Electric Travel Coolers and Temperature Control

[PapaDisco]

I'm going camping (of sorts) for three weeks and want to bring an electric cooler this time for my cigars.  In the past I've just zip locked them and thrown in a boveda.  Always seemed to be pretty workable (high temps get to 80F, low 50F), but I bring 6-10 boxes and so if there's a way to keep my sticks at their accustomed 65/65 I'd like to try.  I'm not too torqued up about it, but the tent cabins in this case come with 110V, so what the heck!

All of the electric coolers I see online (Koolatron, etc.) are just fully on systems (so they're always cooling to their max rating), and designed solely to keep drinks cold.  Obviously I'm not aiming to store my stock at 38F.  Does anyone know of a portable, electric cooler that you can set the temperature on?  Or can you suggest a simple temperature sensor/relay combination that I could use to turn off the stock cooler at a desired set point?  The cigars inside the cooler will be stored in their own cabs/boxes, so a bit of sloppy temperature control (+/- 2F?) is probably easy to tolerate.

[El Presidente]

Camping has certainly changed 

[Orion21]

First world problems, first world problems . . . 

You obviously love your cigars.  You have invested much time and money on them, that much is certain.  I don't know of a way to make your 65/65 storage conditions portable.  Unless you are going into heat of 80F + I wouldn't worry about a thing if you can put them in airtight storage conditions.  

What I would do is pull a nice weeks worth of sticks and place them in some Tupperware and then place the boxes in their own airtight storage.  This will limit the amount you bother the boxes to only a couple of times to reload.  Throw some 65rh bovedas in with the boxes and you're good.

[PapaDisco]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

Camping has certainly changed 

Ha ha . . .   Yes it has . . . and this place is also chock-a-block with open bars . . . 

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I could just take the stogies in their own cooler, with each box zip locked in its own bag and boveda, and that alone would 1. keep them from drying out, and 2.  reduce temperature swings from 50F-80F (what the ambient temps are day to night) down to some uncertain, but much more stable zone.  So this is not a terribly big worry, more a tinkerer's interest in fiddling with something.

There are TE coolers available from many sources for cheap ($150), but they lack temperature control, so the thing just runs full time and goes as cold as it can.  In general they sound pretty modest in their cooling ability; drawing 3-4 amps at 12V and taking about 1 hour to move a pound of mass from 70F down to 60F, so Piggy's dreaded cold plate condensation problem is likely not an issue.

What all these units lack is the ability to run the unit, or not, depending on the unit's internal temperature.  There are several cheap controllers for this, complete with thermocouple sensor, that one can buy on the web, so in theory you would stick the sensor in the cooler, establish set points of [off]64F and [on]66F or something like that (El Cerdo?) and then plug the cooler into the controller, which would then provide power, or not, to the cooler in order to keep it between 64 and 66F.  I assume this would be adequate since the cigars will be in their own cabs and boxes and baggies and so (guessing here), while the internal temperature of the cooler will swing +/- 2F, inside one of the cabs it's unlikely to change at all.

The klugey nature of this becomes apparent when you have the cooler (12VDC) plugged into it's 110 converter, which in turn is plugged into the digital controller which, hopefully never does a reset while I'm away for a day or two.   I don't know which of the $25 controllers you can buy from online is the more reliable (non-volatile memory for settings at the least!)

 

[TomF]

I've never heard of a cooler like that. If it were me I'd just keep them in proper humidity and try and keep them in as cool a place as possible; out of the sun, in the shade, maybe in a smaller cooler with an ice pack isolated from the cigars inside the cooler, or maybe sealed up tight and kept in the cool stream near your campsite. But why bring so many cigars? You're not going to smoke 6 to 10 boxes of cigars in 3 weeks are you? I think if you just bring as many as your really think you're going to smoke you might find it to be a bit more manageable. It sounds like you might be overthinking this.

