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natedawgnow
Rocky mountain hood rat



Registered: 02/09/15
Posts: 8,940
Loc: ation
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Dawgy style lids 5
#26498354 - 02/22/20 11:46 AM (4 years, 2 months ago) |
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So I've seen some posts around the boards lately about lids and I feel like I regularly see posts from peeps wanting to switch between filter types and lid types because they don't think that what they're doing is working.
I myself have tried damn near every lid and filter combination out there from tyvek to SFDs. In fact, a few years ago I suffered a serious contam wall that I couldn't beat. I was using siliconed SFDs and I refused to believe that they were the cause of my issues, so I went through and changed every single variable until the SFDs were the only thing left.
I thought really hard about what to do, ditched the SFDs and came up with a plan for a new lid design that I felt confident in on all levels. Since making the switch, I haven't had any issues with faulty lids and my contam troubles are significantly less substantial for the scale that I grow.
Ok so let's just get to it!
Items you'll need:
- standard metal 2 piece lids
- drill and 1/8"-1/4" bit
- exacto knife or scalpel and #11 blade
- polyfil
- Ez felt or other stiff felt
How to make the lids:
Ok, so these lids are used with the seal side DOWN. I used to use my metal lids seal up but on a few occasions I could hear a hissing sound coming from the gap when unloading my jars warm from the pc. Obviously a bad sign.
Now what I do is simply remove the rubber seal from the lid which leaves a nice curved indent that hugs the rim of the jar snuggly when the band is tightened.
Procedure for seal removal:
First thing is to heat up a pot of water on your stove til it's boiling. This isn't exactly necessary but it definitely makes seal removal a lot easier. I make ALL my lids at once cause it is a bit of work, but if you do them all at once you won't ever have to do it again.
Ok once your water is boiling, drop all of your metal lids in the water and boil them for 1 minute.
 
After the minute is up, use a pair of tongs to grab individual lids and begin to slice out the seals with your exact blades as shown below
Slice around the entire seal and then peel it off the lid
As you can see there will always be remnants of the seal left on the lids but it isn't enough to actually make a seal around the jar rim.

Once you have trimmed all your seals off, you need to drill a 1/8-1/4" hole in the center of every lid like so

Now, take your stiff felt, I use this bulk felt from walmart, like a dollar for a yard, and use one of your lids to trace and cut as many filter discs as you need like so:
  
Now here is the part where you have a choice of what to do. You can either stuff the hole with polyfil, which is my preferred method:
Or you can cover it with a few layers of micropore tape which I don't like cause then you have to change the tape every once in a while. Either way works but polyfil works better

After stuffing the polyfil, take your filter discs and sandwhich them between the lid and band like this
  
And there you have it! The lid has a double filter to really give you peace of mind. I don't like poly by itself because I've had the poly slip out of a hole before and if that happens here you still have the felt to protect you.
You could do this with SFDs but they are expensive and I don't like cutting them down cause it can lead to problems, like what I experienced a few years ago. Stiff felt is cheap and reliable when used like this.
The lids come right off, no sealing and no hissing sounds from the gap. Hope you like this tek and look forward to feedback! I know I'll get the naysayers who point out that poly alone works or that siliconed SFDs work yadda yadda. This method works for me and that's what matters. I've been using them a couple years now and won't be using any other lid design going forward.
Spawn pics using this lid
 
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bodhisatta 
Smurf real estate agent


Registered: 04/30/13
Posts: 61,891
Loc: Milky way
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 Polyfil is awesome.
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jcm4620
Stranger


Registered: 05/26/19
Posts: 6,700
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Quote:
natedawgnow said: So I've seen some posts around the boards lately about lids and I feel like I regularly see posts from peeps wanting to switch between filter types and lid types because they don't think that what they're doing is working.
I myself have tried damn near every lid and filter combination out there from tyvek to SFDs. In fact, a few years ago I suffered a serious contam wall that I couldn't beat. I was using siliconed SFDs and I refused to believe that they were the cause of my issues, so I went through and changed every single variable until the SFDs were the only thing left.
I thought really hard about what to do, ditched the SFDs and came up with a plan for a new lid design that I felt confident in on all levels. Since making the switch, I haven't had any issues with faulty lids and my contam troubles are significantly less substantial for the scale that I grow.
Ok so let's just get to it!
Items you'll need:
- standard metal 2 piece lids
- drill and 1/8"-1/4" bit
- exacto knife or scalpel and #11 blade
- polyfil
- Ez felt or other stiff felt
How to make the lids:
Ok, so these lids are used with the seal side DOWN. I used to use my metal lids seal up but on a few occasions I could hear a hissing sound coming from the gap when unloading my jars warm from the pc. Obviously a bad sign.
Now what I do is simply remove the rubber seal from the lid which leaves a nice curved indent that hugs the rim of the jar snuggly when the band is tightened.
Procedure for seal removal:
First thing is to heat up a pot of water on your stove til it's boiling. This isn't exactly necessary but it definitely makes seal removal a lot easier. I make ALL my lids at once cause it is a bit of work, but if you do them all at once you won't ever have to do it again.
Ok once your water is boiling, drop all of your metal lids in the water and boil them for 1 minute.
 
