# Hydroponic tower, printable tri-clamp (4 in, gasketed, no supports)

> Is there a 3D-printable hydroponic tower that does not leak and prints without supports?

- Category: 3D printing › Printable tri-clamp
- Kind: Hardware
- Basis: Xem Studio design: geometry computed in tools/gen_hydro.py; ISO 2852 faces with the 45° printable back cone; snap clamp per tools/gen_tc_snap.py
- Page: https://xemstudio.com/objects/hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp/ · JSON: https://xemstudio.com/api/geometry?object=hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp · Plain text: https://xemstudio.com/objects/hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp/sheet.txt
- License: dimension sheet CC BY 4.0 (Xem Studio); files CC BY 4.0 or their publisher's license
- Use in every chat: add https://xemstudio.com/mcp as a connector (https://xemstudio.com/use-with-ai/)

## Overall (mm)

| length | width | height |
|---|---|---|
| 209.6 | 190.3 | 441.4 |

**Exact dimensions.** True size, with no printing tolerance added.

## Notes

- A vertical hydroponic tower that stacks like sanitary pipe: 4 in printable tri-clamp faces, a silicone gasket and Xem's bolt-free snap clamp at every joint, so the column does not leak at its joints and comes apart for cleaning. Lighting is external (grow light or window).
- Planting level: three 2 in printable tri-clamp cuffs at 45° blended into the column (R4), 152 mm face to face (154 mm per level with the gasket). Each level's rain floor is printed flush with its bottom face: 243 Ø2.5 rain holes, 59 wall drains next to the bore, a 5 mm dam and a snap clip that centres the pump hose.
- Pots are 2 in tri-clamp ferrules themselves: a slotted body (Ø44 → Ø36, 80 mm, or 40 mm for seedlings) slides down the cuff and the pot's face clamps onto the cuff's face with a 2 in gasket and a 2 in snap clamp, so it seals and cannot be knocked out. An unused position takes a 2 in cap.
- 2 in clamps on the 45° cuffs: cuff face 91.8 mm from the column axis; the closed clamp (Ø82) stays 4.5 mm off the column and 77.0 mm from the next cuff's clamp, and clears the 4 in clamps above and below.
- Quiet water path: the hose ends in a standpipe under the lid whose side windows spill into a stream-breaker ring (≤ 7.4 mm drop), out at floor level onto the rain floor; the water rains on the roots and runs down the wall; it returns through a funnel whose down-pipe ends under the water line.
- Two bases: a 5 gal bucket (threaded through-lid adapter with two 2 in port cuffs, spigot and return funnel) or a printed Ø246 × 250 mm countertop tank with a 4 in neck and two 2 in cuffs on the shoulder. A port takes the pump cord under the slotted 2 in cap (the cap still clips on), a probe, or a refill; the plain cap closes it.
- Every part fits a 256 mm cube and prints without supports in its file's orientation, checked layer by layer (each 0.2 mm layer on the one below grown 45°): the only flat ceilings are bridges ≤ 4.5 mm, and under each 45°-tilted 2 in cuff rim the clamp's 45° bearing cone turns horizontal at its lowest point (a crescent ledge ≤ 4.5 mm, printed with the fan on). Watertight STLs; assembled with gaskets and clamps without interference. A clamp key (lever) opens the snap clamps.
- Assembled with a bucket base and two levels: lid top 441.4 mm above the bucket lid.
- The STEP/STL pack (all parts, an assembled STEP, README with print settings, assembly order and what to buy) is $15 by card, or $12 for AI agents paying with x402 at /api/buy/hydroponic-tower-kit. The dimension sheet here is free.
- The download is the envelope at the published size: true size, no printing allowance. Buttons, ports, curves and surface detail are not modelled, so use it to hold space, cut a pocket or build around the object.

