My new Avanti Wine-o-dor (w/pics)

[heybuddy77]

Alright guys so her is my new Avanti 16 bottle wine cooler / humidor project. This board gave me some great ideas so I am hoping to return the favor.

Background: I went with a wine cooler because our house here in Sacramento gets pretty hot in the summer months and I don’t want to jeopardize my cigs. I went with a 16 bottle because the only place I had to put it is under the freestanding island we have just outside our kitchen. The dimensions of this unit are as if it were made to fit in such a situation. Here is a link to what I got. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-6678988-0085437?ASIN=B000G1WB5K&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B000G1WB5K|Avanti_16Bottle_Thermoelectric_Wine_Cooler__EWC16B&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B000G1WB5K&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001

So this first pic is just after I got the unit and as you see I’m tying to get rid of the god awful plastic smell.
<a http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=385' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9df8c90f6c.jpg'></a>

A week later…the smell is gone…the standard (wine) shelves are in but this looks like no place for my sticks.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=386' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9df8d0f8cf.jpg'></a>

So lets start modifying. 1st thing I did was go out to my local “woodcraft” and picked up some 4“x¼” Spanish cedar. This picture shows two pieces glued together and laid out on the bottom. In the back of the unit I used a three compartment porcelain serving dish I picked up from bed bath and beyond. I divided my heartfelt 65% beads equally into the three and full wet two of the tree. This way I have two compartments giving off humidity and one compartment taking in humidity. So far its working like a charm and holding a steady 65 -67% RH.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=387' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9df8dbf4c8.jpg'></a>

Next I cut the Spanish cedar into 1” strips and made these shelves.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=388' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9dfee4be98.jpg'></a>
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=389' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9dfee7817f.jpg'></a>

Here is what the shelf looks like when placed on the standard wire shelves.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=390' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9dfeeb2eb5.jpg'></a>

The handles I selected act as stops so that when I stack up my cigars they do not roll off the end when I take the shelf out. I also selected curved handles so that when the cigars are stacked against them I can still have a place to carry the shelf.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=391' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9dfeee89ee.jpg'></a>

Here is a pic with the 1st and 2nd shelf in. As you can see the wire shelves are split into 4 equal sections. I only put slats on 3 of the 4 so that the back of the unit stayed entirely open for air movement.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=392' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9dfef4c1b9.jpg'></a>

Next is a pic of the top shelf pulled out as I would do to access my cigars. You can see that the slats provide a lot of open space for air movement and spread the cedar out enough to hold just about any size cigar. As I get more cigars I will use the humps as dividers so that I can spit up different types of cigars.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=393' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9e15c9b8b3.jpg'></a>

Here is a pic of all three shelves. I can get 14 cigars across the length of the shelf. I will only stack about 3 deep and I have 4 shelves (including the bottom) so I’m looking at about 168 -170 cigars to fill this baby up.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=394' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9e15d09886.jpg'></a>

Lastly here are some pics of the whole thing all closed up. As you can see I have a long way to go to fill this thing up but as I am just starting out I am going to enjoy assembling a collection. If you see any great deals on good samplers please let me know. At this point I’m just sampling to see what I like. If I find something to die for I’m sure I’ll break down and buy a box though.
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=395' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9e15dbfdeb.jpg'></a>
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=396' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9e15e1bca6.jpg'></a>
http://www.botl.org/community/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=397' border=0><img src='http://www.botl.org/community/forums/gallery/thum_317547d9e15e594de.jpg'></a>

Thanks for looking at my post…this was a fun project and I hope you enjoy seeing what I have done. If you are starting a project like this I hope this provides you with some ideas to use on your own. Now lets go have a smoke!

Wine cooler $130 (in my door)
(5) 4”Wx36”Lx¼”T planks of Spanish cedar $40
3 compartment serving try for beads $10
Cabinet pulls for shelves and stainless steel screws $14
New screws because the standard ones were too long and stainless steel so they will not rust or discolor the wood.
Water proof Gorilla glue for putting together the shelves $5
½ pound heartfelt beads $20
Total project cost $219

 

[heybuddy77]

Sorry guys looks like i do not know how to post pics...if you copy past the links into your browser you will be able to see them. You can also go to my galley on this forum and see them all.

