Half Inch vinyl hose barbed connectors

This is related to the modular hydroponic tower system:

In the US, half inch inner diameter vinyl hose is commonly available to connect between the water pump and the top of the hydroponic tower. I'm able to get the hose in 10 foot lengths, but with the height of my towers, I need the hose to be around 6 feet long. This leaves me with short segments that are hard to use.

These connectors allow me to add as many left-over pieces of hose together as needed. The hose slides over the barbs and holds on well without needing to use zipties or clamps, but the fit isn't so tight that you can't pull the hoses off if you need to disconnect them.

The outer diameter of the connector is sized to fit through the inner support rings of the grow levels, so you can just feed the hose (with connectors) all the way up through your tower.

I also designed a version that has a variable pressure relief mechanism, using a manual slide to cover a hole in the connector. This is useful if your hydroponic pump pressure is too high, and you can't turn down the pump throughput further. I recommend placing this version of the connector down in the bucket, with the hole facing down or toward the side.

The models can be printed without supports or brims, all object standing up on the print plate oriented as they come in the STL files. Since they shouldn't get exposed to the sun as much as the rest of the tower levels, you can probably get away with printing them in PLA, but I'm using the same PETG that I used for the rest of my towers.

Recommended print settings:

• 0.4mm nozzle

• 0.2mm layer height

• 3 wall loops

• Random seam position (if you use aligned, the slider will be loose on the pressure relief version)

• No brim

• No supports

• All other settings per your usual values for your filament and printer