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BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE
Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over the next few weekends BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.
Tramontina 45 Bottle Wine Cellar
- Thread starter stewa070
- Start date
I believe it's a compressor model but if you don't plan on using the cooling will be great for $60.
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nope. still should be airtight if you want to use it and not run the cooling as Marshall said.
From what I have gathered compressor units are better than thermoelectric in one regard - they can operate in much more varied environments. The effective range of a TE unit is not near high enough to handle hot 80 degree plus rooms. Compressors can handle it with ease but they do suck humidity out of the unit and cause wide RH swings.
The common solution is storing your sticks in cigar boxes that act as a buffer against the swings. A cigar in a box won't know the swing even occurred by the time the swing has corrected itself.
Another thing to help is a temperature control unit $28-50 and up on Amazon. Set your high and low temps and plug in the cooler to the unit. Keeps the temp where you want it and cuts down on the compressor running needlessly. This makes the cooler only run when needed and monitors the temp much more accurately than the thermostat that comes on the unit.
Finally KL or beads will seek to minimize the RH swings. They likely won't eliminate them, and from what I can gather from the experts, that is ok. You should see a swing minimize from 20 -25 points to closer to 10-12 which is the same as opening your humidor and browsing your stash several times a day.
The takeaway: Put your sticks in boxes. Put beads or KL in the unit. Buy a temp controller for even more control. Enjoy. Also the closer the ambient temp in the room is to what you're trying to maintain the less the compressor will run anyway.
Since my ambient is 75 or 74 I won't have a lot of trouble maintaining 65 degrees with this unit.
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You can keep your cigars in tightly sealed Tupperware. The kind with the gasket. I Keep my smokes in a refrigerator with a "kegarator" thermo control. Works great, use KL or beads in each piece of tupperware. I don't recommend cedar boxes without the tupperware. They "breath" so they'll loose moisture pretty quick when exposed to consistently low RH
Thanks, makes sense... I kept cigars in a desktop humidor inside my thermoelectric wineador while it was being seasoned just for the temp advantage (keep house at 80 degrees). Had debated about putting a small fridge in the garage, but it couldn't be thermoelectric... would never cut it. Considered using containers inside a compressor-based fridge but still seemed less than ideal. Didn't know about the add-on controls, will have to keep it in mind for future expansion plans.
Yep, I started out with plans to keep a 3 month supply of cigars so I could properly rest all new purchases. When I realized that the spare fridge was a great place to keep smokes the 3 month supply quickly became a 6 month supply that became a 12 month that became a ........
It's a slippery slope but one day I'll be smoking some very well rested cigars.
Fits so nice under my office work table. Can't decide between heartfelt, boveda or KL for humidification. Suggestions? 64 degrees is the warmest I could set it. What's going to be the easiest way to humidify this compressor cooled unit? Cigars will be in boxes so they won't suffer the swings of RH, but I still want to minimize the swings as much as I can.
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Looks nice! Plenty of room to start filling.
Since you're just looking to minimize the swings, think KL would be a good choice. Could put a couple of pounds in a shallow tray on the bottom and just spray as needed. Not sure how much it'll apply in your situation, but the biggest hurdle in my cooler was circulation. Tried a hundred different ways of arranging and spreading out bovedas, putting KL on every shelf, putting in extra cedar... RH and temp readings were all over the place and condensation was a constant issue. Finally got fans and it was night and day; Everything solid, no condensation. Different requirements for you with this set-up, but if you do see big temp/rh differentials my 2 cents is don't fight it too long, get a couple of cheap DC fans and watch the magic happen.
-Ape
Since you're just looking to minimize the swings, think KL would be a good choice. Could put a couple of pounds in a shallow tray on the bottom and just spray as needed. Not sure how much it'll apply in your situation, but the biggest hurdle in my cooler was circulation. Tried a hundred different ways of arranging and spreading out bovedas, putting KL on every shelf, putting in extra cedar... RH and temp readings were all over the place and condensation was a constant issue. Finally got fans and it was night and day; Everything solid, no condensation. Different requirements for you with this set-up, but if you do see big temp/rh differentials my 2 cents is don't fight it too long, get a couple of cheap DC fans and watch the magic happen.
-Ape
Haven't used one, but an active humidifier like that would likely be more than enough, especially with your cigars in boxes. The fans I used were just 80mm case fans. low (1200) rpm. Put 4 of them in a row at the back, set up to blood on the cooler.
This is what I'm gonna go with. No wiring. I'll hook it to a timer set to run at set intervals.
https://www.coolerguys.com/products...0mm-fan-cooling-kit-for-cabinet-home-theaters
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BigSkySmoke
Lanceros, Cowgirls and Burritos
Throw a bunch of Boveda in there, close the door and quit over thinking it...
Edit - I'll elaborate since that's a vague shit post...The Boveda is gonna be more accurate that the $20 hydrometer your looking at. As far as the temp. Try to get your room temp lower and don't rely on the cooling in the unit. Throw a $20 eBay temp control on it and set it to run around the 75* area. Keep it simple and you won't care about chasing swings.
Edit - I'll elaborate since that's a vague shit post...The Boveda is gonna be more accurate that the $20 hydrometer your looking at. As far as the temp. Try to get your room temp lower and don't rely on the cooling in the unit. Throw a $20 eBay temp control on it and set it to run around the 75* area. Keep it simple and you won't care about chasing swings.
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