Wineador Fans For Dummies (I'm the dummy)

[StogieJim]

OK so I've done a ton of research on this subject and have come to the conclusion that I'll need air movement as I don't plan on running my wineador very much at all. I was going to go the oust fan route. I still might. But I'm leaning toward the CPU fan on timer trick.

If someone who's done this can explain to me how this works I'd be very appreciative.

Through all my research here is what I think I'll need:
12V power adapter
Timer
2 80mm "silent" fans
some sort of way to get them up off of the floor of the cooler

So as far as the fan wiring goes, I've read the yellow wire is for the motherboard to tell the fan how fast to spin, so I'll just cut that off. Do I then connect the two fans by soldering red to red and black to black? Will that make both fans work together?

Now if I do that, when I strip my power adapter, how do I connect that to the two fans if I've already spliced those two fans wires together?

I know nothing of electricity but I can solder

Anyways, this is where I'm stuck and can use some help. If I can't wrap my little brain around this, I can get an oust fan for the same price as 2 CPU fans and a timer. I would just hate to see a battery explode and leak inside my wino...

Thanks!

 

[sofc]

I prefer a laptop fan and usb out to regular timer.

No hassle at all and has dual uses if you don't use it in wineador.

 

[sofc]

and there are threads everywhere about this issue and I imagine a youtube video or two.

 

[stin187]

http://www.botl.org/threads/stin187s-smart-wineador-build.77766/

 

[StogieJim]

guys, I've looked at all of those. @stin187 I have no clue how you managed to connect those fans like that. Also how did you mount them?

@sofc I've done my research man. I just don't get how to splice fan wires to power or even how to mount them on the back wall. Sure I may not be as smart as you, that's why I made this thread. Sorry if it pissed you off man but I've done HOURS of legwork. My brain just doesn't work well when it comes to this kind of stuff.

 

[herfdog]

I just run a cpu fan all the time.

 

[sofc]

guys, I've looked at all of those. @stin187 I have no clue how you managed to connect those fans like that. Also how did you mount them?

@sofc I've done my research man. I just don't get how to splice fan wires to power or even how to mount them on the back wall. Sure I may not be as smart as you, that's why I made this thread. Sorry if it pissed you off man but I've done HOURS of legwork. My brain just doesn't work well when it comes to this kind of stuff.

If I was pissed off, why would i offer a suggestion that saves you all the trouble? In fact, why would I comment on it?

I do not know the answer and I thought I gave you another option and pointed you in a different direction that would get you an answer. Sorry if you misunderstood my intent.

 

[stin187]

@StogieJim velcro tape from home depot was used to mount the fans. as far as connecting they are a simple plug and play. timer plugs into the wall, fan power supply plugs into the timer, fan power supply has cables running out of it that you run into the wino. Fans plug into those cables. It all only plugs in one way so there's really no way to mess it up. You'll be fine.

 

[knw247]

Get a fan that only has two wires a red and a black. Next you need a wall wart. It's the big square plug the has a wire with an adapter on the end. A nine volt power adapter will work. Cut off the little adapter plug at the end of the cord. Throw that away. You now have two black wires. peel them apart and cut one back an inch This is so when you reconnect them they can not touch. You can twist these two wires to your fan and test the fan. These fans are simple motors so if you run the wires backwards the fan will run the other way. So don't overthink it. If it works take apart then run the wires thru the hole in the wino. You can twist and tape or solder and shrink wrap you wire connections. Get some small bolts and nuts at the hardware store. Four to be exact push the bolts thru the mounting holes and the put the nuts on the bolts. You want about 1/2 inch of bolt coming out of the mounts. These are now feet for your fan.i have my fan pushing air down because I have found pushing air up can put condensation on the box directly above the fan hope this all makes sense

 

[xjsnake]

I'm a Keep It Simple Stupid kinda guy so here's what I did.

I had one of these sitting around gathering dust so I cracked it open to harvest the fans inside.
https://jet.com/product/Gear-Head-17-Dual-Cool-Notebook-Cooling-Pad-Black/1923ad5910124e9c808c546e2fcbc19b

The fans sit on little cylinders to hold them in place in the laptop cooler, so I made legs out of plastic expansion wall anchors so the fans sat up off the bottom of the wino for better airflow.

I took the power bricks and usb cables from a couple old cell phones and cut the mini usb end off and ran the wire through the drain hole into the wino. I then stripped all the wire ends and tested to make sure I had the polarity correct (fans spun the right way) and then twisted the wires together, threw on a drop of solder and covered it in electrical tape.

I plugged the power bricks into a power strip that was connected to a timer which runs for 30 minutes 3 times a day. My RH has been rock solid steady ever since.

BTW, I used one fan in each of my wineadors and it works perfectly.

 

[Zmilin]

I used stin187 thread as a guide for adding those CPU fans.
I didn't record the process but it was easy enough. Heres what I did:

- I used two of Antec CPU fans and cut the plugs off. I left as much of the power/ground wires on as I could (only the red and black).
- I mounted them to the back wall (as seen in stint thread) using double sided tape.
-- Don't forget to remove those chrome covers that come on them. They just pop off with a little pressure.
- I ran the wires through the drain plug hole and filled it in with a non-toxic and odorless filler.
- I connected the fans to a generic wall bug power supply (similar to this one http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CPUAC600-600mAh-Universal-Adapter/dp/B00ELGA20W/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1454085011&sr=8-4&keywords=cyber+power+12v+dc+universal+power+supply ). I cut the end off the plug and connected this to the fan wires.
- I then plugged the power supply into the timer stin suggested (After I programed the timer) and thats it.

Things to know:
- program your timer first. It takes some time but once set its done. I think I programed mine to turn on every hour and run for 12 minutes (example: on @1:00, off @1:12, on @2:12, off @2:24). This gives me 20 settings that cover a 24 hour period.
- connect the fans and let them run for a while before you install them. This makes sure you don't have a bum fan and won't stink up your wino with burnt electrical and allows that new electronics smell to burn off. I think I let mine run for a few hours a day for a couple days (because I could).
- I aligned the fans so the exhaust end was aligned with the first grooves in the wino. This also lined up the intake so that it could easily pull off the top of the container for my beads.

Something else to consider since you don't need it to run all the time (referencing your other thread) is to add an external temp controller (like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Digital-110V-Temperature-Controller-Temp-Sensor-Thermostat-Control-Relay-US-/361270663293?hash=item541d68d87d:g:0REAAOSwqu9VLgaF ). This allows the wino to turn on or off at a specific temp and bypasses the shitty internal thermo control.

 

[StogieJim]

Wow this is just what I needed! Thanks a ton everyone!

I really appreciate the responses

 

[StogieJim]

@StogieJim velcro tape from home depot was used to mount the fans. as far as connecting they are a simple plug and play. timer plugs into the wall, fan power supply plugs into the timer, fan power supply has cables running out of it that you run into the wino. Fans plug into those cables. It all only plugs in one way so there's really no way to mess it up. You'll be fine.

Thank you brother!

 

[StogieJim]

Something else to consider since you don't need it to run all the time (referencing your other thread) is to add an external temp controller (like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Digital-110V-Temperature-Controller-Temp-Sensor-Thermostat-Control-Relay-US-/361270663293?hash=item541d68d87d:g:0REAAOSwqu9VLgaF ). This allows the wino to turn on or off at a specific temp and bypasses the shitty internal thermo control.

This interests me. How do you connect something like this?

 

[Zmilin]

I just temp the connections (twist and tape, no solder) and let them run. I actually plugged it into the timer to test the timer as well and let it run for a couple days.

I had to have my wife sniff them cause I was paranoid of the smell and kept thinking I was still smelling it.

 

[StogieJim]

I just temp the connections (twist and tape, no solder) and let them run. I actually plugged it into the timer to test the timer as well and let it run for a couple days.

I had to have my wife sniff them cause I was paranoid of the smell and kept thinking I was still smelling it.

Well I screwed that up already. They're already soldered and installed. I'll just let them run with the door open for a few hours tomorrow. No big deal.

I was asking about the temp controller actually, but I found a bunch of threads on it.

I'm thinking of just plugging the wino into another timer and having it fire up for 20 minutes every 2 hours. That ought to work just fine for me as my place is always mid 70's year round. I'm not worried about 75 degrees but wouldn't mind getting some cooling every few hours. Think that's an OK idea?

 

[stin187]

The one thing to keep in mind with cigar storage is the most important factor is consistency. Frequent swings in temp or humidity will have a negative effect on the sticks. The goal is to keep the environment as constant as possible ... without driving yourself crazy.

 

[StogieJim]

The one thing to keep in mind with cigar storage is the most important factor is consistency. Frequent swings in temp or humidity will have a negative effect on the sticks. The goal is to keep the environment as constant as possible ... without driving yourself crazy.

I agree with that one. Which my first thought is to leave the thing off completely as the setting of 66 will have it on constantly. I can get that STC but have to calibrate the probe somehow and I suppose that could keep it at 70 at all times. I think 75-77 degrees isn't really an issue as I freeze all of my sticks before I store them...

The other option is to just put it on a timer to run 10 minutes or so every few hours, do you think that's too much fluctuation in temperature?

Ahh the dilemma...

 

[Zmilin]

The one thing to keep in mind with cigar storage is the most important factor is consistency. Frequent swings in temp or humidity will have a negative effect on the sticks. The goal is to keep the environment as constant as possible ... without driving yourself crazy.

This statement is true as can be and I wish I knew this early on.

I drove myself nuts with settings and not wanting to "stress" my electronics. The best thing I ever did was decide where I wanted temp and RH, set tolerances tight, have my fans run more often and set my temp controller to hover in a range of 1 degree of variance. Once I did that I haven't had to mess with the settings and get a very consistent temp and RH from top to bottom. I did this on both winos.

 

[knw247]

why not just let the wino stay plugged in and run as needed to do what its designed to do?