Wineador getting worse... HELP!!!!

[PuffPuffSigh]

Just my 2 cents.

1. If you are in southern California as I am and in the valley, it has been hitting in the high 90s. Upstairs in an unconditioned house, probably in the 100's. That poor little unit is having to work pretty hard. If it is keeping below 75 in this heat I think you are fine. I would put it downstairs in a shaded corner.
2. If you are draining fluid you are pulling your humidity. Again sucker is running all the time and water will condense. You idea above sounds good to re-circulate.

3> all else fails put them back in cooledor with ice packs on the hot days. Worked for me for years.

I am in SoCal. The thing is the upstairs room last night when I took those measurements was about 75 degrees. I took an ambient temperature reading near the humidor. Even if this was the case, it is really disconcerting that the Whynter unit says on the control unit that the temperature is X degrees and 3 internal thermometers say it's X + 10 degrees.

2. I hope when I figure out the temperature thing that the humidity issue will settle since the unit won't be running 24/7

3. Ice packs seem like a good idea!

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

I decided to try something else. I couldn't put the drawers on the bottom shelf locations because the backs would get wet from the condensation running down the back wall. I removed the drain system I installed along the back wall and unplugged the drain hole. I drilled a hole in the bottom rear of the humidor and ran a length of tubing from the outside drain back into the humidor and into a catch basin at the bottom of the humidor so the water stays in the ecosystem of the humidor. I moved the drawers to the bottom and put the shelves up top. I'm not sure this is going to do much since the boxes block the fan almost as much as the shelves do... It's stabilizing now so we'll see but so far the thermometers are reading 10-12 degrees above what the cooler says it's at.....

The drawers or boxes up close to the cooling unit may very well be your issue. If the thermistor that measures inside temp is mounted in the cooling unit and has a drawer or box against it the cold air from the cooler could be trapped and leading the unit to believe its cold enough. Even though the hygrometers are showing you the realistic temps.

It still won't cool it down to what it says is the max. Won't go below what the sensor thinks is 59-60 degrees. I think you may be right about the drawers and boxes. The only solution then is to not store cigars in the humidor and have a fully working empty fridge that is perfectly cooled and humidified. FML

 

[CWS]

I would take a couple of small blue ice paks. Wrap each in a light towel and put one on either end. Fans moved the cooler air around.

 

[Trackmyer]

I decided to try something else. I couldn't put the drawers on the bottom shelf locations because the backs would get wet from the condensation running down the back wall. I removed the drain system I installed along the back wall and unplugged the drain hole. I drilled a hole in the bottom rear of the humidor and ran a length of tubing from the outside drain back into the humidor and into a catch basin at the bottom of the humidor so the water stays in the ecosystem of the humidor. I moved the drawers to the bottom and put the shelves up top. I'm not sure this is going to do much since the boxes block the fan almost as much as the shelves do... It's stabilizing now so we'll see but so far the thermometers are reading 10-12 degrees above what the cooler says it's at.....

The drawers or boxes up close to the cooling unit may very well be your issue. If the thermistor that measures inside temp is mounted in the cooling unit and has a drawer or box against it the cold air from the cooler could be trapped and leading the unit to believe its cold enough. Even though the hygrometers are showing you the realistic temps.

It still won't cool it down to what it says is the max. Won't go below what the sensor thinks is 59-60 degrees. I think you may be right about the drawers and boxes. The only solution then is to not store cigars in the humidor and have a fully working empty fridge that is perfectly cooled and humidified. FML

Not saying that.. Just offering that if the cooler says it is a certain temp and the display shows it. But the actual temp is higher then we need to find out why.

I would take your old cooler and put all the drawers and sticks in it which would leave your wineador empty. Let it run 10-12 hours with nothing in it but a hygrometer on top , in middle, and on bottom. After this time see what your results are.

Does the wineador still show 65/66 with hygro's in mid seventies? If so, then you very well may have a bad thermistor unit or control board. Just like hygrometers go bad, thermistors may go bad as well.

However, if the unit shows same temp on display as the hygrometers show then your unit works, and we just need to find a solution that will be effective for you. It can be done.

