Wineador Journal

[jeffturneraz]

I have been looking at all kinds of threads on wineadors preparing to start mine, and what I discovered was I picked up different little tidbits in every thread.

Sure 95% of the topics were just redundant and had been found in every thread that came before it but every once in a while, a particular question would get asked, then answered that really helped me out.

That being said I figured I would start a thread, and even if it gets burried, it will turn up in searches and either help someone some day or if nothing else, I will have a sort of journal of my build with dates and all that.

If you have questions, please feel free to ask but I should forewarn you that I have no idea what I'm doing, lol.


Craigslist

When I first heard of this option, I gave it a little thought, searched "wine cooler" and saw a few things but it seemed like nothing popped out and I remember thinking that with the prices I was seeing, I would rather wait until I could afford a new one for just a little more.

Then a few months later, someone posted they got their first one on CL for $50, then replaced it with a bigger/better one later, also found on CL for only $60.

No way, I thought to myself, I must be doing it wrong. So I went back to CL and looked again, this time I started seeing more options, a lot more, maybe something to do with being closer to Xmas this time around and maybe people need money, who knows, point is stick it out and CL will def produce something good that is used and cheap.

I found a VinoTemp 16-bottle. Brand new (I looked it up right away) it was about $200, CL was selling it for $75, I emailed and basically said, not exactly what I wanted (that was the truth, I wanted a 24 bottle), but that maybe I could get this and then just buy what I really want down the road, would you take $50 for it. If they said no, I wasn't going to get it. I actually wanted an excuse to not get anything.

To my surprise, the lady wrote back right away and said yes, so now...I'm in, no backing out.

Here it is as soon as I got it home:

When I went to pick it up, I used the flashlight on my phone to inspect the interior to make sure there was no mold, opened and closed the door to make sure the seal was tight, and plugged it in to make sure the fan came on and that it began to cool. All checked out so onto the cleaning...

BTW, does anyone know if these wooden shelves would be safe to use temporarily since it didn't come with metal racks?


Cleaning it out

This is where I have no idea what I'm doing other than what I have read. Research and helpful BOTL'ers have gotten me to this point.

My wine cooler (being used and broken in), I didn't think I would need to go through the cleaning measures most with new ones do. She told me it was 2 yrs old, that she used it for 6 months, then upgraded to a bigger model so this one had been sitting unplugged for 1.5 years.

I was wrong about not having to clean it.

This is what I went out and bought later that day:
From Grocery Store:
Baking soda
Tupperware for Kitty Litter (go for as much surface area as possible)
Sponges
Distilled Water.

From PetSmart:
Exquisicat Kitty Litter
1 99 cent media bag
Spray bottle

This may be a little overboard but when I bought my sponges, I bought the Scotch Brite Greener clean because it was there, and is made of natural plant fibers and I'm no sponge expert but didn't know if there were any chemicals in the regular sponges.

Here is the Kittle Litter

So not thinking I needed to scrub it down and also having no clue how KL worked, I completely drenched my bowl of KL, stuck it in there alongside an open box of Baking Soda, then let it sit for 24 hours.

I thought this would be all I needed to do...here is a pic

Well I opened the door the next day and the humidity was through the freaking roof (think rainforest) and was hit with a pretty strong smell of plastic.

So using distilled water and baking soda, I scrubbed the inside down, let it dry. Then I got a new sponge out of the 3 pack and with a fresh bowl of D.W. only, I cleaned the residue of the baking soda off.

This took 3 times. Fresh water scrub down; let air dry; pour brand new bowl of D.W. and do it again, do this until there is little to no white residue left.

Newspaper

This is where I am currently. Don't have a pic but you don't need one, just picture this wine cooler stuffed full of crumpled newspaper.

Anyway, this step had me scratching my head, and still does to a certain extent.

Why in the world does newspaper do anything? Well again, through helpful advice and also my own research, this is what I have gathered.

While this will be nothing close to a scientific explanation, newspaper, is sort of light and porous, so it can soak up the ink easily when they print on it I assume. This characteristic I believe allows it to soak up moisture?...but in addition, I read someone saying something about there being charcoal to some degree in it.

I don't know how, why or if that is true, all I know is a whole lot of people do this, say it works, so I'm trying it.

It's now been 24 hours with the door closed and newspaper inside. When I get home I am going to try something I read, I'm going to plug it in and run the cooler with the newspaper in there.

It would seem that this is to soak up smell that comes from the motor, again, I'm just trying anything trial and error. I of course will first make sure to pull any newspaper away from the fan area before I turn it on, don't think that's a big deal but doing it anyway.

So that's all I got for now. I'll update as I go.

Hope this can help someone and if it can't I apologize for taking up the space.