 

[daniyal]

Nice work bro... how's the humidity holding without an active humidification unit?

 

[heybuddy77]

Nice work bro... how's the humidity holding without an active humidification unit?

Thank You!

The Humidity is holding up great. I only had the beads in the bottom at first but the humidity was too high. Thats when i added the two small cups with beads on the second shelf and those are dry beads only. They did the trick and sucked up the additional moisture bringing the RH down to around 68% +/- 1 %

 

[daniyal]

That's good to hear how long has your set up been running and how many beads are you using? I'm thinking of a similar set up since its virtually impossible to find active humidification units and wineodors where I live so am thinking of going with a small sized fridge instead of the wine cooler.

 

[Jwrussell]

OK, here you go. Damn man. Check out the BB code. You can find it down towards the bottom of the screen when posting. It's not like HTML.

Alright guys so her is my new Avanti 16 bottle wine cooler / humidor project. This board gave me some great ideas so I am hoping to return the favor.

Background: I went with a wine cooler because our house here in Sacramento gets pretty hot in the summer months and I don&#8217;t want to jeopardize my cigs. I went with a 16 bottle because the only place I had to put it is under the freestanding island we have just outside our kitchen. The dimensions of this unit are as if it were made to fit in such a situation. Here is a link to what I got. Link
ASIN=B000G1WB5K&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B000G1WB5K|Avanti_16Bottle_Thermoelectric_Wine_Cooler__EWC16B&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B000G1WB5K&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001

So this first pic is just after I got the unit and as you see I&#8217;m tying to get rid of the god awful plastic smell.

A week later&#8230;the smell is gone&#8230;the standard (wine) shelves are in but this looks like no place for my sticks.

So lets start modifying. 1st thing I did was go out to my local &#8220;woodcraft&#8221; and picked up some 4&#8220;x&#188;&#8221; Spanish cedar. This picture shows two pieces glued together and laid out on the bottom. In the back of the unit I used a three compartment porcelain serving dish I picked up from bed bath and beyond. I divided my heartfelt 65&#37; beads equally into the three and full wet two of the tree. This way I have two compartments giving off humidity and one compartment taking in humidity. So far its working like a charm and holding a steady 65 -67% RH.

Next I cut the Spanish cedar into 1&#8221; strips and made these shelves.

Here is what the shelf looks like when placed on the standard wire shelves.

The handles I selected act as stops so that when I stack up my cigars they do not roll off the end when I take the shelf out. I also selected curved handles so that when the cigars are stacked against them I can still have a place to carry the shelf.

Here is a pic with the 1st and 2nd shelf in. As you can see the wire shelves are split into 4 equal sections. I only put slats on 3 of the 4 so that the back of the unit stayed entirely open for air movement.

Next is a pic of the top shelf pulled out as I would do to access my cigars. You can see that the slats provide a lot of open space for air movement and spread the cedar out enough to hold just about any size cigar. As I get more cigars I will use the humps as dividers so that I can spit up different types of cigars.

Here is a pic of all three shelves. I can get 14 cigars across the length of the shelf. I will only stack about 3 deep and I have 4 shelves (including the bottom) so I&#8217;m looking at about 168 -170 cigars to fill this baby up.

Lastly here are some pics of the whole thing all closed up. As you can see I have a long way to go to fill this thing up but as I am just starting out I am going to enjoy assembling a collection. If you see any great deals on good samplers please let me know. At this point I&#8217;m just sampling to see what I like. If I find something to die for I&#8217;m sure I&#8217;ll break down and buy a box though.

Thanks for looking at my post&#8230;this was a fun project and I hope you enjoy seeing what I have done. If you are starting a project like this I hope this provides you with some ideas to use on your own. Now lets go have a smoke!