After the minute is up, use a pair of tongs to grab individual lids and begin to slice out the seals with your exact blades as shown below
Slice around the entire seal and then peel it off the lid
As you can see there will always be remnants of the seal left on the lids but it isn't enough to actually make a seal around the jar rim.

Once you have trimmed all your seals off, you need to drill a 1/8-1/4" hole in the center of every lid like so

Now, take your stiff felt, I use this bulk felt from walmart, like a dollar for a yard, and use one of your lids to trace and cut as many filter discs as you need like so:
  
Now here is the part where you have a choice of what to do. You can either stuff the hole with polyfil, which is my preferred method:
Or you can cover it with a few layers of micropore tape which I don't like cause then you have to change the tape every once in a while. Either way works but polyfil works better

After stuffing the polyfil, take your filter discs and sandwhich them between the lid and band like this
  
And there you have it! The lid has a double filter to really give you peace of mind. I don't like poly by itself because I've had the poly slip out of a hole before and if that happens here you still have the felt to protect you.
You could do this with SFDs but they are expensive and I don't like cutting them down cause it can lead to problems, like what I experienced a few years ago. Stiff felt is cheap and reliable when used like this.
The lids come right off, no sealing and no hissing sounds from the gap. Hope you like this tek and look forward to feedback! I know I'll get the naysayers who point out that poly alone works or that siliconed SFDs work yadda yadda. This method works for me and that's what matters. I've been using them a couple years now and won't be using any other lid design going forward.
Spawn pics using this lid
  
to hell with the god damn lids. i want that bad ass lookin fh set up u got goin on there🤪 bad ass man. oh and the lids r cool too😃 good shit on both man👍👍
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cronicr



Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 61,436
Loc: Van Isle
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: jcm4620]
#26498545 - 02/22/20 02:06 PM (4 years, 2 months ago) |
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kinda weird but I started doing this a few weeks ago, I just didn't remove the seals and also I rarely ever change my tape but I got some with poly some with tape and some I used rtv
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  It doesn't matter what i think of you...all that matters is clean spawn I'm tired do me a favor
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cronicr



Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 61,436
Loc: Van Isle
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: cronicr]
#26498549 - 02/22/20 02:08 PM (4 years, 2 months ago) |
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also pro tip, when tracing the lids put the band upside down on the felt, the first dozen I did were too big and awkward ( I tried a lid at first but the poly made it awkward so if you use a lid use a blank or one with tape)
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  It doesn't matter what i think of you...all that matters is clean spawn I'm tired do me a favor
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gizmo1



Registered: 06/15/11
Posts: 3,831
Loc: FREEDOM
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: cronicr]
#26498555 - 02/22/20 02:14 PM (4 years, 2 months ago) |
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I like it. You're bringing felt back lol.
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natedawgnow
Rocky mountain hood rat



Registered: 02/09/15
Posts: 8,940
Loc: ation
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: gizmo1] 1
#26498687 - 02/22/20 03:54 PM (4 years, 2 months ago) |
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Thanks guys!
@bod- yup I just don't like it by itself. Always felt the need to be careful when shaking and what not.
@jCM- ya I love my hood
  
@cron- great minds bro. Honestly I like these lids so much more than SFDs it's ridiculous. Is that red felt?
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cronicr



Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 61,436
Loc: Van Isle
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Yeah I love them myself n yep red felt I also bought blue n white n black lol
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  It doesn't matter what i think of you...all that matters is clean spawn I'm tired do me a favor
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jcm4620
Stranger


Registered: 05/26/19
Posts: 6,700
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Quote:
natedawgnow said: Thanks guys!
@bod- yup I just don't like it by itself. Always felt the need to be careful when shaking and what not.
@jCM- ya I love my hood
  
