This Is Why My Wineador Leaked

[big_jaygee]

Originally Posted by bobarian

Why not just turn it off for a couple of weeks? It is unlikely that you need any cooling this time of year. Set your hygrometer so you can see it without opening the door. Also, if your hygrometer has a high/low feature check the range, if its within a reasonable number you are still good to go.

24 hrs in with the unit unplugged and 8oz of HCM beads RH% was 74 low to 89 high, with a temp of 63 degrees low to 73 degrees high. i hit the fan with canned air and some water dripped out so i am going to void those numbers and up it to 16 oz of beads with unit turned off.

i have the drain hole plugged with a cork stopper and i did the same with the exit tube. the back collection tray was dry as a bone so i dont think water was going out the back but it doesnt mean air was coming in. am i correct on that?

Originally Posted by shilala

A small amount is normal.
A giant puddle and mold growing on stuff, as happened with Jason, that's a leak.

yes there was water in the unit but when the RH spiked it was not much but from the water ring that was one the bottom it was bigger at one time, but to my knowledge it never leaked out of the front.

yes there was black spots that i can only assume was mold on and in the bags of beads.

will see what happens tomorrow

[big_jaygee]

i will call this day 1...

last night i leveled the stand front and back and side to side, then leveled the wineador front to back and side to side. i decided to not put beads in there last night to see if i can get a "true" reading, and this is what i came up with.

hygro on top of wineador says 31-44% (low-high) ambient RH with current reading of 33% and temp range of 61-75 (low-high) with 73 degrees being the current reading

hygro inside says 43-64% (low-high) and a current reading of 59%, and temp range of 57-73 (low-high) degrees and current temp of 70 degrees.

see what tomorrows number look like.

[SSDVC]

I have been following this thread with interest. I have had my wineador for a few years now. Did the cedar drawers and plugged the drain port in the back. Seasoned with distilled water for 2-3 weeks and then filled it with sticks and a few pounds of beads. I keep the unit in a corner of a room in a non air-conditioned house in CT. I have never plugged my unit in and it has maintained RH levels between 62 and 67% and the temp remains steady between 65-70 degrees.

I always thought that plugging the unit in could dry out the sticks and cause RH issues (but not wet or condensation issue like here). Is there a reason that my unit should be plugged in other than temp control (if required) ?

[shilala]

No reason to plug it in unless you want to cool your sticks, Scott.
It's much, much easier your way and your parameters are ideal.

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by SSDVC

I have been following this thread with interest. I have had my wineador for a few years now. Did the cedar drawers and plugged the drain port in the back. Seasoned with distilled water for 2-3 weeks and then filled it with sticks and a few pounds of beads. I keep the unit in a corner of a room in a non air-conditioned house in CT. I have never plugged my unit in and it has maintained RH levels between 62 and 67% and the temp remains steady between 65-70 degrees.

I always thought that plugging the unit in could dry out the sticks and cause RH issues (but not wet or condensation issue like here). Is there a reason that my unit should be plugged in other than temp control (if required) ?

I keep mine plugged in from around March-October but only because it gets so hot here that even with the AC set at 72 the temp in the room where my wineador is hits 75. So during the warm months I keep it running at 66 degrees.

[shilala]

Jason, tell them what you did with the vaseline on the door seal to see if it's seating, will ya?
Jason and I have been pm'ing and things are moving along really good. I think he's got it fixed.
If not, the video of him blowing it up is gonna be AWESOME!!!

[big_jaygee]

Between Scott and i we are going to get this thing back up and better then before... i was advised to put Vaseline around the seal and close it and then open the door, the vaseline will leave a mark where it was touching and on the flip side wont leave a mark on the face where it is not touching...

when the door was open Vaseline was present all the way around, light in one area but Vaseline was still present. bottom seal left almost to the corner, was the light spot but like i said, it was still there.

next is to put Vaseline around the folds of the seal to make sure there is no gap there.

as of last night these were the readings:

ambient RH is 52% with a room temp of 73 degrees. inside the wineador is 52% RH with a temp of 73%...that was before i opened it to put Vaseline on the seal.

and if it does come to blowing it up...it will be a great video

[shilala]

What we were looking for with the inside/outside was to make sure the winador didn't have any waterlogged insulation or anything.
The fact that the numbers are the same on the inside and outside are kind of frightening, because to me, that'd normally say "whopping big leak". I think it's just coincidence because of the time of day and the opening and closing we've been doing.
We're satisfied there's no waterlogging, and that's what we were after with this step.

Next is putting the beads in the empty winador and see how they do. So far, so good. Nice and steady.

[big_jaygee]

ok tonight's numbers are:

outside: 31% RH with a low/high of 31%/55% with a temp of 73 degrees with a low/high of 66/77

inside: 55% with a low/high of 51%/59% and a temp of 70 degrees and a low/high of 66/75

next step is to put the beads in the empty wineador and see what happens

i am putting in 2 - 8oz canisters of HCM Beads and 1 - 8oz Bag of HCM Beads for a grand total of 24 oz of HCM Beads.

[hazydat620]

Even though I don't have a wineador, I'm still learning a lot, great thread guys, thanks!

[big_jaygee]

HCM Bead Test:

Ambient RH 26% with a temp of 75 degrees

inside wineador RH is 68% with a temp of 72 degrees

it would seem that the beads are doing the job and brought the RH up from yesterday, temp is higher but the heat is set a little higher in the house then yesterday.

i also only used 16oz of 65% HCM Beads instead of the 24oz i thought i was going to use.

Hygro is on the bottom and i have the beads sitting on a wire tray about half way in the wineador.

lets see what tomorrow brings.

[big_jaygee]

Originally Posted by hazydat620

Even though I don't have a wineador, I'm still learning a lot, great thread guys, thanks!

i am glad you are enjoying and learning

[shilala]

She's lookin good, my friend!!!

[big_jaygee]

Originally Posted by shilala

She's lookin good, my friend!!!

it is getting there Scott, thank you

[shilala]

Thank YOU for sharing this whole mess with the guys. It'd be great if it helps someone out along the way.

[big_jaygee]

ok a little late but tonights numbers are:

ambient RH is 46% with a temp of 73 degrees

inside is 66% with a temp of 72

ambient is slightly up and the inside RH is down closer to the set point of the HCM Beads. it has looked good for the last 36ish hours so, i will give it one more day then i will plug the unit in to see what happens with RH and of course temp will go down a few degrees.

[big_jaygee]

ok a little late but tonights numbers are:

ambient RH is 46% with a temp of 73 degrees

inside is 66% with a temp of 72

ambient is slightly up and the inside RH is down closer to the set point of the HCM Beads. it has looked good for the last 36ish hours so.

i am thinking i will give it one more day then i will plug the unit in to see what happens. sound about right Scott?

[big_jaygee]

ok...it is looking good, day three with just the beads

Ambient RH is 30% with a temp of 72 degrees
Wineador is 64% with a temp of 70 degrees

[Lockspur]

Sweet!

[shilala]

Here's something I always forget, but I remembered to tell Jason this morning...
"Now, here's a thing.
These thermoelectric coolers are only meant to bring down the inside temp 10-15 degrees below ambient.
If it's 85 in the house and it's set at 65, it'll run itself constantly and dump water all over your floor.
10-12 degrees below ambient is more realistic, in my experience.
So keep that in mind and make adjustments to your set-point as necessary come summer."