[MrGinger]

3 hours ago, PapaDisco said:

I'm going camping (of sorts) for three weeks and want to bring an electric cooler this time for my cigars.  In the past I've just zip locked them and thrown in a boveda.  Always seemed to be pretty workable (high temps get to 80F, low 50F), but I bring 6-10 boxes and so if there's a way to keep my sticks at their accustomed 65/65 I'd like to try.  I'm not too torqued up about it, but the tent cabins in this case come with 110V, so what the heck!

All of the electric coolers I see online (Koolatron, etc.) are just fully on systems (so they're always cooling to their max rating), and designed solely to keep drinks cold.  Obviously I'm not aiming to store my stock at 38F.  Does anyone know of a portable, electric cooler that you can set the temperature on?  Or can you suggest a simple temperature sensor/relay combination that I could use to turn off the stock cooler at a desired set point?  The cigars inside the cooler will be stored in their own cabs/boxes, so a bit of sloppy temperature control (+/- 2F?) is probably easy to tolerate.

 

 

Awesome camping idea.   Google Johnson Controller.  I have used them on thermoelectric coolers before.  

[PapaDisco]

49 minutes ago, TomF said:

But why bring so many cigars? You're not going to smoke 6 to 10 boxes of cigars in 3 weeks are you?

Lots of friends!   And soon to be friends.  One night last year I was finishing up the evening at 1 a.m., listening to a wonderful, soft jazz set near the campfire.  Had my feet up on the fire ring, nice and toasty, smoking a 2012 Punch DC.  An older gentleman next to me leans over and says, "My oh my, that is one of the nicest Cubans I've smelt in a long while."  I offered him the last Punch DC in my case.  He thanks me, lights up clearly enjoying the stick and then wanders off into the darkness . . . returning with an epic bottle of 30 year old Macallan sherry oak scotch to share.  A memorable evening to say the least.

[PapaDisco]

56 minutes ago, MrGinger said:

 

 

Awesome camping idea.   Google Johnson Controller.  I have used them on thermoelectric coolers before.  

This unit?  https://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Controls-Digital-Thermostat-Control/dp/B00368D6JA?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0#Ask

Or something smaller?  Does it have non-volatile memory?  I couldn't find the answer to that in the FAQ or specs.

[Habana Mike]

I've got the perfect solution.

Stromberg CH-0120A

AC/DC (12V/120C)

Cools to 20 degrees below ambient though I've never seen it go below 56F

Easily holds 5-6 boxes.

Lightweight and portable.

 

Yes, I'm so hard up for storage I'm using anything that holds RH levels.....

 

[PigFish]

... cigars are on you? Where are you going? I will meet you there with a controller!!! -LOL

How about this?

Why don't you buy one of those low budget temp controllers off Ebay for a 10 spot? Duct tape the damn thing to the side, run all the wires through the drain hole (with the sensor) and you are in business.

You keep the cigar separate in an air tight vessel with Bovidas (or some such) and you just use the cooler to keep everything kinda' constant...!

-Piggy

[PigFish]

2 hours ago, Habana Mike said:

I've got the perfect solution.

Stromberg CH-0120A

AC/DC (12V/120C)

Cools to 20 degrees below ambient though I've never seen it go below 56F

Easily holds 5-6 boxes.

Lightweight and portable.

 

Yes, I'm so hard up for storage I'm using anything that holds RH levels.....

 

... you know Mike, maybe you should send me those plugged cigars after all!!! -LOL

Or, are they stored in the garage??? -Ray

[Habana Mike]

You 

3 minutes ago, PigFish said:

... you know Mike, maybe you should send me those plugged cigars after all!!! -LOL

Or, are they stored in the garage??? -Ray

You laugh, these have been at 69 degrees, 64RH for years......basement and kitty litter LOL

 

[PigFish]

Here is one that you can run off of 12VDC (they say). This way the cooler can run in the car while you travel...

https://www.amazon.com/Raysell-Temperature-Controller-Fahrenheit-Thermostat/dp/B01DGCJVU8/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1465526131&sr=1-3&keywords=12vdc+temperature+controller

[PigFish]

1 minute ago, Habana Mike said:

You 

You laugh, these have been at 69 degrees, 64RH for years......basement and kitty litter LOL

 

 

.... 64rH!!! Ahhhh, that's why they're plugged....! -LOL -R

[Habana Mike]

3 minutes ago, PigFish said:

 

.... 64rH!!! Ahhhh, that's why they're plugged....! -LOL -R

These are "aging"

 

Amazing what a closed passive environment can do, it's not even plugged in.....