 

[cgraunke]

Replace the kitty litter part with activated charcoal from the pet store fish filter media aisle, spread to as much surface area in the tupperware as possible. It's job is to absorb scent. (Like the newspaper, but I did both steps as well after doing the DW/baking soda & vinegar scrubs, then finishing w/ a full DW wipe down)
The kitty litter is for humidification once you're up and running. It comes out of the sealed bag already somewhat humidified. When you have your drawers/shelves/empty boxes in there seasoning and they get up around 75-80% RH, then add your KL trays/bags and you should stabilize in the mid 60's.
Just spritz (not soak) as necessary.

 

[StogieNinja]

Newspaper typically has carbon and the carbon helps to absorb and filter the odor. That's why folks use newspaper print.

For cleaning, I'd recommend a solution of distilled white vinegar and distilled water. The vinegar will literally eat any smell, and will evaporate to nothing.

Once you have the box clean and void of any odor, you now have a clean, airtight environment. The trick now is to maintain the rH, and as said above, that's what the KL is for.

Are you planning on ordering drawers or shelving from Forrest? If you are, don't start using the wine cooler for storage. You'll need to season the stuff once it comes in from Forrest. If you're not, you'll want some empty Spanish cedar cigar boxes, you can get those at a local B&M or botls here might help you. But you want more than just a little KL to help act as a buffer to maintain the proper rH for your cigars, and the spanish cedar does a great job.

 

[jeffturneraz]

It comes out of the sealed bag already somewhat humidified.

This ^^^^

Thanks for that.

A: I didn't know that

and

B: I would have killed to have read this 2 days ago during the hours I spent scouring threads.

Hopefully that helps someone

Disclaimer on A: I was told by a helpful brother after I had messed my first try up, to put them in there for maybe 6 hours with nothing on them, then spray accordingly, a little at a time until I got it up to the right number.

I think the key (for anyone learning) is raising it is easy, adding water can always be done, but people have the same KL for years, that's because it holds onto water, so I don't think you can lower it other than just starting over.

I understand that over time, you have to go in and spray to bring it up a few percentage points once in a while, depending on if it's Summer/Winter, etc.

*If at anytime I say something incorrect, which could well be this whole thread, please someone jump in and correct me.*

 

[jeffturneraz]

Newspaper typically has carbon and the carbon helps to absorb and filter the odor. That's why folks use newspaper print.

For cleaning, I'd recommend a solution of distilled white vinegar and distilled water. The vinegar will literally eat any smell, and will evaporate to nothing.

Once you have the box clean and void of any odor, you now have a clean, airtight environment. The trick now is to maintain the rH, and as said above, that's what the KL is for.

Are you planning on ordering drawers or shelving from Forrest? If you are, don't start using the wine cooler for storage. You'll need to season the stuff once it comes in from Forrest. If you're not, you'll want some empty Spanish cedar cigar boxes, you can get those at a local B&M or botls here might help you. But you want more than just a little KL to help act as a buffer to maintain the proper rH for your cigars, and the spanish cedar does a great job.

I was planning on possibly both. More than likely won't order drawers from Forrest until middle of next month, that puts me at like 3 months away from having drawers.

Was planning on using cigar boxes, I have a bunch, and then putting the drawers in whenever that happens.

Should I not do that?

 

[cgraunke]

The boxes work good. I did the same. Very cost effective, just a bit of a Tetris game to maximize storage.
If they are out in the open air right now though, you want to put them in the clean wineador with some dishes of DW to season until humi rises above 70-75%, the remove water and replace with KL.

 

[jeffturneraz]

The boxes work good. I did the same. Very cost effective, just a bit of a Tetris game to maximize storage.
If they are out in the open air right now though, you want to put them in the clean wineador with some dishes of DW to season until humi rises above 70-75%, the remove water and replace with KL.

I'm with you on seasoning the boxes, then putting the dry KL in, wait to drop, then spray...

So as far as switching from boxes to brand new drawers down the road, I'm assuming I can just stick my smokes in a tupperdore for however many days until the new drawers are ready.

 

[cgraunke]

Or pre-season the drawers in a separate enclosure. (Cooler?)
Whatever is easiest for you, just so long as there is no dramatic shock in the transition.

 

[sofc]

Here's what I did when I got mine.

1. Take it out of the car.
2. Put it in basement.
3. Put cigars in it.
4. Put beads in.
5. Wait 8 years. Time's up, maybe I should go check it.

 

[jeffturneraz]

Here's what I did when I got mine.

1. Take it out of the car.
2. Put it in basement.
3. Put cigars in it.
4. Put beads in.
5. Wait 8 years. Time's up, maybe I should go check it.

You shouldn have just skipped step 1, then if you get in a traffic jam you could light one up or wizz in the KL

 

[sofc]

Wasn't trying to be funny. That is what I did. Have had no real problems with it since then.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[BrittS88]

See... I can never tell if Ara is joking, being sarcastic, being serious, or anything in between... Or if there is possibly more than one Ara? Or multiple personalitys? Or Mods that just post on Ara's profile.....

 

[stin187]

Great thread Jeff!!! I'm sure this will be helpful to many.

