Help with Wineador build.

[NewYorker]

So i finally decided its time for me to start my wineador build. I decided to go with NewAir AW-281E. Figured i will regret going small at this point later on. I seen a couple of threads on this but wanted to get some more clarification from some people who finished buildings these. so my questions are:

1. I know it will come with the plastic smell. What is the best way of getting rid of it.
2. Do i really need to make holes in the unit as i seen some other members done?
3. Do i need a drip pan?
4. This unit comes with metal/steel drawers, is it fine for them to stay for a while? (can't afford custom drawers yet)
5. Fan, is it necessary? If yes, i really don't want to screw with the unit as this all new to me. Any recomendations on a fan?

Any suggestions or recommendations are welcomed.

[gordo1473]

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/showth...or-Information

Heres a bunch of info and links

[Lapithicus]

I think I can help here. I set up my NewAir AW-281E recently.

1. Plastic smell: Don’t rush it. First use Dawn dishwashing fluid to thoroughly clean it, then wipe it down with a mixture of baking soda and water. Let that dry overnight. It will take on a pasty white look. Wipe all of that out and let it dry. Then load it up with newspaper. Pack it in there. Let that go for a couple of days if you can. The carbon in the paper will absorb the smell. Do the baking soda thing again. I spent some time on this step since I wanted to be sure the smell was gone. Don’t put it in the sun to dry, that will warp the plastic – be patient.

2. The only hole you want to put in the unit is to widen the main drain hole in the back. This is a big step since it voids the warranty and you are doing some damage. It needs to be done, though, since you need to get some wires in there for active humidity if you are using that (Cigar Oasis) or for fans.

3. The drip pan is irrelevant. Since you should plug the hole in the back after you run the wires with tape or, as I recommend, with a glue gun, there is no way for water to drain anyway.

4. I used the wire trays with the unit until I was able to get my drawers built. They have wide spaces, so I took some string and closed up the spaces so my cigars wouldn’t fall through. Worked great and should work for an extended period until you can acquire the drawers.

photo2.JPG

5. I personally think fans are required. The unit didn’t seem to hold even close to the same humidity from the bottom to the top until I installed mine. I took a piece of cedar and mounted two 80 mm computer fans to it. I need to dig out the specs on those, but I found them at my local computer store. The main worry I had about the fans was the power source. I bought the following power adapter and wired it in parallel to the two fans: “PowerLine 90367 PowerLine 1300 mAh Universal Power Adapter with USB”. I found it on Amazon. It works great. I used a timer to run it for 5 minutes every hour. The rH is very consistent now.

I hope this helps. I was new to all of this when I started too, but I was able to get some great advice from fellow BOTLs. Ask any other questions you might have. It was really a fun project for me.

[JollyRogers]

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/showth...or-Information

Heres a bunch of info and links

Yay, someone is linking to that thread!

I think I can help here. I set up my NewAir AW-281E recently.

1. Plastic smell: Don’t rush it. First use Dawn dishwashing fluid to thoroughly clean it, then wipe it down with a mixture of baking soda and water. Let that dry overnight. It will take on a pasty white look. Wipe all of that out and let it dry. Then load it up with newspaper. Pack it in there. Let that go for a couple of days if you can. The carbon in the paper will absorb the smell. Do the baking soda thing again. I spent some time on this step since I wanted to be sure the smell was gone. Don’t put it in the sun to dry, that will warp the plastic – be patient.

2. The only hole you want to put in the unit is to widen the main drain hole in the back. This is a big step since it voids the warranty and you are doing some damage. It needs to be done, though, since you need to get some wires in there for active humidity if you are using that (Cigar Oasis) or for fans.

3. The drip pan is irrelevant. Since you should plug the hole in the back after you run the wires with tape or, as I recommend, with a glue gun, there is no way for water to drain anyway.

4. I used the wire trays with the unit until I was able to get my drawers built. They have wide spaces, so I took some string and closed up the spaces so my cigars wouldn’t fall through. Worked great and should work for an extended period until you can acquire the drawers.

photo2.JPG

5. I personally think fans are required. The unit didn’t seem to hold even close to the same humidity from the bottom to the top until I installed mine. I took a piece of cedar and mounted two 80 mm computer fans to it. I need to dig out the specs on those, but I found them at my local computer store. The main worry I had about the fans was the power source. I bought the following power adapter and wired it in parallel to the two fans: “PowerLine 90367 PowerLine 1300 mAh Universal Power Adapter with USB”. I found it on Amazon. It works great. I used a timer to run it for 5 minutes every hour. The rH is very consistent now.

I hope this helps. I was new to all of this when I started too, but I was able to get some great advice from fellow BOTLs. Ask any other questions you might have. It was really a fun project for me.

Great information and easy to understand! Honestly would like to include this in the thread Gordo linked above!

Good luck with your build Alex, let us know how it goes and post pics!

[NewYorker]

For humidity control, I'm going to use Heartfelt beads. I have about 1lb and hoping that will be enough. @Lapithicus thanks a lot for the info. especially on how to clean the inside. I'm really trying to avoid in making any holes in the unit until the warranty runs out at least, just in case. I was thinking of using either battery fans or maybe a computer fan with ribbon cable. This way maybe i'll be able to sneak it through the door without compromising the seal.
@JollyRogers I will post pics as i start the process. If everything goes well, i will receive the wine fridge late next week.

[NewYorker]

my other question would be if you guys know of any computer fan that comes with a thin ribbon cable? I'm also trying to find a Oust fan.

[NewYorker]

So I finally got the unit at home and it's currently stuffed with news papers. But now a new question arises. The max temp on the unit is 66, is it possible to increase the thermostat to higher temperatures? Let's say I would want it to go up to 69 or 70 degrees.

[Zeede]

My understanding is that a temp of 66 is fine, but you want your RH a little higher to compensate. Like 66 F / 73% RH.

[Lapithicus]

So I finally got the unit at home and it's currently stuffed with news papers. But now a new question arises. The max temp on the unit is 66, is it possible to increase the thermostat to higher temperatures? Let's say I would want it to go up to 69 or 70 degrees.

OK, you went there fast. You can't set the temperature higher than 66 degrees, but you can get a temperature controller that you can set the temperature you like on and it will power up the unit when it goes above that temperature, thereby cooling it back down. Then when it goes below your temp, it will shut the unit off. When the 281e starts up, though, it always starts at 54 degrees, so it will cool at that temperature until it gets back to your set temp. Saves on the run time of the wineador and theoretically the lifetime of the unit.

Here is a link to the one I bought for this purpose: Johnson-Controls-Digital-Thermostat-Control
You are getting in the advanced stuff, though (read: more $). Some B/SOTLs just put a cheap $5 timer on the unit and have it power up 5 minutes every hour and I hear that can be pretty consistent. Haven't tried that, though.

[NewYorker]

ok so tweaking the thermostat is starting to sound like a bigger project then i want to deal with at this time. I was hoping there was a quick fix with this.