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WHY is cigar humidor technology so far behind?

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I'm convinced that what I am looking for doesnt exist. Basically I am looking for a weineador with integrated humidity and cooling technology and fans. I want full extension shelves and drawers as I have a psychical disability and don't have the ability to build one myself and also makes accessing my cigars a challenge. Yes there are a few options like the Redford which is what I am leaning twards. But there are so many that have some of the things I am looking for but not all of them. I don't know why the companies haven't figured it out yet. it's very frustrating! If anyone here builds custom ready to use winedors I'd love to talk to you. I'm from Michigan so if you live within reasonable driving distance that's a plus. I've looked at a bunch if high end units but I am pretty much done with any wood humidors and ready to go with a cooler. Thoughts?
 
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How does the redford (or slightly cheaper redford lite) not fulfill the needs you are looking for? It looks to be one of the few that check all the boxes that is available within a reasonable timeframe and not custom.
 
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I'm convinced that what I am looking for doesnt exist. Basically I am looking for a weineador with integrated humidity and cooling technology and fans. I want full extension shelves and drawers as I have a psychical disability and don't have the ability to build one myself and also makes accessing my cigars a challenge. Yes there are a few options like the Redford which is what I am leaning twards. But there are so many that have some of the things I am looking for but not all of them. I don't know why the companies haven't figured it out yet. it's very frustrating! If anyone here builds custom ready to use winedors I'd love to talk to you. I'm from Michigan so if you live within reasonable driving distance that's a plus. I've looked at a bunch if high end units but I am pretty much done with any wood humidors and ready to go with a cooler. Thoughts?
I looked at all the options, including chatting with several “manufacturers” in China. What we want does, but doesn’t exist. I was also looking for an all-in-one (Cooling/Heat/Humidity) with storage option. I ended up going with the Schmecke 400 for $500 to “get my feet wet” in the coolador space. I was speaking to Raching & Detron (I think) on the second one, but shipping was going to make a customized unit close to $4,000. If you want to wait for a container (which could be months before they have one ready to ship again) then you can get the shipping cost down. Raching said they would do custom designed holes in the shelves (the decorative ones in the front), custom logos, frosted glass with etching, drawers on European style soft close full extension drawers (that would open with the door at a 90º angle). The Wi-Fi part of it wouldn’t work, but everything else would. I’m in the same boat. Why do the “luxury”/“high-end” cooladors not even have the most basic of features expected in today’s world? A friend of mine wants one of these as well and burns far more than I, so I’m very tempted to just work with the local woodshop and build a unit. For $3-4K retail, I think I could build them and make a little change at the same time…
 
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My answer is a little different, but keeping cigars well isn't rocket science. But I like keeping things pretty simple which works well for me. But everyone has their own way of doing things.
 

StogieNinja

Derek | BoM June 2014
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The science is not that complicated. Automating the execution can be.

Seems to me that the biggest issue everywhere and always is that everyone is trying to automate both temp and humidity separately, but in the same space. But adjusting one means affecting the other.

In my newest humidor, I'll be separating the two. Temp control in the fridge and then sealed tupperdores inside that temp controlled environment.

Some guys here have been doing that long term and it works beautifully.
 
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The science is not that complicated. Automating the execution can be.

Seems to me that the biggest issue everywhere and always is that everyone is trying to automate both temp and humidity separately, but in the same space. But adjusting one means affecting the other.

In my newest humidor, I'll be separating the two. Temp control in the fridge and then sealed tupperdores inside that temp controlled environment.

Some guys here have been doing that long term and it works beautifully.
You’re quite right. All these ”all-in-one” units are attempting to control temp and humidity in the same “space”. The unit I’m testing with and have made some slight modifications to, for those testing purposes, is doing exactly as you describe. It is attempting to control both, and having the same problems as everyone else in differing humidity levels throughout the cabinet. With the differing humidity levels in my current unit, I attempted to increase the humidity at the top of the cabinet and lower it at the bottom by increasing airflow with the unit 80% full. What I’ve found is that airflow, while very important as we want a unit where we don’t have to rotate stock on a regular basis, isn’t really the end all be all to ensuring a consistent humidity level throughout the cabinet.

Out of the box, like almost every model on the market, my unit, was reading 70% on the bottom shelf, 67% in the middle, and 65% at the top. It works out for me as I store my aging cigars on the bottom, my NC in the middle, and the cubans up top…however all 3 of my Govee’s in the unit (all calibrated before the expirement using 2 different methods to ensure accuracy) are showing the same temp & humidity roller coaster that we’ve seen in other’s screenshots….Constant up and down, albeit only 1-2%/º. Compressor & Humidity chamber are fighting each other…There are times when the compressor and the heater are running at the same time!

The first test, where I increased the airflow in the cabinet (adding a few more fans), began the process of stabilizing the humidity but there are core problems with the humidity chamber. As StogieNinga pointed out, temperature and humidity are independently controlled in most, if not all of these units. It’s very clear that most of the units were not designed by someone who smokes and ages cigars.

In my second test, I’ll be staying with the temporary modded in PC fans as well as attempt to control the humidity output more efficiently. From there, if all goes well, I will have a basis from which to create electronics for a custom unit. If airflow is planned for the usage of the unit, humidity output & temperature are controlled, you can achieve an efficient unit which, in theory, should retain a consistent temperature and humidity level throughout the cabinet, without the need for sealed tupperdores on each shelf. The one key point I’ve found is that if the air is cycled throughout the cabinet after an adjustment of temperature & humidity, the consistency across the cabinet is substantially improved.

While I like the idea of drawers with sealed containers inside, that defeats the purpose of having the Spanish cedar drawers for one, and secondly you have to have humidity control for each container on each shelf. That is an investment in Boveda. The goal of my custom build is efficiency first, silence second, beauty third so the tupperdore idea is decent, I could always throw a sheet of Spanish cedar in the bottom of each tupperdore…if all else fails, but I think I’m onto something with my idea…The second test will tell me whether I’m right or wrong.
 
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Quick update: The Raching MON series seems to have ‘sort of‘ the right idea with multiple humidity and temp sensors combined with multiple fans to distribute the air. What I’m unable to get from their customer service department (based in China) is how the fans and sensors interact. The unit I’m currently mocking up for a prototype will take these readings into consideration when operating the differing systems in the unit. Based on the test of a friend who owns a MON1800A, we’ve determined that his levels are much more stable than those in my Schmecke unit which tends to look more like mountain peaks & valleys (+/- 2% RH | +/- 2ºF) than a nice flat line like his MON1800A. My friend has purchased a couple additional Govee units to place on each shelf and we’ll test for a week or so (cabinet closed the entire time) to see what the results are like. I’m curious to see if the RH remains fairly constant throughout the cabinet. The RH readings combined with power consumption readings (kill-o-watt meter attached to the unit) over the course of the week should tell us how the system is handling the air flow and managing consistency of both RH & temperature throughout the entire cabinet.

The test that will follow that will be another week where the humidor is opened once to twice daily and measuring the recovery period back to ‘flat line’, to see how the system compensates for air exchange with a relatively dry outside climate (what I’m thinking is worst case scenario). One thing I’ve been thinking about with the prototype unit is a system similar to what stores use where they have sliding glass doors. They’ll blow a stream of outside air, or heat in some cases, down just behind the door as a ‘wall’ of air to insulate the inside of the building from the outside environment. This might be something that is needed to help prevent the exchange of air from the outside environment into the humidor/cabinet, especially if recovery is a problem.

Ok I think that’s enough for now, will update more once we have completed the tests and are ready to move into true prototype phase…
 
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