falconman515's NewAir AW-280E 28 Bottle Wineador Build!

[Blak Smyth]

Looks real nice, I wouldn't mind heading this direction eventually but think about how many smokes I can buy instead. tough descisions, I went with a coolidor for now. Really well done and thanks for documenting the experience!

Are you still using cat litter? That would kinda creep me out, did you think about buying beads? Sorry if I missed this somewhere if you already explained it.

[falconman515]

Originally Posted by Angry_Pirate

Nice thread!!! Reconsidering purchasing one now.

Thats the reason for me doing this whole build thread! To help out a brother thats on the fence of getting one of these and push em over!!!

If you need any help or have any questions bro I would be more than happy to help.

Originally Posted by Blak Smyth

Are you still using cat litter? That would kinda creep me out, did you think about buying beads? Sorry if I missed this somewhere if you already explained it.

Ohh ya I will use Kitty Litter forever .... its a silica based bead.... almost nothing different then beads whatsoever.... as long as you get the correct kind and unscented then you are basically getting 8lbs. of beads for $16 to use in all of you humidors if need be.

KL works just the same as beads and holds my cooler at a dead on 63-65% Rh (normally about 63-64 at the bottom and rock solid 65 at the top) and will absorb and release Rh as needed to hold it perfect.

I know some guys like to go with beads but if you do a little research you will find that this kind of KL is the same thing brothers!

I actually bought a pound of actual humidity beads and I had more trouble with that stuff for a while until I switched over to the KL. I know some may disagree for whatever reason but there is NO REASON Whatsoever to buy to standard humidor beads over KL .... You are spending up to 5 times as much for "The Same Thing".

But I digress ... I am a huge advocate of this KL since it works perfect and saves us brothers a bunch of money for important things like the Sticks to fill out our new humidors.

[chippewastud79]

Nice looking set up you have there.

Originally Posted by falconman515

Ohh ya I will use Kitty Litter forever .... its a silica based bead.... almost nothing different then beads whatsoever.... as long as you get the correct kind and unscented then you are basically getting 8lbs. of beads for $16 to use in all of you humidors if need be.

KL works just the same as beads and holds my cooler at a dead on 63-65% Rh (normally about 63-64 at the bottom and rock solid 65 at the top) and will absorb and release Rh as needed to hold it perfect.

I know some guys like to go with beads but if you do a little research you will find that this kind of KL is the same thing brothers!

I actually bought a pound of actual humidity beads and I had more trouble with that stuff for a while until I switched over to the KL. I know some may disagree for whatever reason but there is NO REASON Whatsoever to buy to standard humidor beads over KL .... You are spending up to 5 times as much for "The Same Thing".

But I digress ... I am a huge advocate of this KL since it works perfect and saves us brothers a bunch of money for important things like the Sticks to fill out our new humidors.

Not entirely true. There are some differences, including the amount of surface area needed to be effective, the rate that they can regulate and recover humidity during spikes and they are not 'pre-programed' to a specific humidity. Oh and the fact that kitty litter is designed and manufactured to absorb cat urine and not humidify cigars.

That is purely speaking of silica beads, HCM beads are far more effective than both the silica beads and kitty litter.

Use what you like, of course, but to imply that kitty litter and beads are one in the same simply isn't the case.

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Nice looking set up you have there.



Not entirely true. There are some differences, including the amount of surface area needed to be effective, the rate that they can regulate and recover humidity during spikes and they are not 'pre-programed' to a specific humidity. Oh and the fact that kitty litter is designed and manufactured to absorb cat urine and not humidify cigars.

That is purely speaking of silica beads, HCM beads are far more effective than both the silica beads and kitty litter.

Use what you like, of course, but to imply that kitty litter and beads are one in the same simply isn't the case.

People can use KL and feel superior about doing so but the fact above is true regardless of anything. KL was designed to be KL -- to mange the odor and abosorbion of cat urine and cat feces -- and that is a fact .

Heartfelt Beads, HCM beads while made of different materials, were designed for cigar humidification. That is a huge difference.

If people want to trust 100's or 1000's of dollars worth of their cigars to KL so that they can save a few dollars on the humidification product that is their choice. I personally think it is a foolish choice but we are each entitled to our own opinions and actions.

[WittyUserName]

That looks great man, nice job.

I cannot wait to get home and get my own!!!

[falconman515]

Originally Posted by WittyUserName

That looks great man, nice job.

I cannot wait to get home and get my own!!!

When you do I hope this thread helps a bit.... let me know if I can help or answer any questions brother!

[HollywoodQue]

Wow Chris, that looks great man. We truly appreciate you documenting step-by-step progress on your wineador. That's a lot of great information for those of us trying to do the same thing. I love how you added the handles to the cedar trays.

Forrest isn't going anywhere, so whenever you save up for his trays, he will definately take great care of you. In the meantime, enjoy your creation...great job

[Angry_Pirate]

How many sticks do you estimate that this will hold Chris? I went looking at wine coolers today but the one you ordered looks like the best deal so far especially with the warranty.

[falconman515]

Originally Posted by HollywoodQue

Wow Chris, that looks great man. We truly appreciate you documenting step-by-step progress on your wineador. That's a lot of great information for those of us trying to do the same thing. I love how you added the handles to the cedar trays.

Forrest isn't going anywhere, so whenever you save up for his trays, he will definitely take great care of you. In the meantime, enjoy your creation...great job

Thanks so much bro! Ya forums helped me so much in building my cooler and the couple build threads I found were very helpful.... so I decided as being a new guy and doing this I was gonna document my progress from beginning to end and make as many good notes and details to help out more future BOTL looking to go this route.