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

Thanks Trackmyer, good idea for testing.

I put a thermometer in the back of the bottom level and the temp is much lower. It's so strange that with the unit fan and the additional fan I put in there that the cold air won't circulate to the front. I'm trying CWS's idea right now about ice. I put 1/2 gallon of ice in the bottom level and put a fridge fan next to it to push the air up the front. Let's see what happens.....

 

[Ctsvnino]

my wineador is acting up too. but been holding steady. keep it at 66 bottom stays 66/65 and top 66/70. its good in my eyes with no fans. cigars are fresh and smoke well every time. also i keep the loose in the drawers on bottom two and top i keep full boxes. what do you guys think?

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

my wineador is acting up too. but been holding steady. keep it at 66 bottom stays 66/65 and top 66/70. its good in my eyes with no fans. cigars are fresh and smoke well every time. also i keep the loose in the drawers on bottom two and top i keep full boxes. what do you guys think?

Damn you Ctsvnino! *shakes fist in air*

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

Humidor says it's 65 degrees

Top Hygro: 71.6 degrees 58%
Middle: 73 degrees 54%
Bottom: 71.6 degrees 59% (says 55% but it's off by 4%)

In lower right corner: 1/2 gallon of ice with a fan next to it pulling ice air in and shooting it up and forward which by some freak occurrence of physics hasn't cooled the humidor at all in past several hours.

HOW DOES A GIANT BAG OF ICE IN A FRIDGE NOT LOWER THE TEMPERATURE?!?!?! I'm going to start punching babies.

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

Screw it. I removed 3 shelves, consolidated 2 boxes into the drawers, stacked the rest together on one side of the humidor and opened up some airflow and it seems to be much better. Sucks I can't use the shelves that Whynter supposedly designed for this thing and have it circulate air and keep temp..... Their customer service is pretty fast at response but seem to copy paste any response that's remotely related to what I'm asking. They also seem to demand my product and warranty registration in order to provide answers to any questions. They also informed me that the unit is air tight and at the same time has a hole under the fan that leads outside to the back of the unit so water can drain out. Not sure how much sense that makes but ok......

 

[ZaneG]

What is the room temp?

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

What is the room temp?

75-78 degrees when I've been making these measurements

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

So just FYI. Whynter Wineadors are a giant pile of dog sh*t. I've been emailing them back and forth. They suck at getting me answers. They wouldn't answer for a while until I got them my warranty registration card "to provide better service". I ask a question and get no answer for a few days until someone apologies for the delay and then doesn't answer my question. Then I get an answer to one question about where the temperature sensor is on the unit. They say "Sorry for the delay. Please see the attached photos to locate the sensor" then they don't attach any photos. I write back saying there were no photos and oh yeah, what about my main questions.

I got a response with the pictures. Then they saying that you cannot put boxes or shelves in front of the fan (which takes up a 1/4-1/3 of the humidor) or the air will not circulate properly. I informed them that I removed 3 of the 5 shelves in order to increase air circulation and even removed every other slat on the shelves because these go-tards made shelves with tiny spaces between the slats as vents. Then I told them that putting 4 boxes on lowest possible shelf (after the 2 drawers are in) "blocks" the fan and the air isn't circulating. If I can't even put 4 boxes (2 of the boxes are boxes of 10 btw) then WTF did I buy this stupid thing for. I look forward to their response. And why does it cost $240 over an empty unit for the stupid shelves that a 12 year old could design to have better airflow. Here's a hint..... if it's that sensitive to blocking air flow, don't make almost solid shelves and drawers that are actually solid sided you stupid f*cks. And to top it all off..... I see that on amazon the unit I bought 3 weeks ago has dropped in price $33. FML. FML good.

 

[leoan]

Something i noticed with this wineador, try taking the readings with the hygros further in the shelves itself, not stuck to the outside of the drawers, you get a much highter RH reading as well as lower temp readings.

 

[PuffPuffSigh]

Something i noticed with this wineador, try taking the readings with the hygros further in the shelves itself, not stuck to the outside of the drawers, you get a much highter RH reading as well as lower temp readings.

