CC-300 quit cooling well.....

[mpomario]

Packed up all my sticks in bags with bovedas and boxes in a bin. Returned it to HD. Ordered replacement and they price matched it again at $279, should be at my door in about a week. It was only cooling to about 68-70 degrees when set to 65 and was getting quite a bit of condensation running down the back. It was in an area of the house that stays around 77 degrees. It was doing fine for a long time and then it just slowly got worse. I hope the next one holds up to this Texas heat. I was trying to keep it around 65-67 degrees. It was only about a 10 degree ambient differential. Don't know if it is going to do any better and I hope I'm not asking too much from the unit. 68-70 isn't bad, but I wanted it to do better. I guess if the new one doesn't do better, I'll just know that during the summer, I'll have to keep it a couple degrees higher. I did notice that the condensation stopped after I set it higher after giving up on trying to get it back down to 65. I keep the RH around 64-67 anyway. I guess I'll find out. I kept the replacement drawers they sent me so I should have four for the new one which will be great. It is just sad to see all my precious sticks in bags. Guess I'll be smoking out of my 3 other smaller Humi's for the next week or so.

 

[VeLoRoK]

Discovered the same problem here. Condensation and 55% humidity up top and nearly 80% at the bottom. Turned it from 61° (which was holding around 65° near the cooling device, but I have no fans so kind of wildly varied) up to 70° and now there's no more condensation and the Rh is leveling out slowly. Live and learn.

 

[navyvet]

mine new air 280 e quit cooling as well but i am just going to get a new one. i replaced the heat sinks and then the cooling unit went out 60 buck fix might as well get a new one for 100-199

 

[Boudie]

From what I've heard and experienced 12 - 14 degrees below ambient is about what to expect. I placed a box fan to circulate cool around the back of the unit, helping a bit. I also purchased an "evaporation cooling rag" from Walmart, cut it in thirds. One piece goes over the drain hole to catch the excess moisture, once saturated it gets swapped with a piece drying in the front of the unit. The third piece is in a container of distilled water on a top shelf. I also have a large pan of KL. I use two slot fans on a timer for circulation. Kind of a hands on operation during the summer, I have to hope once it cools off a bit the NewAir will require less attention.

Another idea, I cut some pieces of cedar to fit the shelves, essentially making them drawers. I'm able to stack lots of loose cigars in the newly adapted drawers

 

[JG358]

mine new air 280 e quit cooling as well but i am just going to get a new one. i replaced the heat sinks and then the cooling unit went out 60 buck fix might as well get a new one for 100-199

You don't have to buy the whole cooling unit from NA... You can get a 5 pack of peltiers for under $30 online.

 

[navyvet]

Yeah and thermal paste

 

[JG358]

Yup

On that note, the silver thermal compound they use at NA is crap. Mine was all dry and chalky when I pulled it apart... Probably the reason my peltier failed in the first place.

 

[Boudie]

JG358 What determines the cooling differential is it the peltier that's only good for 12 - 15 degrees? Question is how feasible is it to get another power supply and power a second peltier to lower temperatures?

 

[JG358]

Seems like its just the nature of the beast. They run on a 12v system and you can only run so much current through them before bad things happen. I replaced my burnt out one with a more expensive USA made peltier and quality thermal compound. My house was at 88 deg when I got home the other night and the wineador was holding at 68.5-69.

To add a second cooling unit(peltier, fans, heat sinks) would be more trouble than its worth IMO.

 

[Boudie]

I was going to install it alongside the existing one and use an additional power supply, just throw a switch when it's very warm

 

[JG358]

I was going to install it alongside the existing one and use an additional power supply, just throw a switch when it's very warm

2 peltiers sharing a set of heat sinks? The hot side will probably get to hot since the heat sink isn't larger enough to dissipate the heat from 2 peltiers which would just cause both peltiers to fry. The heat sinks are that big for a reason, the hot side get pretty dang hot.

 

[Boudie]

OK just curious, I'm wondering if the limiting factor is the actual peltier, if they are only good for 10 to 15 degrees no matter how they are configured. Thanks for the reply,

 

[JG358]

I think its that the wineadors are so large comparatively speaking. Your cooling the entire thing 10-15 deg with a ceramic plate that's only has a couple square inches of surface area(that's pretty impressive in my book). Perhaps one could achieve better cooling with a larger peltier but you'd have to have a larger heat sink too. The cold side of the peltier gets quite cold, I just don't think they transfer the cold as efficiently to a heat sink as they do heat. Not to mention in our units they are not in direct contact with the cold side heat sink. Their is a plate that's about half an inch thick that goes in between the peltier and the cold side heat sink. Single wire coming out, i assume its a temp probe.

 

[Boudie]

I guess if the heat transfer was more efficient the peltier would get the temperature lower. I'm asking because if I ever build a cabinet humidor I need to consider removing the heat from the heat sink as much as the number of actual peltiers. I know the hard way how hot the heat sink gets, that why I have a box fan blowing on it. This should only be a problem thru October, I let the house get into the 60s when cool weather arrives.

 

[StuffedSloth]

@mpomario
If its an option when you get your new unit try to put it up against an inside wall in a cooler room. I have a 40 year old house with crappy insulation (in San Antonio). I think it helps the unit not work as hard in a cooler place.

 

[mpomario]

Yeah, not an option. I did think about getting a little mini fan to blow on it. I also thought about sticking one of the fans I had on the inside of my original unit on top of the vents in back to pull more air through the back.


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