@cron- great minds bro. Honestly I like these lids so much more than SFDs it's ridiculous. Is that red felt?
ya man i like that one👍👍👍 i hope one day if i decide to get out of this condo and buy a house ima build me a big ass fh for sure. id get a smaller one now but these walls r thin as hell here and my neighbors would think im crazy or somethin cuz they would think i vac. my floors for hrs every night
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medical
Stranger


Registered: 01/06/19
Posts: 135
Last seen: 4 years, 2 months
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: jcm4620]
#26498779 - 02/22/20 05:14 PM (4 years, 2 months ago) |
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Stiff felt is amazing. Been using it for years on its own. Just drill (or poke with a wire brad) a few small holes in the lid, put it upside down on the jar, felt disk on top, screw down ring. Quick, easy, cheap, reusable, and hasn't failed me yet. My only complaint is the metal lids start to rust after a couple uses
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eatyualive
Eat's You Alive :)



Registered: 08/17/01
Posts: 19,026
Loc: In Your Head
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: jcm4620]
#26498781 - 02/22/20 05:15 PM (4 years, 2 months ago) |
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Nice one Nate! I tried felt stuffed in tub holes a while back.
When pcing do you still wrap in foil?
Edited by eatyualive (02/22/20 05:19 PM)
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natedawgnow
Rocky mountain hood rat



Registered: 02/09/15
Posts: 8,940
Loc: ation
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eat! Yes I do. May not be necessary but I still do it regardless.
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eatyualive
Eat's You Alive :)



Registered: 08/17/01
Posts: 19,026
Loc: In Your Head
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I really like the double filter part. It gets rid of the messy poly issue I always hate. And gives an extra point of protection. I used soft felt in tubs and it didn’t do well for filter material. I’m not sure I’ve seen Firm felt at the store. But I also wasn’t looking at the time.
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natedawgnow
Rocky mountain hood rat



Registered: 02/09/15
Posts: 8,940
Loc: ation
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Ya I've had mixed success with just using poly and just using discs but witb them used in conjunction I haven't had any issues
Look for ez felt at hobby lobby or go to the fabric section at walmart and ask for stiff felt used for making curtains and shit. The stuff I got is like a dollar something for a square yard
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Edited by natedawgnow (02/22/20 06:39 PM)
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eatyualive
Eat's You Alive :)



Registered: 08/17/01
Posts: 19,026
Loc: In Your Head
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Oh nice! Thanks for the tip.
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natedawgnow
Rocky mountain hood rat



Registered: 02/09/15
Posts: 8,940
Loc: ation
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No problem bro!
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Hindsight
Mad Scientist


Registered: 01/24/21
Posts: 2,706
Last seen: 1 year, 28 days
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Thanks for sharing this link in the other thread.
Do you have any issues with jars stalling out or slowing down, potentially due to not getting enough gas exchange with the two full layers of filters? I assume not since you like this setup but just wanted to be sure.
One concern I've had about polyfill is that you can't pack it in the hole at a consistent tightness, which means some jars might not have enough filtering and some jars may have too much to where you don't get enough gas exchange. I'm probably over-thinking it, since I know poly works for many people, but wanted to ask the question anyway - is there some technique you use to get the right amount of packing and if so, how would you describe how tightly you pack it?
Thanks!
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natedawgnow
Rocky mountain hood rat



Registered: 02/09/15
Posts: 8,940
Loc: ation
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: Hindsight] 1
#27576123 - 12/10/21 12:56 PM (2 years, 5 months ago) |
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I havent noticed any slow down in colonization what so ever. Been using the same lids since well before making that thread and havent changed the poly or felt on most.
I had to change the poly and felt on a couple because some oyster myc grew threw them 
I pack my poly pretty tight by rubbing a wad of poly between my hands in a circular motion, which really tightens the wad, then in an up and down motion as if you were making a playdough snake.
Then take the poly and insert one end of the snake into the hole and use a pair of needle nose pliers to pull it through. Then trim the poly on both sides of the lid.
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Hindsight
Mad Scientist


Registered: 01/24/21
Posts: 2,706
Last seen: 1 year, 28 days
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Nice thank you!
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Drboomer
The lord magnificent


Registered: 09/22/19
Posts: 957
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Re: Dawgy style lids [Re: Hindsight]
#27581224 - 12/14/21 02:14 PM (2 years, 5 months ago) |
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I bought a yard of felt to try this out. Will report back soon. I couldn't find that thicker felt near me all they had was craft felt. I figure doubling it tripling it up would do the same. About how thick is your felt? The stats on easy felt say 3mm
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