I did try that before and you are right, the rear readings are much closer to what I'm going for. Problem is the location I'm taking the readings are where some of my cigars in the front of the drawers are located so they are being under humidified at high temperatures. And this shows the dramatic differences in humidity and temperature in a small 2.5 cubic sq ft area which is ridiculous. Apparently the sensor for temperature is right above the fan on the right. Great location geniuses. The coldest location in the unit is where you take the reading guaranteeing that the average unit temperature and what is displayed will almost never be the same. Someone get this company an award quick!

 

[cgraunke]

After everything you've gone through with this, and assuming you still want to try and use the cooling function, maybe it's time to try some fans to circulate that "pocket" of cold you seem to be dealing with.

Here's an angled front view of the computer fans I found, as well a top view from behind the drawers. These pull air in from the gap below my bottom drawer and shoot it up the back giving a much better use of space than a traditional pass-through computer fan (IMO) and I got them cheap on Amazon.
I only had about a 4%RH variance to begin with, but these evened it out, top to bottom, front to back.
Might be worth a shot for you...

 

[Jfire]

From a guy with some time on here and a few winadors. (I see your pain via your post) Freeze all your cigars and stop worrying about temperatures. Just look up freezing cigars here.

 

[thrasher66]

After everything you've gone through with this, and assuming you still want to try and use the cooling function, maybe it's time to try some fans to circulate that "pocket" of cold you seem to be dealing with.

Here's an angled front view of the computer fans I found, as well a top view from behind the drawers. These pull air in from the gap below my bottom drawer and shoot it up the back giving a much better use of space than a traditional pass-through computer fan (IMO) and I got them cheap on Amazon.
I only had about a 4%RH variance to begin with, but these evened it out, top to bottom, front to back.
Might be worth a shot for you...

I like those fans! Can you post a link. How difficult was it to tap the power and bring it inside the box? I have access to an electrician at work I just want to know how much time I would be asking of him.

 

[SFerrojr]

PC Fans are easy. No electrician needed. They run in 5V DC, simple two conductor cable off an AC/DC adapter. I haven't built my winedor yet, but have done them for a home theatre cabinet. Drill a small hole in the back of the fridge, cut the connector off, pass the wire into the fridge, and splice them back together. Deal the hole with a bit of silicone. If suggest a lamp timer to turn them on a few minutes every hour.

 

[thrasher66]

I just got my new shelves from John yesterday and thought maybe I could add something to the 'humidity is different in different spots conundrum'. I had my winador with a couple temporary shelves and about 200 cigars as close to 70RH as I could get it over the last couple months. That meant 69-71 on top/front and 64-67 at the bottom/front. And I was happy with that. Here is what I have that I believe is worth adding----> I pulled my cigars out last night to season my new shelves and put them in Tupperware. Top stuff in one. Middle stuff in one and bottom stuff in one. No humidity stuff in the Tupperware I wanted to measure just what the humidity of my cigars were in a more controlled environment. This is what I found. Bottom and middle cigars were a perfect 68 r/h. The cigars from the top shelf (where I had my better cigars) shot up to 75RH within half hour of going into Tupperware. I took the lid off and let them air out for 1/2 hour last night and this morning all three containers were EXACTLY the same R/H (68) was the same. The temperature to the tenth of a degree was the same. Conclusion: Since all my humidity material is 70% I decided I need to install a fan. Most of the cigars are sitting very nicely but the cigars on at the very top seem to be exposed to more humidity than I would like. I have found a couple cigars over the last month from the top shelf that were split which I think confirms my observations. The question now is what type of fan system to install.

 

[thrasher66]

PC Fans are easy. No electrician needed. They run in 5V DC, simple two conductor cable off an AC/DC adapter. I haven't built my winedor yet, but have done them for a home theatre cabinet. Drill a small hole in the back of the fridge, cut the connector off, pass the wire into the fridge, and splice them back together. Deal the hole with a bit of silicone. If suggest a lamp timer to turn them on a few minutes every hour.

Cool that is what I wanted to hear. Thanks Bro.