Drip Catcher to Garden Hose Air Conditioner (window A/C) Drain Condensation PLA

Description

Air Conditioner (window A/C) Drain Drip Catcher to Garden Hose Connector  * 3d printed. - YouTube
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This listing is for the standard black PLA model.
New and improved design for summer, stronger, and fits more units!
This design includes a central tapered screw with aggressive threading that fits holes 13mm all the way up to over 21mm
in diameter.
Once this part is installed into the dripping air conditioner hole water from the Air Conditioner unit will drip down any of the four drip-grooves cut into the tapered screw design into any (also 4 aligned) seam drains until finally exiting through the large central drain at the bottom and into the garden hose. Thereby k
eeping the area under your window air conditioner dry without buckets or pans. This 3D printed plastic part will make it easy to connect a garden hose to a window-type Air Conditioner.
Want to save on this item and/or pay with crypto? Check out my smilingimpact ecrater store: smilingimpact.ecrater.com with other color and material options.
Standard material is Black PLA 3d printed plastic. Contact me for other materials such as PETG and color and material options.
Dime used as size reference only, not included with item.
Watch instructional demo video at: https://youtu.be/Rk944JkYOxo
Item is designed and made by a disabled USAF vet.
The AC (Air Conditioner) drip catcher story:
In the summer of 2017 I was new to 3D printing and happened to have (and still do have) a window unit positioned over a concrete porch. It made a big mess with condensation dripping out of it especially on humid days. At first we caught the water in buckets but that took emptying the bucket about every day, sometimes more! Inevitably the bucket would spill a little, often on me as I was trying to empty it, plus it was heavy! Very annoying to do that every day in the heat of the summer, there must be a better way!!
After a long search for a simple solution I was frustrated by the lack thereof so I set about to design something that I could easily install and remove that securely attached to my garden hose. It was worth the design time invested to save myself the daily hassle!
My first design was simply the male garden hose threads and two posts that got shoved into the hole. It worked but the posts were flimsy and eventually broke under the constant weight of the hose. It felt like I was on the right track though. I also realized a skirt was needed because wayward drips from wind or whatever still happened outside the straight line down to the hose.
My next design was the first tapered screw design it was hollow and worked very well. Well enough for me to post free on thingiverse for anyone else who had a drippy air conditioner and wanted a simple solution.
After some praise on thigiverse I wondered if folks that couldn't print it for themselves might need one, so I created an ebay listing and got almost immediate demand - who knew?!
Unfortunately that second design still wasn't strong enough and I had complaints that it was breaking for people, so despite having my solution, I still needed to revise it to be strong enough to serve others.
I had to figure out how to easily attach the hose to the unit without blocking the flow of condensation water and therby backing it up into the AC unit.
The third design was a solid tapered screw with drip grooves inspired by the blood groove of a knife. Combined with the right print settings this design had the strength everyone needed!
After a test I found that the 4 exit holes needed to be enlarged from my initial design (I was very focused on strength and the smaller holes meant more plastic - more strength) The problem with the small holes though was that if there was any debris in the AC unit or the air or whatever it clogged too easily and once again dripped on the porch.
The final design has the enlarged holes and has been an outstanding useful, work saving item for me and many others (as far as I can tell, let me hear your story!) The one I have been testing/using has been in operation since 2018 and going strong! There were other struggles in the printing process but those were mainly for efficiency and print time reduction so that these can be shipped as fast as possible. Fortunately they are so strong now they don't even need padded packaging, so I can offer free shipping and save you another hassle! I've never heard of one being damaged in shipping so they certainly shouldn't be broken by regular use.
I don't get much feedback on these which I suppose is good news, they just work like they should, but I would love to hear your story or see pictures in use. This is a very dear design to me I'm glad to share it, and I would love to hear from you!