Puff Cigar Discussion Forums

rajuabju · 08-16-2009, 12:19 PM

Well, I temporarily put off finishing the lights because it seems I have a bad seal somewhere. My CO XL Plus runs every 2-3 minutes, and I had to already refill it once. For the first few days I thought this was due to the fact that I was constantly opening/closing the doors, but I have not opened the cabinet for several days now, and yet the CO continues to run almost constantly.

I did a light test with the lid portion, no leak there. But I cant light test the bottom portion due to the fact that it has glass doors. I've read through some other threads about people having similar leak problems with the trivoli and that it was fixed using felt /weathers strips. I'm wondering if anyone has any pictures of how they did this? I'm going to go the hardware store later today but need to get an idea of how much to buy, and where in the cabinet to install it.

Herf N Turf · 08-16-2009, 12:42 PM

Only way I know to test a glass humi is to put a goodly chunk of dry ice in a bowl of water and let it fill up the compartment. The outgassing CO2 will create a little pressure and show you your leak(s). First place Id look would be around the electrical inlet/outlet. Be sure you dont have any cigars inside when youre using the dry ice. You dont want carbonated cigars, lol. Also, it works best if you can put something inside to reduce as much volume as possible.

For sealing, dont use felt. Get some of the thin blue foam tape from Home Despot, or Lowes.

tx_tuff · 08-19-2009, 04:58 PM

There where a couple other guys that used the felt and it worked fine, I have to fill mine up with water once a week but that doesn't bother me.

rajuabju · 08-19-2009, 05:53 PM

I'm going to both try the light test by taping up the glass with a few layers of newspaper, and also the dry ice test tonight.

I went to HD and bought vinyl weather stripping. This is a fun little problem project for me so I'm not too upset about the poor seal quality. I think within a few days I will have this solved, then finish up the lights, then start buying more cigars !

rajuabju · 08-22-2009, 11:16 PM

Wa wa wee wa! GREAT SUCCESS! Long story follows....

It took a while, but leaks were successfully found and fixed. For anyone else that has a Trivoli (or other cabinets with seal problems), here's what I went through:

Using cardboard and scotch tape, I blocked off the glass (both from inside and outside, just to be extra sure no light got through). Then used the flash light test and easily saw light from both doors, from all sides. Left side door was significantly worse than the right, but it was clear the seals were for crap. Also did the dollar bill test and the bill slid through both sides without any difficult at all. Did not do the dry ice test since it was already clear I had a problem.

I must say, I'm a bit disappointed in the build quality from Tampa. I understand this is not some $1,000+ cabinet, but I had higher expectations for a cabinet thats supposed to function as a humidor. I could have bought a cabinet from Target or Ikea and it would have had about the same quality of seals.

It was difficult to gauge just how thick the gaps were, but I thought they were pretty big since the dollar bill slid through with absolutely no resistance.

First tried 3 different kinds of weather stripping. I went to Home Depot and OSH. I bought weather stripping in thicknesses of 1/8" and also bought some 3/16", two were rubber, and another in vinyl. But this proved to be too thick when I tried it. Front doors would no longer close well. I tried in numerous combination, lengths, locations, no go. Quickly became clear that this would not work. The gaps were not big enough to allow the weather stripping to work properly and allow the doors to close and the magnets to engage one another. Plus the fact that the weather stripping was white which was so aesthetically annoying to me. I guess if someone's cabinet had a very significant gap, the weather stripping would work.

So I went to Michaels, an arts and crafts store... bought felt in the "camel" color. This is almost an exact color match for the Spanish Cedar in my cabinet. I then used Elmers wood glue, cut it up into 1/2" strips, and applied on all sides. The right side sealed up very well. Left side, dollar bill still slid through with only minor resistance, so I glued on a second layer of felt. Boom. No more light shining through (well, a TINY bit where the hinges are), and dollar bill no longer slides through either.

The seals are 99% better. I know that a cabinet is not supposed to be "air-tight" and I think this is now working great. Before, the CO unit was coming on every 3-5 minutes .... now its once every 1-2 hours!

While at Michael's, I also came across a round mirror that I liked and was a good fit for where the old analog hygro (which I hated the look of) went. Bought some clear caulking and put it on the back of the mirror, with a few dabbles of elmer's glue, and put it up. Seals the old hygro spot perfectly and I think its much better looking.

After this was done, I finished routing the lights in the cabinet, and putting up my 3 digital hygro's... 2 western calibers using thin/long magnets and affixed to the edge of the shelves, and a no-name digital to the lid with velcro. (as a note, the lid does seal well).

This was a very fun project for me, as I like fixing things with creative solutions. Now the REAL fun (and expensive) work begins, in filling this baby up... got a good start on it so far, but much more work to be done.

rajuabju · 08-22-2009, 11:19 PM

A few more pics of my handy work

rajuabju · 08-22-2009, 11:20 PM

And last pic of my humidor... the top portion.

Yay.

Project is all done!

KINGLISH · 08-23-2009, 01:40 AM

Very very nice work!

Stevins · 10-18-2009, 03:56 PM

Hey, Rajuabju, I just wanted to say thanks for such a great post. Ive been doing research for a new cabinet humi and your post help make my decision! So as of now, would you buy the Trivoli all over again?? Thanks again!

R10 · 10-19-2009, 06:43 AM

Looks really nice!

ShortyStogie · 10-19-2009, 08:41 AM

Danny,

Good job! Wow! I don't know what's sexier: the humidor, the goods inside... or your pink poodle!

All jokes aside, thanks for the inspirational post. And good job on finding the leak. Hope you have many years of non-stop, well-humidified smokes!

Thanks,

SS

rajuabju · 10-19-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevins

Hey, Rajuabju, I just wanted to say thanks for such a great post. Ive been doing research for a new cabinet humi and your post help make my decision! So as of now, would you buy the Trivoli all over again?? Thanks again!

Thats a good question. I'll answer it in 2 ways-

1) If I had a significantly larger budget, no I wouldnt. I would go with something from Aristocrat Humidors. One day I hope I will get something from them.

2) With the budget of only a few hundred bucks, like I had, yes, I would. The Trivoli is clearly a 'mass produced' item, not custom craftsmanship. That said, it still look amazing, stores a ton of sticks, and as long as you're willing to put in a few days of effort to fix the humidity leaks, it will be just fine. I HIGHLY recommend getting a Cigar Oasis for the unit AND beads. Since I patched up the leaks as best as I could, I've only refilled the CO about one a month now, and with the beads, I keep my humidity at the 65%-67% range dead on at all times.

Hope that helps