Rise Gardens 200mm Fan

Rise Garden

The first generation family size Rise Garden is a pretty solid all-in-one hydroponic system.  In a short time a novice can have great results growing food.  That said, there are some challenges with a hydroponic system.  One of those is tip burn. 

Problem

Tip burn can be caused by nutrient deficiency, too much fertilization, limited air movement, high humidity, and too much light. Additionally, this issue can be exasperated by reverse osmosis water.  The near sterile water draws calcium and magnesium from the plants. 

Solutions

Supplements for calcium and magnesium can be added to the water, light cycles can be adjusted, nutrient levels adjusted, humidity controlled, and use a 3D printer to make a fan system! P.S. Fans can also help with pollination of fruiting plants like tomatoes and peppers :) 

Supplies

• 1x Noctua NF-A20 PWM Chromax 200mm fan [Amazon link]
  • Pros
    • Extremely quiet
    • Every part for installation is included
    • Great build quality
    • Fan is all black rather than brown and cream
  • Cons
    • Left over parts
    • Expensive
      • Slightly more money than the standard brown and cream colored fan
    • The lead off of the fan is absurdly short.  I addressed this with the custom harness (below)
  • Substitutions
    • I designed this part entirely around Noctua 200mm fans.  Unless there is a cutout on another brand's fan, you'll run into the indexing sections I built into it.
• Noctua NA-SAV2 Chromax  Anti-Vibration Mounts [Amazon Link]
  • These will be used to attach the fan to the back.  The number used depends on how you want to do it
•  Noctua NA-FC1 PWM Fan Controller [Amazon link]
  • This small controller will let you adjust the speed of the fan via pulse width modulation.
• Coolerguys 12V Fan Power Supply [Amazon link]
  • You'll need power to the fan.  This inexpensive and small power supply gets the job done.
• Smart Plug (Eve Energy recommended for HomeKit ecosystems) [Amazon link]
  • Schedule the fan to run for periods of time through the day
• Custom wiring harness (optional)
  • 24 AWG 4 stranded wire (No link provided, you can pick your own flavor)
  • Female 4-Pin PWM Fan Connector Kit [Amazon link]
  • PWM Plastic Shell Computer Case Cooling Fan Male Plug [Amazon link]
  • IWS-3220M Micro Connector Pin Crimping Tool [Amazon link]
  • 3” long ¼” shrink tubing
    • This will go at the ends of the custom harness for a professional look
    • The 3” sections will be plenty to cut into 1” pieces for each end of the harness. 

Printing

All parts were printed in black Elegoo PLA (choose your own color/brand/material) with the following  relevant settings - flow and temps will be omitted as they are material specific.

****NOTE: These are massive parts.  You cannot make this without a large print bed.

• 100% infill for the back
• 20% infill for the front
  • 15 bottom layers to prevent indexing cutouts from cutting into the face
• 4 perimeters
• Supports on (for the back)
• All parts were printed grille side down

Assembly

Assembly of the fan module is pretty straight-forward.  However, I have designed with without holes in the print specifically because each mounting face has 3 holes.  I wanted the ability for the maker to attach the fan in a way they see fit.  In my case, I used single holes on the front/middle using the supplies screws.  In the back, I used all 3 holes with the anti-vibration mounts in each corner.

Full assembly order is as follows

1. Place the fan into the front section and align the cord out of the notch
2. Using a 3/16" drill bit, drill out the desired hole using the fan body as a guide
3. Once the front holes are drilled, put the front and back together, then drill back from the front hole through the back again using the fan body as a guide. 
   • Optional: at this point you can screw the fan to the back and drill out any additional holes
4. Install the anti-vibration mounts to the fan, trim any extra
5. Screw the fan to the front
6. Pull the anti-vibration mounts through the back

Optional Harness

The optional harness is really something that I feel is needed here because of the short lead.  I simply cut the connector from the fan, soldiered the wires to the purchased cable, used shrink tubing to cover the soldiered joint, then covered the 4 individual wires with a larger piece of shrink tubing.  This will give a super clean look and the cable can be run right in the frame.

Any other tweaks are entirely up to you.  I left the harness pretty much full length because once the Roma extension ships, I will be adapting this design to be used with it.  Utilizing the smart plug, I run the fan for 30 minutes at the top of the hour corresponding with my light schedule.  Again, completely up to you and what works for your plants!