How important is maintaining a steady temp

[jhedrick83]

Update- if anyone is interested in the progress. Without any humidification the Rh inside was 55 after 24 hours. Justin recommended I use the Bead Calculator to determine the amount of KL I needed, which was 6#. Justin recommended doubling that. So I bought some KL, went by Petsmart and bought all of the nylon mesh drawstring bags they had in stock (4), filled them with KL and filled 2 large cookie sheets and added 2# of HF beads in drawstring bags. I misted everything with distilled water, but didn't get carried away. These are scattered throughout the winedor. Will check Rh tomorrow and see where I stand and adjust from there to get it dialed in close. I am shooting for 63-65 Rh, which is what my cigar are currently acclimated to. As a first time KL user I will say it takes a bunch of the stuff to make 8#. Progress has been made.

Keep us posted!

[Old Smokey]

Keep us posted!

Thanks Jesse, will do.

[Old Smokey]

Checked it this afternoon and both top and bottom humidity levels were reading 61rh. I had spritzed the KL non aggressively yesterday and gave them a little more DW and closed it up. Temp was a little high at 72f, so I turned on the cooling for about a minute and it dropped to 68f. Going to let it sit closed overnight and read it when I get home from work at 2pm. I think I am getting close to transferring my cigars. I need to begin thinking on how I want to organize it. I am still really pumped to get this setup and learning to maintain it. So far, so good.

I also got out my 2 Oust fans and plan on using them about 3 shelves apart for a little air circulation on the shelves holding the loose cigars. Gonna have to take up quite a bit of space with empty cigar boxes. Won't be as much intermitant circulation as I want, but will have to do for now.

[Old Smokey]

@jhedrick83

Jesse, if you want to move this to the appropriate forum, I would appreciate it. Kind of took a different spin than I had originally intended.

[jhedrick83]

@jhedrick83

Jesse, if you want to move this to the appropriate forum, I would appreciate it. Kind of took a different spin than I had originally intended.

Moved to the accessories sub-forum.

[Old Smokey]

Moved to the accessories sub-forum.

Thanks Jesse for putting this where it belonged. I didn't want to be "THAT" guy.

Ok, well I am going to load it up this evening. Checked the RH when I was home for lunch and both hygrometers read 63rh. That's close to where I want it and my cigars are all acclimated between 62-65. It will also help when I get more empty boxes to fill some space.

[NeverBend]

Lol, just typed your pm reply before coming here, but I will recap.

Double check to be sure it's a thermoelectric. Data sticker will be on back of unit. N'finity's I've seen my n 170 bottle all run off compressor with r134a refrigerant. Even if it is though, If I could buy it for 1/10 the origin price, I'd be all over it. Even if left unplugged as a cabinet. A PERFECT sealing cabinet I may add. The door seals on these are high quality and would hold rh very well as long as unit is sealed inside.

This last year I've stopped worrying as much about temps since going to a "freeze all incoming sticks" policy. That being said, I do keep my cabinet at around 68'f.

To some other questions you pose. I would smell the wood they used in the unit for sale. I do not believe they are using a strong scented wood like Red Cedar. And as long as the wood used had no strong smells I would have no issue storing cigars in it. All boxed cigars can be kept as is, all singles would have to go into a bin, or tray anyways. The Spanish cedar is mainly used in refriderator or wine cooler style units just for that pleasant aroma and as an RH buffer.
It's not mandatory for good cigar storage by any means.

As to HF beads holding RH, absolutely. Especially if it seals as well as I think it will. My cab. has a so-so seal, but no where near as good as an N.finity. I'm using a couple pounds of HF beads (from the Winador days), along with about a dozen 65 bovedas, and about 10-15lbs of KL (did this for size vs.cost effectiveness). Even with my house hitting the lower winter RH of 35-38 I'm maintaining 62-63rh without issue.