Wine cooler $130 (in my door)
(5) 4&#8221;Wx36&#8221;Lx&#188;&#8221;T planks of Spanish cedar $40
3 compartment serving try for beads $10
Cabinet pulls for shelves and stainless steel screws $14
New screws because the standard ones were too long and stainless steel so they will not rust or discolor the wood.
Water proof Gorilla glue for putting together the shelves $5
&#189; pound heartfelt beads $20
Total project cost $219

 

[Jwrussell]

Nice work! However, stick around here long enough and you'll be revamping that whole system...no room for whole boxes! :wink:

 

[jkorp]

Are you running the unit? I started with an Avanti 16, before settling on a Vino 28. The Avanti's internal thermostat didn't want to get warmer than about 59 F. So that meant the unit ran all the time, and RH had big swings.

Just some advice, occupied volume helps to stabalize RH. Even if they are empty, I would fill up the space with boxes. These will all hold humidity and help the humidor recover faster from RH swings, like when the door opens. In the end the boxes won't stay empty long :grin: .

 

[RigilKent]

nice work Jason is right you will be needing much more room if you stick around here

 

[dpricenator]

Nice, I like your shelves, though I would place your singles in a box. I made my shelves out of cigar box panels. It was the cheapest cedar i could find. And for an everyday smoke the green Don Kiki is good, for me anyway. As far as samplers, just keep an eye out the BOTL, these guyuys sell off thier smokes to make room iin the humi all the time. also, JR cigars has good samplers on special every other month or so.

 

[heybuddy77]

That's good to hear how long has your set up been running and how many beads are you using? I'm thinking of a similar set up since its virtually impossible to find active humidification units and wineodors where I live so am thinking of going with a small sized fridge instead of the wine cooler.

The unit has been running for about 2 weeks now. A quick in and out will not affect the RH but if i leave the door open for 5 min. or so the RH will drop but will recover in about 4 hours. I am using 1/2 pound of beads but may go to a full pound to help with recovery. I think as it fills up the recovery process will be faster however.

 

[dpricenator]

I think as it fills up the recovery process will be faster however.

This is true, as stated earlier, adding empty cigar boxes will also help. That way you will also have somewhere to put your singles. Extra beads is never a bad idea.

 

[heybuddy77]

Are you running the unit? I started with an Avanti 16, before settling on a Vino 28. The Avanti's internal thermostat didn't want to get warmer than about 59 F. So that meant the unit ran all the time, and RH had big swings.

Just some advice, occupied volume helps to stabalize RH. Even if they are empty, I would fill up the space with boxes. These will all hold humidity and help the humidor recover faster from RH swings, like when the door opens. In the end the boxes won't stay empty long :grin: .

Yeah the unit is running...on the lowest setting it holds at about 61.9-62 degrees. From what i have read the aging of cigars is only comprimised when the temps get below 54. I also think the temp will go up a degree or two when the house gets hotter in the summer months. In any case i figure 62 is a hell of a lot better for my sticks then 82.

 

[dpricenator]

There are some after market units you can use to keep the temp a little higher. You can look up ranco or johnson temp controllers on Ebay and find them for $50 or so.

 

[jkorp]

Yeah the unit is running...on the lowest setting it holds at about 61.9-62 degrees. From what i have read the aging of cigars is only comprimised when the temps get below 54. I also think the temp will go up a degree or two when the house gets hotter in the summer months. In any case i figure 62 is a hell of a lot better for my sticks then 82.

There are some that age cigars in their wine cellars, down to 55, so I don't worry too much about going low. What happens though, is that humidity gets real hard to stabalize when you go below 60.

That's good your getting yours to about 62, my Avanti would never go above 59, and I had a helluva time getting the RH stable, it would swing all over the place. Even with the drain plugged it would never stablize. So I got an insane deal on a Vino and went that route, and retired the Avanti.

You might end up seeing more RH swings in the summer when the unit runs a lot more.



It's true you can get the Johnson external thermosat controller for $50, but I paid about $25 more and got the Vino, so I didn't see the point.

 

[heybuddy77]

You might end up seeing more RH swings in the summer when the unit runs a lot more.

Yeah thats going to be the true test. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. If i have issues the first thing I'll do is plug the drain hole. I have not done so yet is there has not been a need. If that does not then I'll look at getting the temp a little higher.