Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Hey guys,

Well getting back into the game,
Re-evaluating my old setup and swapping the old for the new.

Figured I would post some pic's along the way.

What i've been noticing is my hold wine cooler was not holding up any longer and I feel my beads are on the way out.. Time for an upgrade

Old WineCooler / Humidor
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2xqh1zb31o...old.jpeg?raw=1

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Over the weekend I picked up a Magic Cheif wine cooler over at Home depo was on sale save $100

New Wind Cooler
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0zd98qvhu9...240.jpeg?raw=1

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

In the works

Ordered
New beads from HCM Cigar Beads
4x 8 Ounce Bag
4x 2 Ounce Bag

Ordered received one waiting on the second
Sensor Push: Smart Sensor HT1

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

To get the most out of this Wine Cooler I am going to need new Ceder Shelves. This wine cooler is wider them my last and to make use of the space, once again time for an upgrade.

I just placed an order in with Wineadors

This is my mockup (illustrator)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nclq3zwr5e...idor.jpg?raw=1

The selves itself will have slots in them resembling the following, This will kinda be how the open front shelves will look
https://www.dropbox.com/s/c7ldyyg5jk...eoff.jpg?raw=1

Also will have the back of all the shelves vented as well

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

May have a few things from my old setup for sale or trade. In a month or so when everything comes together. Like the old cedar trays, an A419 temperature Johnson controller etc.. Will post then

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Nice new setup, Thomas. :tu

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

I like it, Thomas! :tu

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Very nice!

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Ran two small wires with connectors a the ends through the drain whole, In case I need to hook up a fan.

This humidor is broken up to two sections top and bottom and both have small fans in the back to the AC. So not sure if I will need to add fans as there is one at the top and one at the bottom. But wanted a wire their before I seal up the hole..

I sealed up the hole with a very little bit of Sugru again a very little. It's nice because I can peel it off later easily.

With my last wine cooler, I put beads in the reservoir. I think I will do this time around as well.

But I think I am going to hold off I want to see how much water builds up. Right now I could probably use extra RF for the next month or two. Everything acclimating now then new shelves in a month along with new beads.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

All comments, questions, and suggestions welcome throughout this build.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Images of SensorPush, I received the second one in the mail yesterday.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t38q36m007...242.jpeg?raw=1

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

My friend uses the sensor push in his freezers. Says they work quite well. He needs something reliable when his livelihood depends upon it.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Yea I was using 3 Bluetooth sensors that had to go to a hardware desktop device. It served it purpose I think it was a radioshack product.
I went through batteries way too much with them

I still need to salt test these new sensors I'm not sure how accurate they are but will see here maybe this weekend when I have time.

It''s nice to have an app on your phone that you can see the data and get alerts and it uses a watch battery, that lasts like 2 years or so.

it's a nice step up.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Pretty sure beads are only useful when they are in a shallow container, max of about 2-3" in depth, might want to check the site for specifics, but I do recall that, so if you fill the reservoir with beads only the top couple inches are going to be "working". :2

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Absolutely it's about flat space for sure.
I said reservoir but maybe thats not the right word for it.
It's the little area where the drain whole is usaly not all that deep. It's meant more like a ramp to the drip whole.

I just wanted to make sure I didn't confuse anyone. It was meant inside the wine cooler where the drip hole is not underneath or inside the back of the unit where the drip whole leads to.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

The Battle is good in this one.

Ok, I'm still trying to equalize everything in the new wineador before the new shelves come, and I start this over.

I think things dried out a bit before being my old wineador broke down, and I don't know for how long. It could have been a month or two. I didn't pay attention due to the Pandemic upon us.

With that said I live in Socal / Los Angeles / Burbank
The wineador is sitting at 61F, which is the highest it can go. I didn't release that when I purchased it. I may have considered something else in the price range.

My Humidity keeps dropping to 45-53% ish. I keep adding some more distilled water to sponges I have throughout the humidor.

I have left my old beads in there (I do plan on pulling these) in addition to the new ones (which I doubled the needed amount) in hopes of equalizing everything faster, but I'm still adding water every night.

Not sure if it's the old cedar trays or the cigars absorbing, but it's been almost a week now.

I have new trays coming at the end of the month saying the 30th. I plan on grabbing a 20 pack for Boveda humidity packs and throwing them in their after wetting down the trays with distilled water.

Should I buy 65 or jump to 84% packs to kick start things.

So really was not trying to make a big deal of the ones that are in their now. But getting down to 45 humidity in their get's me worreid about the cigars.

I also still have the Johnson A419, I could hook that up in line and set it to a higher temp like 65 but wanted to try things without it for a while.

What do you guys think? Suggestions, comments, tips are all welcome.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

The Boveda pacs have their uses, but the rate that water evaporates from them is slowed down by having to go through the packaging. If the issue is to rapidly supply moisture, I’d use a clean sponge. I’d wet it with tap water, but a purist would use distilled.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Thanks for the feedback.
A wet sponge is what I am using now.
I have like 1.5 cut into pieces through out the humidor
I've been applying more water pretty much every night.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

If your thermostat is set to 61 and your room is in the 70s, the refrigeration will need to constantly cool the interior. He cooling surfaces will condense water out of the air. So, it’s constantly fighting against your urge to add humidity.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

I guess I am thinking backward.
My old wineador. When it would run too much, it would create consideration on the back wall, and I had to much moisture in the air.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

That’s a very good point. You can always look into an Inkbird temp controller to take over the temp controls. They’re not expensive and do a good job.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

I already have and was using the A419 temperature Johnson controller. I just wanted to see where I was at without it on this build. Maybe it was wishful thinking that I would not need it again.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

That’s right. :fp

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Lol just went ahead and added the A419.
ran through the drain whole of course and resealed it.

Also went ahead and ran. a sponge of distilled water over all the trays.

I set temp on A419 for 72f for now

FYI there was water in the channel to the drain whole. Normally I put beads down here but didn't before due to the possibility of adding the A419. Which I ended up doing lol so have beads down their now.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Update:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tgbmg6637u...1260.PNG?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j4v2m7jvhh...1261.PNG?raw=1

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

--Could use some Help--

I'm still trying to get to the bottom of humidity with this box.

So I know when it turns on and goes low to 50% and slowly rises. too low 60%
I should have enough beads.

As said before, I plugged the drain whole

The unit is split in two-zone top and bottom. I like this because I figured I wouldn't have to circulate the fans so much.

With that said, RF holds steady fine when it's not on. So don't believe there are any leaks.

I've been trying to be patient here thinking it's cigars and ceder trays soaking up a lot. I keep rehydrating silicon beads every two days just to make sure they are good, and then they're making it to 80% white.

I'm only hydrating my old beads. New ones are in there haven't touched them.

I'm not wondering the back wall inside there are two fans build in—one in each zone. I'm thinking their connected to a plate which is cooling down by the compressor. But not I'm wondering are those fans brining in outside air as well.

Don't have time this week to pull anything apart. I was wondering if anyone has run into this and what they have found.

It will kind of suck if it is then will have to find a way of closing this down without breaking it. I already ordered new custom shelves/trays, so don't want to swap the unit out for a different one.

Still a chance this is just in my head, but I'm blowing throw beads faster then I thought. In this time, I think I'm almost through 1gal of distilled water.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions. Not new to this but second-guessing everything at this point.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

When the cooling system is on, it’s pulling moisture out faster than the beads can replace it. So, you RH drops until the system shuts down and the beads catch up. I do not know the capabilties of your controller. If possible, try reducing the size of the deadband. This will make the cooling system turn on more frequently, for shorter periods of time. So, the RH won’t pull down as much on any cycle.

Your measurement means is giving you a lot of info. Probably, the behavior you are seeing is pretty normal for a system like this. But, most folks aren’t aware because they can’t measure continuously.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

First, I would recommend taking your cigars out of the wine cooler and putting them in a Tupperware or similar container or Ziploc bags along with the beads. Cigars are resilient and will be fine.

Empty, your wine cooler should hold a steady RH for at least 48 hours. If you place a wet sponge in your empty wine cooler with a hygrometer, raise the RH until it holds steady (at least a day) at say, 70% (or even more), then remove the sponge, the RH should stay steady. Even when the compressor comes on, the RH should raise back up when the compressor turns off. If you have a lot of wood, it may take a bit longer for the RH to rise to your desired level.

First, make sure that the RH holds steady without the compressor running. If that's OK, then turn the compressor on. You should measure the recovery time (how long it takes the RH to rise back up), and if it does not come back up, then look for other issues.

If the RH did not hold steady with the compressor off, then we need to look at other things first.

Have you fully seasoned the shelves/drawers? Any (and all) wood in a humidor needs to be seasoned periodically; at least twice a year is good.

Also, have you checked the door seal? Put some Vaseline (or similar gel) all around the door-side seal -- a complete as-smooth-as you-can bead. Then close the door and open it. Look for any gaps in the Vaseline on the cooler-side of the frame and those indicate a leak. (note: do not do this on wooden humidors!)

You only get one good shot at this -- you have to completely wipe the Vaseline off before doing it a second time.

Sorry if this is rambling... it's late :rolleyes:

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Thanks for that.

That makes a lot of since I wasn't aware of knew what a "Deadband" is had to google it
I have the unit set to 71f my house is normally set to 75f-72f depending on what time of day.

What would you suggest I wouldn't want it to get too hot in there by any chance there are Cubans in there that have not undergone the deepfreeze ...lol
Does it mean I just have to buy tons and tons more of beads? I have a mix of new HCM beads. I was going to pull my Heartfelt beads seeing their really old but they are still in there.
40oz of HCM and maybe more than that in hearthfelt

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

They are calling the deadband the temperature differential. If you decrease it, you may also need to adjust the short cycle delay, since you are making the cycles shorter.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Great tip with the vaseline.
I've never heard or done this. I've done the flashlight and the dollar bill tests and they were fine. It does hold fine without the compressor on for at least 24hrs not sure if I tested longer then that without it when I first sealed up the drip whole.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Have you checked that the door seals? I may have skipped over that part in the thread. I only ask because my little winedor I did realign the door. But sometime recently I realized my chubby self used the door to help myself up and misaligned the door causing a gap. Not too bad of a gap but just something I randomly saw. Not sure how long it was like that for but being in the Bay Area our humidity issues aren’t too bad for cigars.

Covered by Michael :r it’s still early and I’m only on my second cup of coffee :D

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

I did a flashlight test when I first set it up and that seemed fine.
@CigarNut suggested to put some vaseline around it and test with that. Sounded like a good time may try that as well.

Was trying to be patient and let things accumulate a bit nothing was new in there came from another unit but other unit broke so could be low for a month or two.

I'm rehydrating the Heartfelt beads at the moment. FYI these are 65rf beads
I normally like my cigars 62-65 and worked well with old wineador

Question:
First time using HCM beads. To my understanding, these come at 65 as well. But they are configurable from what I read to different RFs

Could the heartfelt be fighting with the HCM beads as these are configurable?
Is this being counterproductive?

Should I consider 70RF for this unit to just keep being patient

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Update:

Custom Cigar trays/Shelves came on Saturday
here are some images.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eftm9nfwx3...20AM.jpg?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/il15qmpx1c...20AM.jpg?raw=1


FYI: I still have a few of the old ones in there just for now. till things acclimate a bit

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Looking good!

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Looks good!

FYI, the HCM Beads will not "fight" the Heartfelt beads; HCM beads will adjust to the same RH as the Heartfelt beads.

Re: Upgrades: WineCooler/Humidor
 

Looking good, Thomas! :tu