Whynter CHC-251S E/N

[Daven]

Some rant/frustration…

My unit died this past Saturday (two months old) and I am looking to warranty the unit which thus far, appears to be a frustrating process.

The rep I spoke with on the phone asked me a series of questions which seem to be pretty standard for these types of calls. She further went on to ask where I had the unit stored and what temperature the unit was exposed to. I had indicated that we keep our home at 85 during the working hours of the day and 78 when we’re home for the evening. The rep then went on to say that this unit is sensitive to external temperatures greater than 75-78º and anything higher can cause the units to fail. Furthermore, I guess exposing this unit to temperatures in excess of 80º voids the warranty?! The rep said “we’ll leave that up to the technician to decide based on my notes on the call”. Wow really??

Seems rather ridiculous, I must have missed this in the warranty information nor did I read anywhere that these units had to be in such strict storage conditions. I can understand putting a unit outside or in a hot garage or outside but mid 80º temps for 8-10 hours a day? It’s pretty common for people to turn their air down to 80 to 85 when they’re not home (here in Arizona) during the work week in our summer months. I am not going to cool my house to 75/78º if no one is home, that’s a pointless and expensive electrical bill each month.

My question to you and the reason I posted this, is I wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar experience with their New Air or Whynter unit failing and how the process went with warrantying the unit?

Thus far my experience hasn’t left the best impression with me but I am not going to pass judgment on the company until I know how my unit is going to addressed. The rep was never rude to me but how their warranty works seems pretty ridiculous.

 

[jonboy]

Dang brother. That stinks! My unit is still going strong after almost a year. My house never gets over 73* though. I don't recall reading any info in the manual about not exposing the cooler to higher than 78*. Hope they get you squared away soon!

 

[Daven]

They responded recently and I am sending them back info related to the unit, I hope the warranty is not voided as a result of this... Someone once told me "it's not possible to keep cigars in your home in AZ unless you keep your house at 65/70 degrees in the summer". When I discovered these types of units I figured I could finally store my stoagies at home, perhaps that is just not the case... We kept out house pretty comfy last summer but those 500-600/month electric bills for July/August were killers.

Here is what Whynter had to say about the units.... I had everything else spot on with exception to the temperatures. During the day it would get to about 83 degrees (sometimes 85 degrees) where it was located.

Please note that the CHC-251S is a freestanding appliance and needs at least 6" of clearance at the back and 2" of clearance on the sides for ventilation. All of the ventilation is located in the rear and without proper clearance and circulated airflow, the unit may not cool properly. Also, the room temperature can affect the performance of the cooler. We recommend that the room temperature is between 68F - 78F.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I don't "yet" have a wineador but have been storing sticks in my humidors with ambient temps up to 80F+ for over 10 years and haven't had a single issue with my sticks, including ones that have been hidden away for years. I freeze all cigars that I get in if I can't verify the manufacturer has already done so to avoid issues with beetles. The only issue I have ever had was a beetle infestation in some cigar leaf I hadn't used yet and had to toss out almost a half pound of leaf. For that reason all my leaf gets stored in separate large/thick bags that the beetles don't seem to be able to get out of and as soon as I have a larger freezer the leaf will be frozen as soon as it gets in. Best of luck brother, I hope they take care of you.

 

[Daven]

I don't "yet" have a wineador but have been storing sticks in my humidors with ambient temps up to 80F+ for over 10 years and haven't had a single issue with my sticks, including ones that have been hidden away for years. I freeze all cigars that I get in if I can't verify the manufacturer has already done so to avoid issues with beetles. The only issue I have ever had was a beetle infestation in some cigar leaf I hadn't used yet and had to toss out almost a half pound of leaf. For that reason all my leaf gets stored in separate large/thick bags that the beetles don't seem to be able to get out of and as soon as I have a larger freezer the leaf will be frozen as soon as it gets in. Best of luck brother, I hope they take care of you.

It's probably overkill but it was in the high 80's and 70% RH when I found the unit dead on Saturday morning. I actually just froze all my gars just incase that triggered something. I am sure this was not necessary and complete overkill but I am pretty paranoid over the idea of bugs! I guess I could go the coolidor route if they decide I somehow voided the warranty on my unit...

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I have a 300ct desktop, a 150ct desktop, and a coolerdor. Considering ditching the desktops and moving to two coolers. They seal better and hold humidity rock steady. I would like a wineador, but with the lack of issues with both bugs and deterioration of the quality of my sticks for so long I really can't justify the expense.

 

[doolyd]

Man, I guess I am in trouble. I was keeping my house at 83 while away and recently changed it to 80 so I hope mine holds up. I will report back if it goes out.....I have had it about 2 months.

 

[Daven]

Man, I guess I am in trouble. I was keeping my house at 83 while away and recently changed it to 80 so I hope mine holds up. I will report back if it goes out.....I have had it about 2 months.

