Well I think its all working out. I sealed the drain hole with a fresh pencil eraser. Now the temp goes up to around 70 and swings down to about 66 when the compressor kicks on. But since its sealed the humidity goes down by about half and then comes right back up. I ran the wire under the box and in through the bottom. The bulb with the thermistor is at the top. I mounted the unit to the back of the cooler with strips of velcro from Walmart. All in all I'm satisfied. I think it will work out fine this summer.

ajeroth

Ok, what exactly did you do?

Is this a wine cooler/fridge unit that one sees at Home Depot/Lowes?

What modifications did you make?

How much did you pay?

just for the sh*ts and giggles, let me know too...

da ca ss ad y

AT ho tm ai l DOT co m

way cool. I've had the ploomidoor unplugged the last few weeks. It's cold enough outside to keep the house heat at 70. And the door is sealed nice enough to hold it's humidity just fine. I'll plug it back up when things begin to warm up. I'd like to fill it back up again!! Maybe after I'm done paying lawyers 😞

I topped the other thread I made when I first got this thing... But I got it at Home Depot for 199.00 It's an Ewave 30 bottle wine cooler. I picked up the Johnson control from a brewing site online for 49.95. And the half pound of Climmax beads I had left over from switching away from the foam and PG setup. I didn't modify anything at all really. I just plugged the drain hole with the pencil eraser. It was all really easy.

ajeroth

Still have some temp issues... I set the new thermistor for 70 and the thermometers say sometimes it hits 74 degrees. I don't know why. And the temp inside the cooler gets to 70 but the temp inside the hummidors I have in there is still a few degrees higher. I took out the top try of my big humidor and put some differnt cigars in there and put it out in the open in the cooler. I'm experimenting to see if mold will grow or if it will have any other ill effects on the cigars. Sometimes the readings say the humidity goes up to 85 and sometimes it says 40 due to the compressor. I'm just wondering if the swings will effect the smokes. Or if there isn' really much of a swing and the thermo hygrometers just can't update fast enough.

ajeroth

probably best to key off of what the ambiant temp is in the house. i.e., winter in GA you can keep the house at 70. No need for temp control.

I could live with a house a 70 degrees but the wife is cold blooded... And I mean that. So either I get her a hot rock from the pet store or I let her control the house temp to a certain degree. She likes it a little warm in the house. So the fridge takes on the house temp really quickly if I unplug it. I found that moving the temp control down to about 68 on the Johnson control helps keep the swings in temp within the acceptable range. Before when it was set at 70 it would swing high sometimes like around 74.

ajeroth

I like the idea of using a wine cooler for a humidor.But because the highest you can set the cooler is 65,and most of those coolers have a temp. difference of 5 degrees between the top of the cooler and the bottom. ,and a 3 degree variance up or down between what you set it at and what it really is. I think that temp. is not a real problem because temp. being lower then 70 will only slow down the aging .I would put money into lining the inside with spanish cedar(the wood should help the temp. not fluctuate so much) ,a digital hygrometer and a cigar oasis. I think I am going to try this the only trouble is 30 bottle wine coolers where I live are almost $300.00 so it will take a little time to convince my wife that this is a good thing.

merocha, you missed the part where he says he's using a specially designed thermometer that controls power external to the fridge. It will hold 70 degrees. Probably right on the dot.

I didn't miss anything. He doen't seem able to get the temp. to hold at 70. Soif 65 works why spend the $50.00 for a temp. control togive you headaches?

Actually I've found that a setting of around 68 on the dial works. My concern with the temp was not that the inside of the cooler would stay at 70 which it did. My concern was the temp inside the humidors which were inside the cooler. The temp inside them went up to around 73 to 74 degrees if the inside temp was at 70. So I brought it down to 68 on the dial and it works great. I think its working out well. The guages on my thermo hygrometers still spike downwards when the compressor kicks on. But what they don't tell you is for how long they stay at those temps. I don't think its for very long. I've had the tray out with some smokes in the open for the past week or so. I havn't seen any problems with them either. I'm satisfied. I would suggest the Lagering guage though if you decide to buy one of these. That top temp of 65 you quoted is bogus. Mine didn't get above 55 at the lowest setting. So take my advice and spend the 50 bucks. Its well worth it.

ajeroth

It's been a couple of week with out any up dates .Is it still working ok or have you had any new problems?

Sorry for not noticing this earlier... Its still doing about the same. From everything I can see the cigars that I have set out have not been adversly effected by being exposed to the interior. I actually saw some plume on a La Gloria Cubanna Maduro I had sitting in there naked. It was only a few crystals but I was a happy man when I saw it. What I'm workin on now is trying to make shelves for the unit. The shelves that came with it are made for wine bottles and just don't work. I was hoping to get somone on here who knows alot about spannish cedar to make me some shelves but decided to go with metal racks. I'll pick up some Box of Blocks deals to add more Spanish Cedar later. I figure using old Spanish cedar cigar boxs with the lids taken off would work as trays for my smoke. Then I could take out some of the humidors that are in there. I'm still really satisfied with the performance after adding the Johnson Controls device.

ajeroth

Hey ajeroth,

Been reading about your wine cooler. Sounds just perfect for me as NorCal is 85 right now and up to 108 in mid summer.

Question though...I was gonna grab one of these at Home Depot, but they also have a same model for beverages. (its about 25 buck cheaper too). Although it gets colder, will the Johnson control work with it too or did you choose the wine cooler because the temp was closer to 70 degrees?

And does the auto defrost try to constantly come on with your Climmax beads in there or at what humidity level will the defroster come on?

Dave

One of the benefits of this model is no auto defrost. Also I liked the look of it. You can see through the door even though it has a tint to it. The Johnson control will work for any fridge. Just see if the one your looking at has the auto defrost option or not. I have to tell you I'm pretty happy with it. I think that the humidity going down when the compressor kicks on is only a temporary thing. I'm pretty sure that the humidity levels out after a short time. Good luck with yours...

ajeroth

Thanks for the reply. I think i am going to get a wine cooler for my self with in the next week. I live in central Cal. and I checked my table top humidor only to find it was 75 degrees today(bugland).I hope the cooler will get me through the summer. Thank again for the idea.

With the price of stand alone, windowless, air conditioners dropping, has anyone in a high temp area tried using one of these to make a closet into a humidor, or at least keeping a small room with your regular humidors cool?

Just a thought.

Dave in NJ

I do have a small AC unit. Its not plugged in right now. Why heat the house and then use an AC for the other room? I tried to just open the window to the one room with my humis but it just didn't work. The ambient temp of the rest of the house would heat the room. Also the kids or wife would open the door and not close it. This wine cooler is pretty much maintenance free. Since I use the Climmax beads in there I don't have to worry about foam or 50/50 Solution.

ajeroth

Well I went to Wal-Mart and bought a Wire Shelf for 8 bucks. I cut it with a hack saw to get two shelves for the wine cooler. They're not perfect but they work. I took out two humidors and but the cigars into cigar boxs' without the tops on them.

ajeroth