Well, not a disaster, but just not the way things should be.
BOTL member blooz4me calls me up for advice regarding a cabinet purchase from Craigs List. Seems he found a cigar cabinet with an Accumonitor installed in it. I am not sure of the brand, but it is a "made in china" cabinet. So he asks me some questions, and I gave him my advice. At the end, he feels uneasy about the cabinet, and decides to buy a new Avallo 1200. Meanwhile, his craigs list seller calls him back, and offers him a better deal, so AJ buys the chinese cabinet, as well as the Avallo.
so know I am going to help AJ fix his craigs list cabinet. here are some pics that he sent me.
this is more or less a little picture tutorial on what to look for when buying a cabinet, some fixes if you decide to go the chinese route.
Before I go further, I wish that the customer who had bought the Accumonitor had given me a call. There is no way that this cabinet is performing well. I would have fixed it for him, just like I am going to fix it for AJ.
2 major problems with this cabinet.
1st, no airflow. no gaps between the shelf and the back wall. no gaps between the singles drawer and the rear wall. there are some grooves in the shelves, but they will get covered with cigars, so not so good there. while the cabinet looks good, you can tell that there is absolutely no thought given to it regarding cigar storge. it might as well have been designed for storing dishes.
2nd problem is that he got the standard Accumonitor humidity canisters. If I had known of the clearance problem, i would have sent him shorter canisters. You will see in the pics that the canisters are pretty much jammed right inderneath the middle shelf. there is just no room for the air to go anywhere.
the fix for both problems is that Matt is sending AJ shorter canisters. the shorter canisters will leave a few inches between the top of the canisters and the shelves. 2nd thing that AJ will do is put 1 canister on the bottom, and 1 on the middle shelf. when you have a cabinet diveded by a middle shelf, and the middle shelf goes all the way to the rear wall, it acts like a divider. you almost have to treat it like 2 seperate humidors. haveing the canisters at different levels will be a big help.
here are some pics.
check out the canisters jammed up under the shelf. no where for humidified air to go
no space between shelf and back wall
at the end, AJ should have a pretty good performing cabinet. The short canisters should be a major help. I will help him tune up the Accumonitor, and all should be well. a little woddworking might be required, but we will wait and see on that
BOTL member blooz4me calls me up for advice regarding a cabinet purchase from Craigs List. Seems he found a cigar cabinet with an Accumonitor installed in it. I am not sure of the brand, but it is a "made in china" cabinet. So he asks me some questions, and I gave him my advice. At the end, he feels uneasy about the cabinet, and decides to buy a new Avallo 1200. Meanwhile, his craigs list seller calls him back, and offers him a better deal, so AJ buys the chinese cabinet, as well as the Avallo.
so know I am going to help AJ fix his craigs list cabinet. here are some pics that he sent me.
this is more or less a little picture tutorial on what to look for when buying a cabinet, some fixes if you decide to go the chinese route.
Before I go further, I wish that the customer who had bought the Accumonitor had given me a call. There is no way that this cabinet is performing well. I would have fixed it for him, just like I am going to fix it for AJ.
2 major problems with this cabinet.
1st, no airflow. no gaps between the shelf and the back wall. no gaps between the singles drawer and the rear wall. there are some grooves in the shelves, but they will get covered with cigars, so not so good there. while the cabinet looks good, you can tell that there is absolutely no thought given to it regarding cigar storge. it might as well have been designed for storing dishes.
2nd problem is that he got the standard Accumonitor humidity canisters. If I had known of the clearance problem, i would have sent him shorter canisters. You will see in the pics that the canisters are pretty much jammed right inderneath the middle shelf. there is just no room for the air to go anywhere.
the fix for both problems is that Matt is sending AJ shorter canisters. the shorter canisters will leave a few inches between the top of the canisters and the shelves. 2nd thing that AJ will do is put 1 canister on the bottom, and 1 on the middle shelf. when you have a cabinet diveded by a middle shelf, and the middle shelf goes all the way to the rear wall, it acts like a divider. you almost have to treat it like 2 seperate humidors. haveing the canisters at different levels will be a big help.
here are some pics.
check out the canisters jammed up under the shelf. no where for humidified air to go
no space between shelf and back wall
at the end, AJ should have a pretty good performing cabinet. The short canisters should be a major help. I will help him tune up the Accumonitor, and all should be well. a little woddworking might be required, but we will wait and see on that
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