New Cabinet Humidor

[fookite]

I've been trolling craigslist looking for a big cabinet humidor for a while. Last week, I stumbled onto this thing for a no-brainer price:

Once I dragged it home, the first thing I noticed is that the top corner appears to be the absolute worst spot to put the humidifier. I figured I'd give it a shot, and after 24 hours of operation, a hygrometer on the bottom shelf wouldn't get above 39% rh. I moved it to the bottom shelf and let it run for another day, and now I'm getting pretty even readings throughout the cabinet. I'm going to have to drill a new hole for the power cord on the bottom, but that shouldn't be much of a concern.

The humidifier is one of those stainless-steel evaporative deals, with a noisy fan. This could be a bit of a problem, as the best location for the cabinet is in my bedroom. My current plan is to (hopefully) get the cabinet to where it can maintain humidity overnight without being plugged in, then to put the humidifier on a timer so that it won't activate overnight. I'm not sure how reasonable a plan this is; if the seal on the sliding doors is as iffy at is looks, I'm probably going to need a lot of media (beads / litter) in there for rh buffering. If that doesn't work, I'll have to look into either a quieter humidifier or move the cabinet elsewhere.

Once I get this thing up and running smoothly, I plan to pull and remount the shelves flat so that I can stack more boxes in there.

Anyways, I just wanted to share. It may not be my ideal humidor, but I really needed a cabinet and this thing cost me less than my last box of Party Shorts. Worst case, I end up selling it for two or three times what I paid for it and getting something else.

[TheDistrictJP]

I really like that cabinet, hope it works out for you, also think that the slanted shelves are style and would leave at least one that way for quick access to some favorite smokes.

[Dmatzkin]

What a beauty!!! Well done and enjoy!!! Now fill it up!!

[PapaDisco]

Can you swap out the fan for one of those quite little flat pack fans? Or would that not push enough air?

[Carts]

very nice humidor, congrats on the pick up!

[fookite]

Can you swap out the fan for one of those quite little flat pack fans? Or would that not push enough air?

At first glance, the fan appeared integral to the controller, though I need to take another look.

[CUBANO]

Invest in some beads, they work well in my 3000 count humidor.

[fookite]

Invest in some beads, they work well in my 3000 count humidor.

Do you use them alongside an active humidifier or by themselves?

[CUBANO]

Do you use them alongside an active humidifier or by themselves?

By themselves. Have about 4 lbs in 1/2 lb women's stockings and put a couple of them in each shelve. BTW- What is the sticker on the glass door?

[fookite]

It's actually not a sticker - it's etched into the glass and says "Fuego Cubano." From what I've been able to gather, this was a Los Angeles-based company with a business plan of shoving fancy humidors into as many stores as possible - this one apparently came from a gas station - and waiting for reorders to roll in. It doesn't sound like that worked out very well for them.

[fookite]

I think I'm going to use silica kitty litter as it's what I use in my tupperdores and a I have a pretty good mental model of its properties. I'm thinking a bunch in a big pan on the bottom, more on the top shelf where the humidifier used to be, and then women's stockings full under the shelfs, zip-tied to the slats. I should be able to get a whole 15 lb bag in there without being too obtrusive.

[CUBANO]

I think I'm going to use silica kitty litter as it's what I use in my tupperdores and a I have a pretty good mental model of its properties. I'm thinking a bunch in a big pan on the bottom, more on the top shelf where the humidifier used to be, and then women's stockings full under the shelfs, zip-tied to the slats. I should be able to get a whole 15 lb bag in there without being too obtrusive.

From what I have read kitty litter should work. Just don't forget to close the door or your cat will do its business on your cigars. LOL. Just kidding.

[fookite]

Moved the humidifier to the bottom, drilled a new hole for the cord, added about 10 lbs of silica kitty litter. Hanging stockings under the shelves worked amazingly, I would suggest it to anyone with slanded shelves. Got the whole thing stabilized at a solid 62% rh, the same as my tupperdores, before transferring my cigars. I've been working on inching it up to ~65% over the past week, as I expect a bigger rh gradient in the cabinet.

It's actually a bit surprising how well this is all working, I expected to have to deal with bigger leaks and rh swings.

[CUBANO]

You got some good cigars there. The humi looks good.

[liger930]

Great work, looks great. Was curious about the glass doors and how well they sealed.

How does a cabinet like this maintain temperature?

[fookite]

Great work, looks great. Was curious about the glass doors and how well they sealed.

How does a cabinet like this maintain temperature?

The seal seems to be working better than I thought it would, though it's not going to be perfect. I doubt you'd be able to get away with passive humidification only in something like this.

It doesn't maintain temperature. That's not really a concern as I maintain a quite consistent temperature where the cabinet is located.

[PapaDisco]

Day-um Fook! We need to party at your place!

[TheDistrictJP]

This exact piece is now for sale on CL in Madison, WI. I really like the way you have things spaced out so you can fit the SLB's in there. I would store mine just like you have in open boxes like you see at a B&M so this is really a look I like.

Great job - can you show a few more full length pics?

jp

[fookite]

Sure.

You might notice that I threw a bunch of cedar sheets from boxes on top of the kitty litter bags in the bottom as camoflage

You may have thought that I had boxes of Party Shorts and El Principes on the top shelf. In fact, this is kitty litter wearing a clever disguise.

A little hard to see, but each shelf has a stocking full of kitty litter hanging under a slat with zip ties. Between these, the boxes above, and the big stockings full on the bottom of the cabinet, I currently have something like 15 pounds of kitty litter in the cabinet. I give this a lot of credit for the stability I've been able to achieve.

[CUBANO]

15 lbs is a lot, but I guess is better to have more than not enough. Looking good fookite.

[Croz71]

Wow! Looks fantastic mate....great camouflage on the KL

[Franko]

Whoa very nice man. I'm jealous thinking on my cab, just not sure what to get lol.

[CapoKing]

Wow..this is an awesome setup. Looks like you have the Rh under control. Someday over the rainbow I'll have a cc only cabinet!,.

[TheDistrictJP]

Thank you for the pics. How is this working out after a couple of months now? Any more mods?

thank you,

jp

[fookite]

It's been fantastic. Rock solid 64% RH and the active humidifier barely turns on at all.

No mods, but I have since figured out a trick for maximizing capacity in an open-box, slanted-shelf setup like this: if you put cabs / SLBs in the front row of the shelf, they act as blockers (for lack of a better term) that allow you to stack multiple (2 or 3) dress boxes in the back row. By my count, I have 26 boxes in there right now with room for another 25-30.