The Noob Guide to a Wine Fridgador (work in progress)

[Pete]

As I've spent a ton of time looking for information on wine fridges to make myself a pretty fridgador, I figured I'd post some information and pics as the project progresses. Here's my how-to on setting one up, and what I did...

I couldn't find an all-in-one handy-dandy guide here, so here's my attempt at giving something back for the better good of Gorillas everywhere

1.) Obtained a wine fridge. I purchased a Kenmore 24 bottle Wine Cooler from Sears. $99 on sale. It has a compressor, but for the price (had a $50 sears gift card ), I couldn't pass it up.

2.) Get rid of the smell by wiping down with a baking soda and water mix, then rinsing. Two days into running, and it's smelling better already.

[Pete]

Today I made 2 pieces of progress:

1.) The temperature seems to be around 57*F empty. Way too cold. I ordered a Johnson A419 Controller from http://www.HouseNeeds.com.
Here is the manual from Johnson's website: Manual

2.) I drilled 2 holes in the bottom back of the fridge; one for the Cigar Oasis XL power supply, and one for the temp. sensor of the Johnson.

I'll post pictures later today, when I get back home.

[Pete]

I'll also be using Radio Shack's Expandable Wireless Weather Forecaster with 2 Sensors to monitor temperature and humidity. I got the base unit and 2 sensors for about $30...what a deal. And they're accurate +/- 1%RH. Here are the links:

Expandable Wireless Weather Forecaster



Extra Low Temperature Outdoor Weather Sensor

[tzaddi]

If we ever choose sides in some kind of Cigar game I want to be on your side. A man with a plan, no doubt! You make me feel proud to call myself a BOTL. Sir, I salute you and the problem solving ingenuity that makes being a BOTL what it is.

[schnell987]

Originally Posted by tzaddi

If we ever choose sides in some kind of Cigar game I want to be on your side. A man with a plan, no doubt! You make me feel proud to call myself a BOTL. Sir, I salute you and the problem solving ingenuity that makes being a BOTL what it is.

Nicely planned project! Looking forward to your subsequent posts!

[earnold25]

very nice! I wish I hadn't read this however. I'm getting the "itch".

[Pete]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys!

And as for the itch... the NST should include a damn bottle of Calamine Lotion.

[Silhanek]

Thanks for the write-up. It's been a good source of information so far.

[mdorroh]

Thanks for posting this. I look forward to seeing the rest of it!

[Pete]

I just got a second Oust Fan for the fridge. I'll be pointing both of them at the back plate of the fridge, to hopefully dissipate moisture a bit and circulate air.

In case anyone's wondering what I'll do for humidity, I have:
1.) Cigar Oasis XL near the top of the fridge
2.) 1 pound of 70% RH beads scattered.

Hopefully that'll be enough. But I won't be testing humidity thoroughly until the controller comes.

I'll post some pictures later today.

[Pete]

Update: 3/31

While I'm waiting for the temp controller to come in, I've been experimenting with keeping the cooler between 65*F and 68*F (That's what I'll keep my Johnson Control set for).

In the fridge, Temp goes down from 68 to 65 within a few minutes. My remote sensor tells me that humi goes from 68%RH to about 45%RH within that timespan.

Inside a sealed box in the fridge, Humidity went from 67%RH to 65%RH during that timespan.

Parting Thoughts: The fridge will only have to run maybe a dozen or so times a day (as that temp is easy to maintain inside of it right now). The Oasis gets the inside humidity back to 68% within about 5 minutes. Since the %RH inside the box doesn't seem to drop much at all, I think this setup will work just fine (because I'm sure humidity swings much more than 67 to 65 when you open up the humi to get sticks out).

Anyone else have any thoughts about it? I'm excited that I think my 'gars will be just fine in there. I'm starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel (but still more testing to do...).
Once I get the controller, I will have two sealed boxes with remote sensors in them and one remote sensor out in the open just in the fridge. I think this'll give me a good idea of what's going on.

[schnell987]

Cool testing (pun intended )! I assume that you will be storing your 'gars in similar "sealed boxes" as those you are using for testing?!? While no expert, I'd think that the 2% RH drop (with recovery within 5 minutes) would not cause any problems for the cigars - and as you stated, would be much superior to many other systems that take longer to rehydrate. Several thoughts: The RH drop within the humidor does change significantly with a relatively small change in temp, so: 1) can you tighten up the temperature variance so that it does not change so much (and therefore the RH will not vary so greatly)?; and 2) will the "sealed boxes" you use be able to withstand the large RH shifts on the outside while maintaining relatively stable RH on the inside (e.g. will the boxes warp like a cheap humidor would and then quickly render the protection of the boxes from large RH swings of little value)? Also, I understand that the RH is higest at the top of any container, so you may consider moving the CO to the middle or lower portions of hte humidor. Also, would you be able to take readings from the top and bottom of the humidor and report just how much of a variance there actually is at various RH levels? This would show whether the RH variance between the top and bottom are of any significance or not. Just some food for thought.

Looking forward to your continued research & posts (and pictures too!!!)

[jerseynewbie]

How many of you have successfully used trays in a wine-ador instead of sealed boxes? I'm trying to figure out if this is even possible, or if I'm just asking for cracked wrappers on the whole collection.

As things now stand, I have 17 full boxes and it takes about five minutes to get a cigar from the bottom and then get all of the boxes and fans tetrised back in. Plus I still have more I want to add to the collection!

If you do use trays, any tips? Thanks.

[muziq]

Hey Pete--one other thing you may want to do, perhaps at a later date, is obtain some sp. cedar planks and use those as shelves in your fridgeador--will help with further stabilizing your RH against rapid fluctuations from the on/off of the compressor. Not a "perfect" solution, but one mod you can make that will get you closer. I have two fridgeadors, full of boxes and with sp cedar shelving, and the RH stays pretty rock-solid between 66-68 RH. Additionally, a more powerful electric fan like a computer fan from Radio Shack can help to more evenly circulate the air, helping to equalize RH and temp from top to bottom.

[Marlboro Cigars]

Originally Posted by jerseynewbie

How many of you have successfully used trays in a wine-ador instead of sealed boxes? I'm trying to figure out if this is even possible, or if I'm just asking for cracked wrappers on the whole collection.

As things now stand, I have 17 full boxes and it takes about five minutes to get a cigar from the bottom and then get all of the boxes and fans tetrised back in. Plus I still have more I want to add to the collection!

If you do use trays, any tips? Thanks.

Cedar trays in wine cooler-dors..
No problem.
(Even helps the smell).


Tip:
Buy ones that will stack nicely.