Questions on wine cooler set up

[nikosdoc]

Hi guys this is my first post here and unfortunately it is not a review as i intended.

I have recieved a wine cooler(Candy CCV150EU)as a gift,so the first thing in my mind was to make it a humidor.

I put in 1/2 pound humidity beads and some jars which regulate humidity at 70%,some cedar from empty boxes and some empty cigar boxes,start runing the cooler and all i got was 50% hum at 20C°.I asked around here in Greece and i got to buy a Cigar Oasis XL.That did not work either.I tried with a heated cup of purified water but the humidity rose for 15 minutes and went back to about 50%.

Then i pulled the plug and the humidity level reached 80%.I started the cooler again and it plunged to 50% within minutes.

In other words,when the cooler works,i can not find a way to keep humidity at the correct level,while when it is not working there is the desired humidity but is not cool enough,and mind you here in Greece we have about 32C°.

So, when this thing is running,is there a way to keep the humidity level up?

Sorry for the long post,i am really frustrated,so any info will be highly appreciated!

Thanks,

Nikos

[CM125]

Nikos: check and see if it has a drain mine has one in the back about half way up. If it has one put a piece or two of electrical tape on the hole to plug it. Curtis

[gigabyte056]

Hi,

Is it a compressor type or a thermo electric?

Compressors tend to dry the air and as such not very good for cigars.

[nikosdoc]

Hi,

Is it a compressor type or a thermo electric?

Compressors tend to dry the air and as such not very good for cigars.

Yes it is a compresor type.And yes they dry the air.

So ,for future reference,the only solution with this type of wine coolers is to built a humidor and place it inside the cooler.

[nikosdoc]

Nikos: check and see if it has a drain mine has one in the back about half way up. If it has one put a piece or two of electrical tape on the hole to plug it. Curtis

Fond the drin ,pluged it,but it didnot help.

Thanks for the tip anyway.

[CM125]

You may want to contact pigfish by Email I think he is man when it comes to compressor wine coolers. Curtis

[nikosdoc]

You may want to contact pigfish by Email I think he is man when it comes to compressor wine coolers. Curtis

Will do.

Thanks for the help Curtis

[PigFish]

My friends, anytime you cool or heat air you change the relative humidity, it does not matter how you cool it. The air has no idea how it is being cooled.

When air is cooled to within 4 degrees of the dew point, condensation occurs. The condensation is the water that was previously suspended in your air.

You have two choices in cooling humidors. One, you cool gradually with a lot of insulation lessoning the effect of drying as the result of condensation. In theory the Peltier device coolers should do this, but sadly in reality they don't. Yes, it is true that if you are attempting to correct a small differential between your set point and the ambient temperature you can accomplish it, but push a Peltier device humidor to 15 degree plus differential and it will run all the time. You will never get your humidity right.

Next you have compressor type coolers. I think they are better, but require some logic control to manage them. If you let them overcool you get condensation just like the Peltier types. The nice thing is that you have the option of putting them in a warmer environment if you are willing to do what it takes to compensate for their cooling ability.

I use a number of solutions to lessen the effects of active cooling in with your cigars. I separate the cooling coil from the cigars. I use fast acting high resolution controls. I lock out the humidifier from wetting the humidor while the cooler cycles and I use a linked active humidifier. I have concluded that a bead buffered system is helpful but have been working on the theory for a while now. How close your cigars are to the desired ERH is a real factor here.

The system that you design at home must consider the ambient temperature that you are trying to overcome and be designed around it. Circulation is a key to fast action regardless of the design and my systems typically have 3 or 4 fans, running at different times based on assessments by the controller.

Your choice is slow reacting coolers that run all the time, or fast reacting coolers that get real cold! Real cold beats the heat and proper logic control reduces the effects of the cycles. The cycles are a part of the life in a refrigerated humidor! I choose to short cycle my coolers so that they do not deep freeze. The cooling cycle is interrupted by the freezing of the coil while the fan moves air over the coil and puts the water it striped from the air back into it as it thaws. Whatever water remains is collected and once the cycle is finished the active humidifier will supplement that with new water if necessary. The system works nicely but is not perfect.

-Piggy

[PAL]

My friends, anytime you cool or heat air you change the relative humidity, it does not matter how you cool it. The air has no idea how it is being cooled.

When air is cooled to within 4 degrees of the dew point, condensation occurs. The condensation is the water that was previously suspended in your air.

You have two choices in cooling humidors. One, you cool gradually with a lot of insulation lessoning the effect of drying as the result of condensation. In theory the Peltier device coolers should do this, but sadly in reality they don't. Yes, it is true that if you are attempting to correct a small differential between your set point and the ambient temperature you can accomplish it, but push a Peltier device humidor to 15 degree plus differential and it will run all the time. You will never get your humidity right.

Next you have compressor type coolers. I think they are better, but require some logic control to manage them. If you let them overcool you get condensation just like the Peltier types. The nice thing is that you have the option of putting them in a warmer environment if you are willing to do what it takes to compensate for their cooling ability.

I use a number of solutions to lessen the effects of active cooling in with your cigars. I separate the cooling coil from the cigars. I use fast acting high resolution controls. I lock out the humidifier from wetting the humidor while the cooler cycles and I use a linked active humidifier. I have concluded that a bead buffered system is helpful but have been working on the theory for a while now. How close your cigars are to the desired ERH is a real factor here.

The system that you design at home must consider the ambient temperature that you are trying to overcome and be designed around it. Circulation is a key to fast action regardless of the design and my systems typically have 3 or 4 fans, running at different times based on assessments by the controller.

Your choice is slow reacting coolers that run all the time, or fast reacting coolers that get real cold! Real cold beats the heat and proper logic control reduces the effects of the cycles. The cycles are a part of the life in a refrigerated humidor! I choose to short cycle my coolers so that they do not deep freeze. The cooling cycle is interrupted by the freezing of the coil while the fan moves air over the coil and puts the water it striped from the air back into it as it thaws. Whatever water remains is collected and once the cycle is finished the active humidifier will supplement that with new water if necessary. The system works nicely but is not perfect.

-Piggy

wow Piggy, what an impressive knowledge you have! You must have spent considerable time and energy to acquire such knowledge. I applause your effort.

PAL

[almudawi]

PAL,

I have just finished my "compressor" cigar fridge project with tips and pointers given by Pig Fish.

I use my fridge to store my long term stock and have set my environment to 18c RH %70. However, I too have a drop of %6 in RH every time the compressor kicks in, but my cigar oasis xl plus pushes it back to 70 within a minute of the end of the compressor cycle. I also have 2lbs of heartfelt beads to keep thing as stable as possible.

In terms of your issue with humidity, from what I understand from your post, you have a Cigar Oasis XL. Is it the grey one? Cause these are meant for smaller humidors. You should at least have the Cigar Oasis XL PLUS (maroon). Also I recommend getting more beads, this may help.

Compressor driven wine fridges as humidors are just as good as thermoelectric. This is based on first hand experience, so do not rush into trashing you fridge.

[CanuckSARTech]

Awwww, Piggy's full of hot air.

Fella does nothing but play with electronics and humidors.

We've tried to scare him away with our talk of robustos and piramides, but he just won't leave.

Love ya, Piggy! :wave:

[PigFish]

Awwww, Piggy's full of hot air.

Fella does nothing but play with electronics and humidors.

We've tried to scare him away with our talk of robustos and piramides, but he just won't leave.

Love ya, Piggy! :wave:

If you don't knock it off, I will stop ziplock bagging 65 RH air and selling it to you! Then were would you be? -LOL -

[kiwirwe]

If you don't knock it off, I will stop ziplock bagging 65 RH air and selling it to you! Then were would you be? -LOL -

LOL many years ago on my 1st job (14) i think, my boss sent me to the store to get a bag of hot air...lol

[brazoseagle]

I built a compressor unit and love it!!!