Now as far as cigars handling fluctuation. I am of the belief that they can handle most temps. its RH shock that hurts more than anything. Like said earlier, I'm freezing everything for two days at -9'f . And have had not a single bad experience yet. The freezing route was done since putting all my stash in one location. A beetle issue would be devastating with all the eggs in one basket.

I hope this helps a little, and I look forward to hearing your outcome. And again, for that price, I'd buy it absolutely. Even unplugged its sharper looking than a cooler.

Troy,

Great post, worth re-posting nearer the top of the thread. I'll just comment around the edges.

Steve (@OldSmokey),

Great find, beautiful unit. Hope that it brings you enjoyment and great use for many years.

Counter intuitively, water vapor is lighter than air so it rises. The vapor expands and rises more rapidly as it warms (part of the answer of heat's effect on cigars). A closed environment differs from the atmosphere but it's height may be a factor.

I'd put the hygrometers at top and bottom (you may already have done so) until you understand any variance and then on the individual shelves to get the full picture. I agree with your intention to put beads throughout but be sure to put some at the top and then rotate those beads (as they absorb excess moisture).

From your pictures it appears that your shelves have been lacquered while Spanish Cedar, in humidors, is left unfinished so that the wood can absorb some moisture. Monitor condensation on the shelves. Individual (especially Spanish style or naked) cigars will readily absorb condensation that is in contact with them and it's possible that the underside of the cigars will dry (no moisture in the wood). Something to keep an eye on.

My vote, fwiw, is for evaporating humidity source such as the beads.

Enjoy,

Pete

[Old Smokey]

@NeverBend

Pete, great post and thanks for your feedback. This thing is going to be a learning experience. I have 3 hygrometers in it, top, middle and bottom. So far it seems very consistent with the top and middle at 63rh and the bottom at 62. I put 2 Oust fans in to help move a slight bit of air. I will keep an eye on the shelves as time goes along and see if a problem develops.

So far things look good IMO, but I haven't been able to find any threads anywhere where a big winedor was used. I am sure it's been done and talked about, I just can't find it.

Troy has been very helpful offline and has me pointed the right direction.

[Old Smokey]

Update- I spritzed the KL with a little more DW and the last 10 days the Rh is rock steady 63-65. Perfect!

Problem is the temp is also steady at 75f, which is higher than what I had hoped. Time to freeze everything, but our home fridge freezer is stuffed with food and can barely close it. So, I contacted a local meat shop that rents lockers in a huge freezer for $6.50 a month so I rented one of those. I loaded all of my cigars in to gallon freezer bags, then shrink wrapped them and put the bundle in a 30 gallon trash bag and taped it up. The bundle fit perfectly in a empty banana box and the box slid right into the meat locker. Since they are bundled I am going to give them 5 days in the freezer and then bring them home to slowly come back to temp and put them back in the wineador. Then freeze everything that comes in before putting them with the others. Shouldn't have to worry about the temp after that.

So far I am extremely happy with my setup. Time will tell. I do need to find a way to rig up some intermittent fans to move a little air. The 2 Oust fans in there help, but the box is pretty large. So far I open it at least once a day, so it does get movement that way.

Just thought I would update the progress.

[Old Smokey]

Freezing has been completed and since the cigars were bagged and loaded into an empty banana box and was about 10" thick with cigars, I let them freeze for 105 hours. I put the bags of cigars into a cooler, cracked the lid and let them slowly warm up for 24 hours. This morning I removed them from the gallon ziplock freezer bags and put them back into the wineador. I also had purchased 14 more cigars, so double ziocked them and put them into our home freezer until Monday morning. My target goal for storage is around 73-75f and 61-64 Rh and see how they smoke.

I am now waiting and will see where the Rh stabilizes, adjust if necessary and get back to smoking. I want to give special thanks to Troy @Trackmyer and Justin @jp1979 for their help in making suggestions and answering any specific questions I have had and sharing their knowledge and experience with me. I had to make a few adjustments, but I think my cigars survived flawlessly. And thanks to all who followed my setup.