## Sizes

| part | qty (2 levels) | size mm | g PETG | print h | what |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| planting-module-4in | 2 | 210 × 190 × 152 | 259 | 7.1 | Planting level: three 2 in tri-clamp pot cuffs at 45°, rain floor + hose clip printed on the bed face |
| top-module-4in-standpipe | 1 | 119 × 119 × 51 | 114 | 3.1 | Top: standpipe with the stream breaker on its rain floor |
| top-cap-4in | 1 | 119 × 119 × 13 | 155 | 4.2 | Low flat 4 in top cap (R7 edge), closes the top |
| snap-clamp-4in-half | 8 | 135 × 85 × 28 | 79 | 2.2 | 4 in bolt-free snap clamp half (two per column joint) |
| net-pot-2in-flange | 6 | 64 × 64 × 109 | 31 | 0.9 | Net pot with a 2 in tri-clamp flange: clamps onto a cuff with a gasket |
| seedling-pot-2in-flange | optional | 64 × 64 × 69 | 25 | 0.7 | Short flange pot for a Jiffy-7 pellet or 1 in rockwool cube |
| snap-clamp-2in-half | 16 | 81 × 51 × 23 | 34 | 0.9 | 2 in bolt-free snap clamp half (two per pot, cap or port) |
| cap-2in | 1 | 64 × 64 × 6 | 24 | 0.6 | 2 in flat cap: closes an unused pot cuff or base port |
| cap-2in-cord | 1 | 64 × 64 × 6 | 22 | 0.6 | 2 in cap with a cord / probe hole and slot: the cable passes, the cap still clips on |
| clamp-key | 1 | 96 × 14 × 3 | 4 | 0.1 | Lever that opens the snap clamps (2 in and 4 in) from the V at an arm tip |
| hose-spider-4in | 1 | 95 × 83 × 8 | 5 | 0.1 | Centres the hose in the 4 in neck |
| bucket-lid-adapter-4in | 1 | 254 × 250 × 66 | 411 | 11.2 | Base A: sits on the 5 gal bucket lid, 4 in tower face, two 2 in port cuffs |
| bucket-lid-spigot | 1 | 150 × 150 × 20 | 87 | 2.4 | Base A: threads up through the lid into the adapter; funnel seat |
| bucket-return-funnel | 1 | 99 × 99 × 240 | 88 | 2.4 | Base A: quiet return, down-pipe below the water line |
| pump-hose-clip | 1 | 41 × 35 × 8 | 2 | 0.1 | Holds the pump hose in the middle of the funnel down-pipe |
| countertop-reservoir-4in | optional | 251 × 246 × 250 | 913 | 25.0 | Base B: printed countertop tank, 4 in neck, two 2 in port cuffs (replaces the bucket parts) |
| countertop-return-funnel | optional | 97 × 97 × 225 | 82 | 2.2 | Base B: quiet return for the tank |

## Where the files are

- Xem Studio: [Hydroponic tower design (geometry computed in the generator)](https://xemstudio.com/) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts

## Free STEP/STL (1 parts, CC BY 4.0, Xem Studio)

Index: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp/index.json

- hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp-envelope: [STEP](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp/hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp-envelope.step) · [STL](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp/hydroponic-tower-tri-clamp-envelope.stl) — 209.6 × 190.3 × 441.4 mm envelope

## Questions

**Does it leak?**

Not at the joints: every joint is a tri-clamp face pair on a silicone gasket, closed by the snap clamp on a 2.0 mm stack; the rain floors are printed into each level, so there are no slip fits for water to wick out of.

**Why is it quiet?**

The pump water never free-falls: it spills sideways out of the standpipe into a breaker ring a few mm away, runs out at floor level, and the return funnel's down-pipe ends under the water line.

**Does it need supports?**

No. Downward faces are 45° or steeper and flat ceilings are bridges under 5 mm; the one exception is a small crescent ledge (≤ 4.5 mm) under each 45°-tilted 2 in cuff rim, which prints with the part-cooling fan on.

**Do bought net pots fit?**

No: the pot cuffs are 2 in tri-clamp (47.5 mm bore), so the pots are printed 2 in flange pots that clamp on with a gasket. A 3 in cuff would not fit a 256 mm bed at 45°.

**What lights does it use?**

Your own: there is no light frame, so any grow light or a bright window works.

**What do I need to buy?**

4 in silicone tri-clamp gaskets (one per column joint), 2 in gaskets (one per pot, cap or port), a small submersible fountain pump (300–800 L/h), 3/8 × 1/2 in vinyl tubing, and a 5 gal bucket with lid if you use the bucket base.

## Fits with

- [Snap tri-clamp, bolt-free (printable, ½ to 10 in)](https://xemstudio.com/objects/snap-tri-clamp-bolt-free/)
- [Printable tri-clamp (45°): ferrules, spools and caps, ½ to 4 in](https://xemstudio.com/objects/tri-clamp-45-degree-printable/)
- [Printable tri-clamp (45°): dome lids and ported caps](https://xemstudio.com/objects/printable-tri-clamp-lids-caps/)
- [Tri-clamp gasket, ISO 2852 Type B: 1.5 and 2 in](https://xemstudio.com/objects/tri-clamp-gasket/)
- [Paint can sizes (gallon, quart, pint, half pint) and 5-gallon bucket dimensions](https://xemstudio.com/objects/paint-cans-and-buckets/)