haier humidity problems

[yoshi94564]

I have a 52 count Haier with 4 oust fans blowing up from the bottom and still have high humidity (72-7 on the lower shelves. I also have a pound or so of dry kitty pearls on the bottom to try and soak up the extra humidity and a pound or so of 65% on top. Any advice or should I change placement of my fans.?

[justinphilly]

before anyone goes crazy on me, stop! i do it in mine and it works fine..

1- make sure the outside rear of the wine fridge is at least 6 inches away from the wall

2- make sure no boxes of cigars are touching or even close to the rear wall (keep them as out as possible)

3- you want the fans to be blowing down, not up..

4- keep all the beads dry.. there will be enough humidity in the wine fridge to sustain humidity. you really dont need to raise it.

5- here is the tricky part, the questionable part.. but trust me, it works for me..
go to a hardware store and get a 12 oz tub of Damp Rid. Fill the canister with the product and place it all the way in the back of the wine fridge, near where the drainage spot is.. This will keep any excess humidity off the back wall, where it sometimes collects.. i know it seems crazy, but please trust me.. once you get that moisture on the back wall, its bad.. this basically just collects that moisture, it doesnt affect the cigars in the box.

6- with the wine fridge away from the wall, feel the compressor.. If it is running alot, it may get hot, heat makes condensation.. What you will need to do is have a fan blowing the back of the unit, to cool it.

7- what do you have your johnson controller's set point at? note, the higher them temperature, the higher the humidity. i keep mine at 67 degrees..

8- keep the sensor for the controller as close to the back as possible, thats its coolest point.



now some questions..

1- where do you have the sensor fror your hygrometer..? note, that the temperature/humidity outside the boxes, inside the wine fridge will fluctuate ALOT more then inside the boxes.. Find some room inside some boxes to store the sensor.. That is where you care about the temp/humidity, not really outside the boxes..

hope this helps! i am pm'ming you my phone #, call me if you have ANY other questions!

[yoshi94564]

OK, did a search... I'll try a few of the things I've read... Still sounds like a pain in the ass though...the things you do for your smokes....

[opus]

I would first test my hygrometer and make sure it is reading correctly. Then the kitty pearls would go.

[justinphilly]

oh yeah, lose the kitty stuff! go with the beads. that is advice #1.

[Wombat]

Beads will not reduce moisture unless they are dry. When it gets to be 80% humidity in the room (during summer), I have to put my beads in the oven for a while to completly dry them. Easy to tell when it's done by the color (they get white not clear). Once this is done, they are ready to start removing the humidity again!

[n2advnture]

are you using the cooling unit? the consendor kicking on and off will create rh swings - this is usually eliminated by putting it on a timer.

~M

[scrapiron]

I have no direct evidence but the more it has to run, the more rh shift you will have. Mine is a thermoelectric unit but it only has to cool a few degrees from the rest of the room. Also, I think the controller really helps because keeping it with a small temperature spread (say 69-70 degrees) keeps the swings down. I couldn't achieve that with the factory thermostat, it would change maybe 4 degrees which causes a bigger shift from a longer running time.
I reccomend the controller if you don't have one.

[Mister Moo]

I have the same cooler; excellent results with a small (110AC) fan called Hawaiian Breez from Target ($5.95). It rocks. I keep it on the floor and leave it running 24/7 during warm weather.

If rh is too high leave the door open for 10 minutes. If it's not right the next day, leave it open for another 10 minutes. Plugged the drain on the back wall?

I keep no humidifier in the cooler. When rh drops a point or two below my target (measured inside a box) I spray the inside of the cooler with a few squirts of dist. water from a fine-mist plant sprayer. This is now a once/month process. It's very steady.

[scrapiron]

Originally Posted by Mister MaDuroo

I have the same cooler; excellent results with a small (110AC) fan called Hawaiian Breez from Target ($5.95). It rocks. I keep it on the floor and leave it running 24/7 during warm weather.

Do you have a link for the fan. I can't seem to find it at Target's website.

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by scrapiron

Do you have a link for the fan. I can't seem to find it at Target's website.

It's a pip for $5.95 and comes in many colors. It was in the back, in the vicinity of the Oust and air-freshener stuff. Probly seasonal gear - and not on their web site. It is printed "Hawaiian Breeze" on the front.

Mine sits on the bottom of the cooler, aimed up/back; I never bother to route the cord, except along the floor, out the door and under the cooler to a plug on the wall. I also use the A419 temp controller routed through the drain hole; the drain hole is also plugged. A piece of polyester on the drain shelf picks up condensate and releases quickly, courtesy of the fan.

The cooler does not need beads, foam or anything else to keep stable - just a little attention to the rh gauges in two boxes and a few sprays of water now and again.

If over-humidified, leaving the door open for a little while smoothes things out.

[scrapiron]

That fan looks like it would move a considerable amount of air... Can you move too much air?
Oh, What is a pip?

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by scrapiron

That fan looks like it would move a considerable amount of air... Can you move too much air?
Oh, What is a pip?

A pip is a good thing. Too much air - I think not. The rh and temp stay steady and even, top to bottom - that's good by me.

[scrapiron]

I can see a target trip tomorrow. Besides the B&M is next door and I have a coupon for a free smoke (assuming it is a good coupon from Cigar Aff). The cord doesn't effect the door seal?

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by scrapiron

...The cord doesn't effect the door seal?

At the microscopic level, sure. Not in practical terms. The cord and seal effect are invisible. I would have routed it thru the drain hole but it would have taken some splicing or fan-dismantling - first I wanted to see how it worked. That was six months ago - it works and I never notice the cord so... there it is.