Wineador... New lesson learned

[knw247]

I picked up a three sensor hydro this week and was shocked to see the variance from the top of my 281e to the drawers in the lower portion of the wineador. We're talking 68 to 74. After fighting with it all week I finally tracked down the issue. My drawers are too full. After rearranging each drawers to allow circulation and double checking the calibration on the hydros it's back to 64/65 at the top and 68 at the bottom. Remember to not cover up all the vents in the drawers. Even with a fan. The rh got high when they were covered. Seems like a no brainier now but it took me a while to figure it out.

My advice. Check your rh at multiple locations / leave room in each drawer for circulation (even if you have a fan) / don't panic if it gets out of whack.

 

[acc05R1]

I picked up a three sensor hydro this week and was shocked to see the variance from the top of my 281e to the drawers in the lower portion of the wineador. We're talking 68 to 74. After fighting with it all week I finally tracked down the issue. My drawers are too full. After rearranging each drawers to allow circulation and double checking the calibration on the hydros it's back to 64/65 at the top and 68 at the bottom. Remember to not cover up all the vents in the drawers. Even with a fan. The rh got high when they were covered. Seems like a no brainier now but it took me a while to figure it out.

My advice. Check your rh at multiple locations / leave room in each drawer for circulation (even if you have a fan) / don't panic if it gets out of whack.

I have the same issue brother, but unfortunately, I don't have a choice because I only have 1 drawer in each unit for the time being. And they are beyond full. However, I have some room between the bottom and top of the shelf in each wineador. I've noticed that this is only a problem in the one that I'm using beads in though. The other one that I'm using kitty litter in, it's the same temp/rh at all levels. That maybe something else to consider as well. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing.

 

[btubes18]

I will go ahead and second the kitty litter, seems to do the job for me.

 

[MoldMan]

Kitty litter.

 

[knw247]

I have the same issue brother, but unfortunately, I don't have a choice because I only have 1 drawer in each unit for the time being. And they are beyond full. However, I have some room between the bottom and top of the shelf in each wineador. I've noticed that this is only a problem in the one that I'm using beads in though. The other one that I'm using kitty litter in, it's the same temp/rh at all levels. That maybe something else to consider as well. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing.

I was thinking of getting some PVC couplers and setting them in there to allow me to easily pack the cigars around them but i was able to just use arrange the cigars in a way to allow some open spaces.

 

[boltman]

I have the same issue brother, but unfortunately, I don't have a choice because I only have 1 drawer in each unit for the time being. And they are beyond full. However, I have some room between the bottom and top of the shelf in each wineador. I've noticed that this is only a problem in the one that I'm using beads in though. The other one that I'm using kitty litter in, it's the same temp/rh at all levels. That maybe something else to consider as well. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing.

How much kitty litter are you using? I'm having the same issue using 65% beads.

 

[boltman]

Does it matter where the kl is placed?

 

[knw247]

I have "a ton of KL in there". I am training the KL for my other 280 that I am putting together so I have a lot more than is needed. On the plus side the rebound is almost instantaneous when opening the door. The issue here is that I had poor circulation and the hot air rises in the unit. Warmer air can hold more moisture so the same amount of water in they air has a lower relative humidity.

Another too I learned this week. Do not trust a ziplock bag to do a salt test. Use win air tight Tupperware.

 

[redneck_toy]

It's interesting that this thread pops up when it does. My wineador has been up and running for almost a week. When I got the RH stabilized it was 70. I guess Monday, I put all the smokes in it with no humidification medium. Waiting for it to fall to ~65. Here it is Thursday, and it's still ~67. I did move one of the two drawers up to the middle part to make it easier to read the hygrometer. That's where the fan is. I wonder if I'm having the same issue? My old humi stayed at 65-67 though. Hmmm, I'd better do some investigation, and move that drawer......

 

[StogieNinja]

I have a Partagas Culebras coffin filled with KL in each drawer, with one Boveda pack next to each one. I recharge the KL 3-4 times a year and the Boveda drinks up the excess rh, recharging themselves. I have rock solid rh spread across top middle and bottom in both of my vinotemps.

 

[boltman]

I have "a ton of KL in there". I am training the KL for my other 280 that I am putting together so I have a lot more than is needed. On the plus side the rebound is almost instantaneous when opening the door. The issue here is that I had poor circulation and the hot air rises in the unit. Warmer air can hold more moisture so the same amount of water in they air has a lower relative humidity.

Another too I learned this week. Do not trust a ziplock bag to do a salt test. Use win air tight Tupperware.

Are you putting the kl in the bottom of your wineadore?

 

[redneck_toy]

I have a Partagas Culebras coffin filled with KL in each drawer, with one Boveda pack next to each one. I recharge the KL 3-4 times a year and the Boveda drinks up the excess rh, recharging themselves. I have rock solid rh spread across top middle and bottom in both of my vinotemps.