Ya I got the handles idea from a picture I saw on a forum who did the same thing to their trays (they had black ones though) and I thought with leaving the chrome shelves in there that you can still see and with the brushed nickel handle on the door... I tried to find a handle that closely matched the front door handle. Plus having the handles on there makes it very easy to "Well Handle" (LOL) when taking the trays in and out.

I was gonna get some drawers but didn't have the money to do so so I decided just being new and not having to many smokes that I would start small so I went with these.... but ya I can fill these trays up to around 200 or so smokes so ones of these days If I can reach that and need more room I'm just gonna go balls out and order a full 6 drawer set up with false bottom from Forrest and have 3 times storage then.

Thanks again brother for the compliment and I really hope this thread helps out a future new brother in making the switch over to a wineador.

Originally Posted by Angry_Pirate

How many sticks do you estimate that this will hold Chris? I went looking at wine coolers today but the one you ordered looks like the best deal so far especially with the warranty.

Wit the trays all depending on size of cigars I can fit about 13-15 from left to right 2 layers high...... So in total on average I can fit 28.... but if they around robusto toro size I have room behind them to fit about 8 cigars laying horizontally.

So in total on average for each tray all depending on size and RG I can fit around 30-32 smokes give or take!

So with having 7 trays total in my cooler I will have room to fit about 200-225 smokes (Like I said give or take but really no less than 200 for sure).

Now the goal is just to try and fill them up

The trays work great for sure to start and if your cigars are singles and under 200 then they are the cheapest way to go for sure! But I have a feeling I will exceed that one of these days hopefully and when that happens I will be giving Forrest a call!

But ya go with the NewAir bro.... the price is hands down Unbeatable and the quality and looks are top notch. check out my warranty and price right up on this unit for further details as well on the best price and best way to warranty this unit for cheap!

Nice, I love it Chris! Great build brother

[falconman515]

Beads will absorb urine just as KL does. Lol

KL is a 100% viable option over beads for sure.

Beads are awesome but maybe I just had a bad batch when I purchased mine cause the KL maintained perfect Rh when the beads I ordered did not.

Regardless of wether KL is programmed to be at a certain percentage the one thing is does is hold perfect at 65% 24-7. So as long at my Rh stays dead on at all times I will use it forever.

I did tons of research before using this stuff and regardless of what it's manufactured for it humidifys Perfect! The oust fan I have was manufactured to blow sweet smelling air in a room but I turned it into fan to move air around my cooler.... My media bags are made for aquarium charcoal but work great to hold beads or KL.... My wine cooler is made to cool wine but it works great to house and tempeature control my cigars. Some things are made for one thing but work excellent for something else.

I'm not a pro KL guy by any means but after all the research I did I found out it works perfect to humidify cigars so I gave it a shot after spotty results from cheaphumidor.com and it hasn't failed me yet and found that it takes even less upkeep to hold the Rh now.

If you decide to go either way im sure you will be happy. But it's always nice to have options at a cheaper price.

[falconman515]

I think the new year has some new drawers from Forrest in my coolers future!

Anyone looking at a cooler and want to start small with trays like mine let me know I will be selling all 7 pictured plus one extra not pictured with handles and all in the next month or two.

[Crownedone]

Seriously cool build and documentation. Thank you very much.

Hmm... really liking this. I have been wondering what Im gonna do during the summer months here, as while at work we normally cut off the AC (When I head to work I am there for 3 days before I come home... Yay DOD). I have been worrying whether my sticks would be ok when the house temp pops over 85 degrees... but with this I can set my temp in it to 65-70 and not have to worry....

[falconman515]

Well I have another small update on something I did with my set-up

As you know I was building this set-up on a budget and though I wish I could have afforded some drawers from Forrest I went the route of trays as you can see from the pics on the first couple pages to save some money.

Well with these trays there was more room behind the trays that I wanted to utilize as much as possible and found this worked out perfect for me.

I got these from Orchard Hardware and Supply for $3.50 a tray. I bought 5 of them (there are 6 total wire shelves) since I have one of the wire shelve (3 from the top) that has one large bag of KL to give me some Rh towards the top and I also added another Oust fan right next to this bag for some circulation up top since the only fan I had before was at the bottom of the cooler. These trays are clear and fit perfect right in that back section of wire and doesn't slide around or fall out. I got these since I was running out room a bit and wanted some more storage for overflow. I will be drilling some holes in the trays for more circulation soon as well.

Here are the pics of what I did ... the first shows my wire wine shelf pulled out with my SC tray sitting up front like normal and the new clear plastic tray in the back that fits perfect in that little section. The next pic shows what it looks like with the SC tray removed and the last one shows the plastic tray pulled out of the unit to get a better look at it if maybe you decide to go the tray route like this cause of cost and want the extra space.

All in all with the Spanish cedar trays with handles I found on clearance for a buck and change at Lowes and the clear plastic trays my storage costs only cost me about $95 for everything!!! Ya for around $130 more I could have had Forrest Amazing full set of drawers but this was a good start and once I get the funds together to get some wineador drawers I will be looking to sell all of this to another brother looking to maybe to do this same set-up.

Take a look at what I did and like always if you have any questions about anything I am more than happy to help a brother out!

[falconman515]

Well I am finally done tinkering with my cooler and it's fairly full and ready for the year of smoking.

Here is the final product of my work and my stash

[falconman515]

[Crownedone]

MY OH MY!.... That came out great. Excelent job and photos, thanks so very much.

[smelvis]

Very nice Chris!

[dwoodward]

Oh My God...

I love the way you just used to regular shelves and attached your trays to them. Creative and clean.

Your Liga Privada drawer made me lol... I have only had the No.9 but I am sure the rest are just as good.