Bead Location in Vinotemp Wineador

[ParMan3]

I'm a newbie looking for advice on where and how to put 2 pounds of Heartfelt 65% beads in a Vinotemp 28 wineador. Forrest is building me the 5 drawer with 1 shelf setup. I have read that it is a good idea to put beads in the bottom as well as in each drawer and on the top shelf in the wineador. Since the volume for each shelf is approximately 479 (14.5 X 3 X 11) cubic inches that according to the Heartfelt site would suggest one ounce of beads per shelf so if you doubled that to 2 ounces per shelf for a total of 10 onces on the shelfs. How much should be put on the bottom and how much on the top shelf?

Next question, what is the best device to hold the beads. Obviously you can use the mesh bags from Heartfelt to put on the bottom and top and I suppose even in the drawers. The other idea I got was to use two of the small one ounce tubes in each drawer. Other things I have seen discussed is just leaving the beads in an open glass or plastic bowl or panty hose. What are the pros and cons of each system? Also should the beads in the bottom be in a bag on in a more open tray for better circulation? If you go with the tubes in the drawers are they hard to hydrate? Do you have to take the beads out of the tube and put them into a bowl to properly hydrate?

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[mdwest]

my recommendation is to spread the beads around equally throughout your wineador...use the same formula for calculating how much you need in each of the top and bottom spaces as you do the drawers.. just measure what the CI for each area is.. and do the same math..

for media storage.. I like using cigar coffin boxes.. it is in no way superior to pantyhose, tubes, a bowl, etc.. from what I can tell.. but to me it looks nicer (looks like just another cigar box sitting on your shelf, or in the bottom of your wineador), and most of the common ones out there will fit into a drawer or tray just about perfectly.. (they are the same height and depth, or shorter, than most trays/drawers).. you get the added advantage of introducing more cedar to your wineador as well instead of plastic, pantyhose, a mesh bag, etc..)..

nothing at all wrong with the other choices.. I just like the coffin box solution best personally...

 

[King Kill 33]

I agree. I would use coffins, if I had them. I use pantyhose because its easy and can be hidden under the false drawer in my NewAir and behind boxes on the top. I had them in the drawers too, but ran out of useful space, so now I have a pound on my top 2 shelves and a pound on the bottom. More importantly, IMO, get 2 digital hygrometers and place them at different heights so you can always see the difference in temp and humidity. As an example in mine, they are never off by more than +/- 1% and 1F. Common to see my top one at 65%-66F and my bottom one at 66%-65F.

Hope that helps. And I am by no means an expert, although I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

KK33

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[ParMan3]

Gentlemen, thanks for the suggestions. I will look around for a few coffins to put in the drawers and I plan on putting two Xikar hygrometers in the unit one on the top and one on the bottome

 

[Agentskull]

You could always go to the b&m and get some cigar boxes. Cut them down to make your own coffins. Should be very cheap

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[Alwayslit]

You could always go to the b&m and get some cigar boxes. Cut them down to make your own coffins. Should be very cheap

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great idea!

 

[Donk]

Bro, my advice would be to go to heartfelt and buy a couple of their nylon mesh bags, they are cheap and I found they work great. However. you do not want the bags or the beads to come into contact with the wood in your humidor. They will discolor and absorb stuff from the wood. Take one bag of about 1/2 lb each and place one on top and one on bottom. I have a wineador and I actually use 2 full pounds of beads. I use 65% beads but the humidity holds closer to 70% which I find makes the cigars better for smoking. but that's me. I would also add two fans to the wineador for air circulation, they don't need to run all the time but it's good to mix up the air from time to time.