you will need to source two screws:

• 1x Brass insert M3xD5xL3-6 (must be M3 with a 5 mm outer diameter but the length can be anywhere from 3 to 6 mm)
• 2x Screws M3x3-4mm (it depends on the design of your screw if 3 mm will be long enough or you will need to use 4 mm long M3 screws)

You want to use the shortest screws you can in order to avoid protruding into the aluminum (aluminium) extrusion in which the cable travels. Using screws that are too long or have burrs on the ends can cause abrasion to the cable over time and may result in a fire causing serious damage to property and loss of life. Do not over-tighten the screws or you will strip the soft aluminum and then you'll need to find a screw with thicker threads.

You can re-use the original screw at the top. This is the screw that will thread into your M3 insert during final assembly. My original screw was M3x8mm bright zinc plated steel. You can replace with a stainless steel M3x8mm screw if you like.

A couple of pictures are provided which illustrate the general assembly process. The model has a slot down its entire length which allows you to install it after you have completed extending your cable. This also allows you to easily remove it and lower the light all the way back down to its original minimum height for when you start new plants. Your splice (if done correctly) will likely be too thick to fit through the slot. This is fine and a good thing. It prevents the splice from falling out of or getting stuck in the slot. You just need to hold the light away from the base and engage with a portion of the original cable in order to get the extension on or off. Hopefully the provided pictures illustrate this.

New capabilities

With this extension installed, the adjustable range of your AeroGarden grow height will be from 11.5 up to 18 inches. Easily remove it by undoing 3 screws and sliding it off the cable to go back to the original range from 4.5 up to 11 inches. AeroGarden advertises up to 12 inches of grow height for these models but I don't know where that extra inch came from. I love my AeroGarden but the grow height of only 11 inches is a bummer. Now you don't have to be bummed out and get back to enjoying your AeroGarden!

Printing

I would highly recommend PETG and advise against using PLA. The model is designed to be printed standing up with no support material required. You might need a brim because it's quite tall. I hate removing PETG brims though and I didn't need a brim on my BambuLab P1S. Just make sure your build plate is super clean and never print PETG directly on glass because it can bond to glass this way.

Hot soapy water works much better than alcohol for cleaning a build plate btw, and 70% IPA works much better than 91 or 99% IPA for quick cleaning just FYI - I think this is mainly because high concentrations of alcohol will quickly dehydrate the exposed surface of a tiny piece of gunk and lock all the juicy, sticky stuff inside, failing to penetrate to the bottom surface which is what you want to get the gunk to lift off the plate and be carried away. Soap is so much better at carrying everything away though. Dawn has a fantastic product with a great reusable sprayer called Powerwash which has both soap and alcohol in solution. It's really a fantastic cleaning solution you should try if you haven't already.

I print PETG hotter than most at 280°C. This lets me use a higher flow rate and still get great layer adhesion with consistent surface finish. You should use the temperature and settings you think are best for your printer, though. I print it pretty fast at 140-170 mm/s but I find that with my setup, bridges need to be done at 10-15 mm/s for best results. I think PETG is really perfect for this application. You could use an engineering grade plastic with carbon fiber etc but I really don't think it's necessary at all. I used 2 perimeters and 20% gyroid infill and it was plenty strong enough.

Conclusion

My design is free for individuals to use for their own personal non-commercial usage. You can also view it on onshape and export it into many different formats. If you like my design and find it useful, a contribution made through Ko-fi or PayPal would be greatly appreciated!

Please post a make if you make this! I would love to see your garden!