As OM says, yes, plug in the used dehydrator before buying it. I haven’t tried it, but have seen suggestions for placing some sort of a rheostat inline with the power cord as a temperature and fan speed control if the dehydrator has none of its own. I burned through 3 or 4 cheap-o models before purchasing an Excalibur via eBay. I love this dehydrator.

A possible substitute dehydrator is a hair dryer blowing into any box or bag, BTW. Been there, done that, on the road.

Regards,

CamperMom