I would assume you're not the only person doing this and personally I doubt that that kind of warmth would kill the unit as quickly as it (apprently) killed mine. Maybe a couple years of every day exposure to that kind of heat? That makes sense, I guess. I personally feel my unit was shipped to me with problems which just got worse with time...

 

[knw247]

Too things to consider. First according to my ac guy. The cost to run the house at a lower temp. (Like 78) all day long and the cost to run it at the higher temp like 83 them cool the house off at night are about the same. They say this because of the high amount of energy needed to cool a hot house is so high and the cost to maintain an even temp is much more efficient. ( like setting the cruise control at 80 is better gas mileage then throttling between 50&80.
I am not saying I buy it 100% but it could be worth looking into.

Second. Look at replacing Your cooling elements. Their are very lil little parts in these things you can probably replace the broken parts for under 25 and install with a screwdriver

 

[Daven]

Too things to consider. First according to my ac guy. The cost to run the house at a lower temp. (Like 78) all day long and the cost to run it at the higher temp like 83 them cool the house off at night are about the same. They say this because of the high amount of energy needed to cool a hot house is so high and the cost to maintain an even temp is much more efficient. ( like setting the cruise control at 80 is better gas mileage then throttling between 50&80.
I am not saying I buy it 100% but it could be worth looking into.

Second. Look at replacing Your cooling elements. Their are very lil little parts in these things you can probably replace the broken parts for under 25 and install with a screwdriver

Yeah I heard that too but it's also a load of crap! Last year we kept out house all summer long at 78º which seemed to be a comfortable medium. Our electrical bills would vary slightly based on if we were home between $410 to $550 (our most expensive bill) a month. This summer we keept the house at 85 during the working hours, 83 when my fiance got home, 80 in the evening hours, and 78 when we went to bed. This has almost cut our bill in half with our most expensive bill just over $350 this summer.

 

[quazy50]

Yeah I heard that too but it's also a load of crap! Last year we kept out house all summer long at 78º which seemed to be a comfortable medium. Our electrical bills would vary slightly based on if we were home between $410 to $550 (our most expensive bill) a month. This summer we keept the house at 85 during the working hours, 83 when my fiance got home, 80 in the evening hours, and 78 when we went to bed. This has almost cut our bill in half with our most expensive bill just over $350 this summer.

This is probably climate driven.. You are in AZ right? Not much insulation in those houses. Here in MN, it is almost a wash because our homes are well insulated. Energy use is one thing, but maintaining is another. With little to no insulation in the home you will lose cooling fast so maintaining 78 is probably more expensive than doing what you are doing because its constantly trying to keep up with the 78 and always running.

I am an electrical engineer so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I work in a firm that designs mechanical and electrical systems for commercial buildings. Lots of mechanical engineers around here so I have picked up some things.

 

[Daven]

Right. Our home is CMU and which is not insulated and thus our electrical is rather obnoxious during the summer months and can be higher than normal in the winter months.

 

[Cafe Y Tabaco]

I would double check the warranty, if you don't have a copy it should be online. If it is not expressly written that there are temperature constraints then they have to cover it. They can't have hidden warranty conditions that only they see. They might try to put this under mis-use but that is very flimsy and I think they'll still be on the hook. Also, check the specifications, they will usually put storage/operating temps there.

Good luck.

 

[quazy50]

I'd be interested to see what actually failed. Maybe it is just a small electrical connection. I don't really see how being in 85 degrees would make it fail. It would definitely make the unit less efficient because in thermo electric cooling, the semiconductors move the heat from one side of the junction to the other and then onto a heat sync. So, in a hotter room it would have more heat to move. Perhaps someting failed that has the heat restriction. I never read the warranty on mine. I should. our house never really gets a above 75 thought, especially in the lower level where I keep the whynter.

 

[Cafe Y Tabaco]

So actually I just went their website and the only mention of max temp is for meeting it's performance spec not for failure, they need to cover this.

 

[Daven]

Seems rather ridiculous, I must have missed this in the warranty information nor did I read anywhere that these units had to be in such strict storage conditions.

Which is why I said what I said.

However, the rep on the phone indicated you might have voided your warranty. Working on day two without a response on how this issue is going to be addressed.

 

[quazy50]

So actually I just went their website and the only mention of max temp is for meeting it's performance spec not for failure, they need to cover this.

Where did you find the warranty info/specs sheet? I see the specs on the site but not the detailed specifications.

 

[Cafe Y Tabaco]

I did a search on "Whynter Warranty". Both Home Depot and Amazon list warranty info but I took this from this link:
http://www.manualslib.com/manual/194687/Whynter-Wc-321dd.html

 

[Daven]

Some good news with this, they're going to pay for the shipping of the unit back to them as it's within the 60 day's of the unit failing. This is a bit of relief! However, it will not be determined if they cover the unit under warranty until they receive the unit for for repair.

 

[madmark]

Good luck... Hope it works out for you...