Cannot increase humidity in SPT wine cooler

[snooper800]

Hi Ron;

New to the forum and have a question regarding a used, 8 bottle wine cooler my brother gave me. It is a SPT (Sunpentown) model WC-08 and it is equipped with a circulation fan inside the unit and also has a self-evaporation system which eliminates the need for a drip tray.

It will hold a very consistent temp., however no matter what I have tried, I cannot get the RH above 55% +/- 2%.
It's interior is not that big (approx 20 by 16 by 11) so just how much material would you reccomend or is the self-evaporation feature going to out-work any attempts to raise the internal humidity level??

At this point I purchase my cigars as singles and keep about 100 or so on hand.

 

[RonC]

you will have to get some humidification that will overpower the self evaporation feature. that means it cant to passive, it must be active humidification like a Cigar Oasis.

 

[snooper800]

Thank you; I will give it a try. In the short term I have placed my cigars in tupperware containers with water pillows and the temp in the cooler holds a t very even 70 degrees.

I take it the many folks on the forum who are using the Vinotemp and other coolers do not have to deal with similar issues?

 

[RonC]

wine coolers can be a pain in the ass

 

[snooper800]

Sure sounds that way - thanks for your feedback.

BTW - what would you suggest as a long term solution for someone like me who keeps limited inventory but has to deal with high summer temps?

Would it just be cheaper and more sustainable to use a large tupperware container that fits in the cooler and use Boveda packs or a similar source of humidity regulation? It's easy to get the unit to hold around 70 degrees, even though its internal gauge says its 66 degrees.

 

[rbannister2500]

Do you recommend the SPT wine chiller?

 

[AdamJoshua]

It seems like a pretty small set up, are you in an area you need the chilling part, you could just unplug it, seal up the drains (if there is one) and use a pound of beads in it, I have a winadoor that I finally unplugged and loaded up, it holds at a rock steady 65% with my beads.

 

[reidmorebooks]

I recently got a 16 bottle unit and as long as the unit is running the rh won't go above 60. I bought a light timer and hooked it up to that so it only comes on in intervals to keep the temp down. RH comes back up in just a few minutes after it shuts off again.