wine coolers and a power outage

[BORIStheBLADE]

The last two wine coolers I have had I noticed something that could be an issue. When I have unplugged them to do something and plug it back in I have noticed that the temp setting defaults to the lowest setting.opeyes: So that means that lets say I have a quick power outage or a power flicker It will want to cool the wine cooler to 54 degrees.
Has anyone noticed or tested their wine cooler under these conditions? I could see this being a problem if I wasn't home to reset the temp setting.

 

[Brazilla]

I would say the default setting is 54 as in when you first plug it in. So, if the power is interupted the cooler would default back to 54 degrees. Yes, mine does the same.

 

[Electric Sheep]

Screw that crappy, inaccurate built-in temp controller. It's borderline useless.

Get an External Temperature Controller--it's the only way to fly, and amongst other things solves the particular problem you're talking about. My ETC keeps the temp setting even if unplugged for hours and hours.

 

[BORIStheBLADE]

Screw that crappy, inaccurate built-in temp controller. It's borderline useless.

Get an External Temperature Controller--it's the only way to fly, and amongst other things solves the particular problem you're talking about. My ETC keeps the temp setting even if unplugged for hours and hours.

So where does one find these? How much? Does it have a built in battery?

 

[Electric Sheep]

They run between $75 and $100, depending on what brand and where you buy one. (If you really wanna go cheap and feel like wiring one up yourself, they can be had for even less--but you need to understand electrical wiring)

And uhm...they don't have batteries?!? You plug it into the wall, and then you plug your wine cooler into it (the sensor cable runs into the wine cooler to read the temp) and when it gets to the preset temp differential, it "turns on" power to the wine cooler.

I've bought a couple different ones for different wine-coolerdors I've put together (mine, family, friends) and this is IMHO the best deal:

LINK--> http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/store/ranco-etc111000000-prewired-digital-temperature-controller-p-87.html?manufacturers_id=15&osCsid=9992fe46052c6e3fd45951b1db2f0d4e



Personally, I can't imagine running a wine coolerdor without one. Hell, I thought everyone was using one. LOL

 

[Mickeyray5]

Have you seen any adverse effects to cycling the whole cooler on and off verse the cooler cycling the cooling unit on and off?

 

[Electric Sheep]

Adverse effects? Well other than not being able to turn the light on because it doesn't have any power, I'd have to say no.

Advantages:
- Cooler only runs a couple of times per hour instead of all the damn time
- No wild temp swings since the ETC regulates to within 1 degree (but I set it to 2)
- 90% of the time, the unit is powerless, so that annoying INCORRECT temp reading on the front of the case isn't sitting there mocking me, making me scream, "I know how to use a fucking thermometer, Mr. Vinotemp, and you sir are no thermometer!!!"

:inlove:

 

[macster]

I'm a homebrewer and have 2 chest freezers set up for fermentation and/or beer storage using these same external thermostats. They do work great at managing the temp you want to maintain, but I would wonder how necessary they would be for cigar storage in a Vinotemp.

In my freezers I keep the differential set at 6 * since it will take much longer for the temp of liquid (beer) to change as compared to the internal temp of the freezer's internal enviornment. So if I Desire to maintain my temp at 60* with a 6* diiferential the freezer unit will cycle on at 66* and bring it back down to 60*. The temp of the stored bottles of beer or fermenting carboys will therefore average out at about 63*. This setting takes stress off of your unit's compressor from cycling off and on more frequently.

I would think thesame would apply to a Vino that is set up with one of these with a differential of 2*. The Vino will still be cycling on and off frequently attempting to maintain the narrow internal temp. Still a lot of stress on the unit and still a considerable amount of power usage.

We have a freqent amount of power outages here due to a lot of storms and it is a PITA to ahve to re-set the Vino every time since it does default back to its lowest temp setting. But I'm not sure if investing $75.00 or more into an external thermo is really worth it.

 

[Electric Sheep]

First of all, like I said before, my Vinotemp only kicks on a couple of times per hour, and it only runs for a few minutes when it does run. If that's what you consider "cycling on and off frequently" then I guess it is. <shrug> I pesonally think that's not very frequently.

Now, is $75 worth it?

Hmmm, well between my cooler, cigar oasis, beads, hygrometers, and the ETC, I've got about $400 invested into my wine coolerdor setup...but that's chickenscratch compared to the thousands and thousands of dollars worth of cigars I'm storing in it! :rofl:

If the "cycling on and off frequently" (assuming that's the case in the first place) prematurely kills my Vinotemp...then so be it! Ha-ha! I'll just go buy another one. I mean sheesh, they only cost $150 bucks (the rest of my $400 setup would still be useful) which is positively trivial in comparison to the overall price of the setup and the cigars. The $75 for the ETC seems like a no-brainer to me.

But of course, YMMV

 

[BORIStheBLADE]

They run between $75 and $100, depending on what brand and where you buy one. (If you really wanna go cheap and feel like wiring one up yourself, they can be had for even less--but you need to understand electrical wiring)

And uhm...they don't have batteries?!? You plug it into the wall, and then you plug your wine cooler into it (the sensor cable runs into the wine cooler to read the temp) and when it gets to the preset temp differential, it "turns on" power to the wine cooler.

I've bought a couple different ones for different wine-coolerdors I've put together (mine, family, friends) and this is IMHO the best deal:

LINK--> http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/store/ranco-etc111000000-prewired-digital-temperature-controller-p-87.html?manufacturers_id=15&osCsid=9992fe46052c6e3fd45951b1db2f0d4e



Personally, I can't imagine running a wine coolerdor without one. Hell, I thought everyone was using one. LOL

Ok, so does this device still hold the setting you put it on if the power to your house goes out?

 

[Crypto Sailor]

what is required to install the temp controller?

 

[Electric Sheep]

Ok, so does this device still hold the setting you put it on if the power to your house goes out?

I don't know about a long term power outage, but I've had my ETC unplugged for a long while (hour? half hour? I dunno, something like that) and it remembered the temp setting. It certainly remembers through the short power blips and weather related power outages we get around here.

 

[Electric Sheep]

what is required to install the temp controller?

Uhm....well I don't know quite what you're asking, since it's pretty much plug-and-play:

STEP 1: put the sensor wire in the cooler, either though the drain hole, or a new hole you drill yourself, or just let it hang out and close the door on it.

STEP 2: plug your wine cooler into the ETC

STEP 3: plug the ETC into a wall power socket

STEP 4: set the temp, differential, and mode (cooling or heating) on the ETC

STEP 5: ignore the whole setup forever


I guess if you really wanted to, you could mount the ETC to the wall or something, or maybe to the back of the wine cooler. I suppose if you wanted to do that, it'd require some sort of screws or something. <shrug> I dunno, just have mine sitting on the floor behind the cooler.

 

[Brazilla]

Jesus Duane, just put a wet sock in a box with a piece of ice.:widemouth

 

[Electric Sheep]

Would that work better than just putting ice cubes on top of my loose sticks? :innocent:

 

[Brazilla]

Would that work better than just putting ice cubes on top of my loose sticks? :innocent:

Man! Do I have to take you through this step by step? Plastic wrap then the ice cubes. :razz:

 

[Electric Sheep]

Where did I put that smiley....hmm......




























Oh, here it is! :grinFU: