If like me you ride all year round chances are you are going to get wet feet. If your feet are wet then your shoes are going to be wet and for me at least take forever to dry. Yes you can do the newspaper trick or put them by the fire or in the airing cupboard, but even then they can take ages to dry. If you are in need of dry shoes you could buy a commercial shoe dryer, as they have heating in them so will use a bit of power and you need a power outlet.
I have made a few different shoe dryers, based on bits I had lying about in the garage. This design is simple to make pretty cheap and costs very little to run, you can even plug it into your car to get the drying process started as soon as you are back at the car.
My design can be made with minimal tools, the most complicated parts being attaching the fans. Which can simply be glued on, although I have designed a 3D printed adaptor for a more professional look, I just need to print them out (anyone want to send me a 3D printer?). The electrical connections can be made by making a little board up or you can just use a simple adaptor with screw terminals if you don't want to solder. Gluing the plumbing fittings together is optional, depending on if you want to be able to dismantle it or not. Gluing will give a bit more rigidity and keep it all together.
A couple of pipe clips screwed to a piece of wood would make a good stand, I'm just using mine as is for now as I can just pop it in my shoes.
Shoe Dryer
A DIY Shoe Dryer made from plumbing parts and 12v mini fans. A simple build that requires only simple tools.
Materials
Tools
Instructions
- Cut two length of 40mm waste pipe about 200mm long (these go in the shoe)
- Cut a length of 40mm waste pipe 150mm long
- Glue a fan to one end of the each Tee (unless you can print a fan adaptor)
- Slot the pipes into the Tees, you can glue them together using solvent weld when happy (unless you want to be able to dismantle it)
- Solder 2 header pins and a pigtail to a small strip of Veroboard
- Glue the power board to the interconnecting pipe
- Plug in both fans, check the polarity so that the fan pushes air in at both ends
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