[PigFish]

12 minutes ago, Habana Mike said:

These are "aging"

 

Amazing what a closed passive environment can do, it's not even plugged in.....

If you got it, you might as well use it! I have always said, you have 70/60 (or whatever you prefer) in a room, who needs a humidor??

[PapaDisco]

WTF?!  Did you two mistake this thread for "Chatbox?"

El Pig, thanks for the input.  I was getting ready to drill a hole, but of course, just running the wire in the drain hole is waaaaay better, duh!  No wonder you get paid the big bucks!

I am gonna just slum this with duck tape and make it look as trailer trash as possible.  Should get some nice comments with this crew.  

[Fugu]

Don't forget to post pictures, Poppy!

I think TomF is not too far off in suggesting a simple passive storage. You are a far cry from the RV-case that we had been discussing recently (with up to 140 °F peak temp). The 50 to 80 °F you mention is not really a range I would at all bother about during camping. You could easily dampen this amplitude considerably purely passively, ending up somewhere in the middle (i.e. +/- around a perfect 65 °F). And for three weeks, your sticks will just be fine, this is no long-term storage for aging...

Are you camping by caravan or under canvas? You can control the actual temp vastly already by carefully selecting the place for your cooler. Put in the shade under the ventilated awning of the tent or in the space under the caravan and you should be fine, I bet (you might even consider digging a hole in the ground for the box, if you are rather stationary). If you are heading for a more elaborate, technical solution, then Piggy's Controllerdor thing would of course be the way to go. I always like to keep it simple and dependable, in particular in the field.

Cheers and have a great time!

Goo

[PapaDisco]

3 hours ago, Fugu said:

Don't forget to post pictures, Poppy!

I think TomF is not too far off in suggesting a simple passive storage. You are a far cry from the RV-case that we had been discussing recently (with up to 140 °F peak temp). The 50 to 80 °F you mention is not really a range I would at all bother about during camping. You could easily dampen this amplitude considerably purely passively, ending up somewhere in the middle (i.e. +/- around a perfect 65 °F). And for three weeks, your sticks will just be fine, this is no long-term storage for aging...

Are you camping by caravan or under canvas? You can control the actual temp vastly already by carefully selecting the place for your cooler. Put in the shade under the ventilated awning of the tent or in the space under the caravan and you should be fine, I bet (you might even consider digging a hole in the ground for the box, if you are rather stationary). If you are heading for a more elaborate, technical solution, then Piggy's Controllerdor thing would of course be the way to go. I always like to keep it simple and dependable, in particular in the field.

Cheers and have a great time!

Goo

Ha, yes no doubt in these conditions a cooler with a few bovedas and ziplocks would be the wisest move and get me to within 95% of target.  But where's the fun in that?   Against better judgement I went and ordered a 12V Koolatron from Best Buy and a cheesy looking made-in-China controller with AC adapter.  I'll probably end up getting the polarity wrong somewhere and accidentally cook my cigars, but let's see what happens.

Probably should get a data logger for this little charade . . .  . . . and something made of titanium . . . yeah, isn't that what they always use on the Space Shuttle?  Need me some titanium . . .  

[Fugu]

6 hours ago, PapaDisco said:

Ha, yes no doubt in these conditions a cooler with a few bovedas and ziplocks would be the wisest move and get me to within 95% of target.  But where's the fun in that?  

Well, that's a valid point of course, no arguing!