I may have to track down some empty coffins... That sounds simple

 

[acc05R1]

I have about 3-4lbs of KL in Tupperware spread throughout the wineador on racks and in the drawer. I sprayed it once when I first put it in there with distilled water. I also have an active humidifier set to 66% and the drain hole taped shut. In that particular wineador, the temp and rh are the same at all levels. No condensation issues either, and the bounce back time is almost instantaneous.

 

[knw247]

Are you putting the kl in the bottom of your wineadore?

Boltman,
Yes, I have media bags that I made from Toole (which was a mistake, becuase they are messy and do not hold in the small particles.) and Media bags in the bottom of the unit.. I have three small bags of KL under the false Drawer with a 4 inch fan next to that. In the Bottom Drawer, I have 2 large Media Bags full of KL and four small Toule Bags of KL (it's a full drawer). I have another half filled Media Bag in the second to top shelf and a full Media Bag of KL behind three boxes on the top shelf. My RH is not an issue. What I have learned after setting up the monitoring in three locations is the following:

• The temp is as much as 4-5 deg warmer in the top of the Wineador.
• This warmer temp results in a lower relative Humidity at the top of the wineador (because the nature or RH is that it is relative. The same amount of humidity in the air but warmer air can hold more moisture, thus the lower RH).
• Inside the dark drawers, the temp is much cooler and the opposite effect happens. The RH is higher due to the lower temps.
• The fan will minimize the variance of RH from top to bottom, but only if there is room in the drawers for air flow. 64-68 is very acceptable in my eyes.
• While understanding all this is new to me, My cigars have known this for a long time. At 63-65 in the top of my Wineador and with good airflow, my drawers are and have always been sitting at a nice 68-69 rh.

The one change I may consider making is to moving at least two drawers to the top of the Winedor where the Temp is warmer but the rh is lower. I say may, becuase I have had very smokable cigars up until now so maybe the 68-69 is where I really like them and I only thought it was at the lower 63-65.

I hope this helps others who are learning about their Wineadors or having issues with understanding why the RH is what it is.

I have heard people mention using KL in conjuntion with Bolivia packs or other chemical RH methods. I do not recommend this. KL like Beads are only to be used with Distilled Water. Anything else can clog them up and make them inaffective.

Finally, on recharging. I have been using the KL for over a year and the best way (I have found) to keep them balanced is to simply set one or two shot glasses half filled with Distilled Water. The few times I tried to spray/spritz, resulted in over humidification.

 

[boltman]

Thanks

 

[redneck_toy]

So I rearranged my drawers a little for more airflow, and lowered the drawer one slot to below the fan. Two hours later, RH iS at 64%. I think I need to invest one anothe hygrometer or two. @knw247, what is the name of the three probe hygrometer you bought, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[knw247]

So I rearranged my drawers a little for more airflow, and lowered the drawer one slot to below the fan. Two hours later, RH iS at 64%. I think I need to invest one anothe hygrometer or two. @knw247, what is the name of the three probe hygrometer you bought, if you don't mind me asking?

It is the Ambient Weather WS-10 Wireless Indoor/Outdoor 8-Channel Thermo-Hygrometer with Three Remote Sensors.

 

[redneck_toy]

Thanks! I was just reading about that one online.

 

[sipnjd]

I put together my AW280-e about a month and a half ago. I had been having a hard time getting an even humidity level top to bottom. I was getting up to 75% humidity in the third shelf. My first mistake was I did not season the drawers. My second mistake was going with 70% humidity beads. O yea, there was mistake number three, I filled up almost every drawer to the max. I replaced the beads with 65% Bovida packs. The beads were taking up to much room anyway. I did plug the hole with tape and put in a PC fan for circulation. Now with the temp on the unit set at 64 degrees I'm getting 63% in the top drawer, 70% in the third drawer, 67% in the fourth drawer and 65% in the sixth drawer, and have not been running the fan. I found with the fan on the humidity went up. I'm OK with it now. I would like to see that third drawer get down to 67%, but 70% now is better then the 75% it was at. Does anyone have two of the coolers? I was thinking of getting another one and was curious if that can be stacked on top of each other.

 

[herfdog]

I added a squirrel cage fan near the middle of my wino, uner my first shelve. I takes air from the bottom and shoots it straight up behind everything. I can sense the airflow on top. When it runs at a considerable speed, my RH is the same top-to-bottom even if my wino is rather large (35 bottles)

in the "lessons learned" I'd add "don't reduce the speed of the thermo cooler's fan if you don't want condensation" - I have placed a controller on that, to reduce the speed, and all it does is make for more condensation when the thermo tries to lower the wino's temp. I run that fan full speed.
Also, if you add an airflow fan, don't bother reducing the speed. If you want airflow, you want full airflow. not partial. its pointless. (that's 2 fan controllers that I keep at max all the time...)