 

[CATom]

If your still having odor problems I used a wide shallow dish full of baking soda and let it sit running for a few days. Haven't had one funny odor yet! Figured if it works for the fridge...

 

[Tag9485]

Newspaper typically has carbon and the carbon helps to absorb and filter the odor. That's why folks use newspaper print.

For cleaning, I'd recommend a solution of distilled white vinegar and distilled water. The vinegar will literally eat any smell, and will evaporate to nothing.

Once you have the box clean and void of any odor, you now have a clean, airtight environment. The trick now is to maintain the rH, and as said above, that's what the KL is for.

Are you planning on ordering drawers or shelving from Forrest? If you are, don't start using the wine cooler for storage. You'll need to season the stuff once it comes in from Forrest. If you're not, you'll want some empty Spanish cedar cigar boxes, you can get those at a local B&M or botls here might help you. But you want more than just a little KL to help act as a buffer to maintain the proper rH for your cigars, and the spanish cedar does a great job.

I was planning on possibly both. More than likely won't order drawers from Forrest until middle of next month, that puts me at like 3 months away from having drawers.

Was planning on using cigar boxes, I have a bunch, and then putting the drawers in whenever that happens.

Should I not do that?

I did all the above when I got my newair. I threw the newspaper in for a few days after the bath with baking soda. Still didn't do it so I got some activated carbon from my work and let it sit for a few days. I think it was the three punch combo that did it.

As for the seasoning the drawers, I was running out of space in my humi so once the smell was gone I put the KL in and put my sticks in boxes. Being that it took awhile for the drawers my collection had dwindle back to barely fitting in the humi when they got here. I pulled the KL out and threw the drawers in with a sponge/saucer combo on each drawers for a week or so to season. Once it was stable, sticks went back in with my uncharged KL. Took some tinkering to get the RH even(I don't turn the unit on or use the fan and it stays fairly stable) but once is was I haven't messed with it a lot since. It's been set up for about a year now.

Sorry so wordy, just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

 

[jeffturneraz]

Thanks for the responses.

Helpful hint I just figured out...

If your home AC struggles a little to maintain temp you set it on, so will your wineador.

Take it from me, before you get your KL dialed in, get your internal temp dialed in first. After finally getting my RH to 65, I realized in my particular situation, I had to set the temp to 50 degrees, the lowest setting I have, to get my internal temp to 65.

Now my RH dropped to 58, ha...sheez.

This may be a tricky situation for me.

Looks like I have to figure a way to keep the temp down, maybe covering wine cooler with something during the day, or looks like I will have to manually adjust controls at night.

Only other option which is just a personal problem, is putting it in my sons room as that is the only room that naturally stays cool during the day.

Hopefully I won't have to do that.

 

[jeffturneraz]

I'm convinced my hygro is off on temp, but so far, this whole KL has been testing my patience.

When my hygro reads 65 degrees, I can't get my wineador to retain any humidity. If you read my last post, after achieving 65%, I realized the reading on my Vinotemp was wrong. I realized that I had to adjust cooler at a setting well below 65 to achieve that temp.

Anybody know if there is a certain temp where air stops really holding moisture? I had a bowl of DW only with my hygro reading 65 degrees, and the RH would not rise.

 

[jeffturneraz]

Wondering if anyone experienced really long "settling period" with their KL.

After probably too much tinkering, I decided to leave the KL alone, also avoided opening the door for 3 days now.

3 days of no spraying, door closed, and the RH goes up and down like a yo-yo still, goes from 60% up to 72%, back and forth.

(Drain hole is plugged / ambient temp where it sits fluctuates a lot)

 

[jeffturneraz]

Just a quick update, after over week of no luck with RH, I moved the unit out of my kitchen, as the ambient temps in there are just too volatile.

Used the back up plan, which was put it in my sons room, as the ambient temp in there are pretty consistent. So far so good.

I think this was my problem I was having with the KL....now that it is in a more stable room in the house, it's holding steady.

Whenever i get past this drawn out stage of getting my RH/Temp dialed in, I will post more pics and get the drawers ordered.

 

[jeffturneraz]

It's been about 2 months since I posted any progress with my wineador.

Been running like a dream and my cigars smoke noticeably better now that they are stored in these conditions.

Posting today because I finally, just 10 minutes ago, placed my order from Forrest for drawers to finally complete this process.

I understand I could be waiting a while for them to get here, but in the meantime, for the past 2 months, I rigged it up as such....

I grabbed some cedar strips from the walls of an empty cigar box, and nailed them together to create 2 slats that bridge across to for a platform.

I order a cedar tray from cheap humidors just a few days ago, so when that gets here (next few days, rushed shioment) I will be able to spread my cigars out more, because as of now they are all stacked high in these little boxes.

I'll post pics of the drawers when they get here and wrap this thread up. Thanks for allowing me the space to post about my "build." Not sure if it's ever as fun as the first time, but this first wineador build for me has been really fun.