Walk-in humidor and A/C tip

[ylo2na-cl]

This is something I learned the hard way and hopefully, I didnt set my cigars back too far with my uneducated stupidity about venting the a/c duct. During the cold months, I just vented the a/c duct into the garage and it worked just fine. The outside of the room was not too hot from the vented air and I didnt notice anything unusual. As soon as the Tampa heat arrived, it was damn near impossible to be in the garage (where I have the walk-in) because of the hot air venting into it. So, I decided to knock a hole in the block wall and run the ducting outside. Also, I decided to attach the ducting to a 4" piece of pvc pipe the length of the distance between the wall. And, I added a 4" pvc cap, with a gazillion holes drilled into it to exhaust the hot air. Did this, caulked all around the opening and it looked great. It ran like this for about 1 week, but, I noticed HOOOOOT temperatures in the walk-in even though I cranked down the a/c. They were about 88 degrees. When I checked the a/c, I only got minimal coldness, almost luke warm air coming from it. I thought this was from the heat of being in Tampa this time of year. And, I thought I had made a huge mistake putting the walk-in in the garage. But, I checked the venting one more time and somehow, realized, I was building up back-pressure because the air flow was not being adequately vented. It needed the whole 4" hole to be free and open. I removed the pvc cap and with 20 minutes the temp had dropped from 85degrees to 79 degrees. And, within an hour it is around 72 right now!
So, my tip is this, make sure you have adequate, more than adequate venting of your system with your duct work. And, vent it to the outside! Yes, I am an a/c engineer with a degree in psychology. Yea, right!
Best,
Chuck
Ylo2na

[CGAR Girl-cl]

Umm.. Im gonna reread what you wrote... 4 more times. --- AHHHH okay.. got it. Adequate venting. Whew. It was getting shaky on the brain around the knock a hole in the wall...wha? Im a girl! Sheesh. I just smoke the leaves...

[tobacmon]

You must of had a Panic Attack from the pictures of all your smokes we've seen here. Glad you got it back under control.

[Paint]

That could of been a costly mistake good luck protecting your investment

[ylo2na-cl]

Originally Posted by CGAR Girl

Umm.. Im gonna reread what you wrote... 4 more times. --- AHHHH okay.. got it. Adequate venting. Whew. It was getting shaky on the brain around the knock a hole in the wall...wha? Im a girl! Sheesh. I just smoke the leaves...

Sondra,
Smoke 'em, that's all I really want to do, too! But, like most guys and I am sure some women, I like to putz around with all of this stuff that goes with trying to keep your "leafy babies" (no pun intended since my last name is LEAF) in the best shape possible. So, regulating the RH factor, The Temp Factor and recording it all with a gazillion digital and analog hygrometers is a lot of fun until things dont work, like A/C's, which I have no clue about. In all honesty, I have a friend at Home Depot near my house and just called him and explained the problem. He told me to "chuck it" and get a new one since they are so cheap! I was on my way to Home Depot to purchase another one when I decided to try something one more time, which was to remove the cap I had placed over the ducting on the outside. The only reason for the cap was to keep out the creepy, crawlies, but on second thought, no snake, animal or whatever could possible want to enter the duct hole with that kind of heat coming out of it. So, a lucky guess by removing the cap and I am now back in business with my $600 or more still in my pocket to purchase more sticks....great thought!!!!!
Anywho....sorry to be so long winded

[ylo2na-cl]

Originally Posted by tobacmon

You must of had a Panic Attack from the pictures of all your smokes we've seen here. Glad you got it back under control.

Paul,
You know me...I had little one's forming in my shorts over this! Was on my way to Home Dump for another a/c when I decided to pull off the cap on the outside ducting. The only answer I can come up with is that the holes were not enough to handle the amount of air that needed to be vented and back-pressure was building up and caused the fetzer valve to cross back against the unregulated anomaly button. This, of course, recycles unused ionized dust particles within the rh factor temperature settings! Which means, warmth being flushed out of the a/c! Not good!
Best,
CHuck

[tobacmon]

Originally Posted by ylo2na

Paul,
You know me...I had little one's forming in my shorts over this! Was on my way to Home Dump for another a/c when I decided to pull off the cap on the outside ducting. The only answer I can come up with is that the holes were not enough to handle the amount of air that needed to be vented and back-pressure was building up and caused the fetzer valve to cross back against the unregulated anomaly button. This, of course, recycles unused ionized dust particles within the rh factor temperature settings! Which means, warmth being flushed out of the a/c! Not good!
Best,
CHuck

Chuck, I am by no means an HVAC guy but consider myself a Damn Good Electrician---I bet there is a formula to calculate the size return you would need to make sure everything is running at optimal performance. I'm also sure there are some Damn Good HVAC guys here that could get you the information you need...Good Luck and take care of the babies--