Originally posted by auton0my: I have 3 fridgedoors... you WILL definitely fill them quicker than you expect.
Hey auton0my, looking forward to it.
Please enrich our thread and share some pics if you have any spare time laying around!
-aphexafx
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
Originally posted by auton0my: I have 3 fridgedoors... you WILL definitely fill them quicker than you expect.
Hey auton0my, looking forward to it.
Please enrich our thread and share some pics if you have any spare time laying around!
I will endeavor to take some pics in th enext couple of days M. But, there isn't much to look at - I dont have spanish cedar shelving. I dont have plastic condensation diverters, no fans to move air. It's pretty much feature-less. All there is to see is 3 wine fridges filled with boxes of cigars, a pound or 2 of beads, and a hygro at the top and bottom of each.
But, I will add my 2 cents to the thread -
It is extremely important to get rid of as much of the foam out-gassing (plastic smell) as possible. If you fail to do this you risk tarnishing your smokes with the outgassing odors. Those who think that this step is not as important as advised do so at their own risk.
And, if you keep the difference between inside and outside to as little as possible you will have far fewer RH swings and condensation formation. This happens because the cooling device does not have to work as often or as hard.
Also. buy another fridge BEFORE you need it. This gives you the time to 'prepare' it for use when it is needed. The outgassing process can take months in my experience.
oh im still here...been followng along and am pleased on how well this thread has taken off. YES! im am going to get one. found one at walkmart that im going to buy.
i see there has been a few questions about condensation.
here's the thing about condensation: It will only form when the difference between the inside of the cabinet and ambient air are substancial. here's a link to a chart with temp deltas for when condensation will form.(scroll to the bottom of the page, go to Part 4 of the document, and select the section labeled condensation:
Worked on my humi/cooler all day. I really like it. still building the trays and they will take the top 2 shelves for all my singles. I have the Cigar Oasis running in the bottom, and its already holding steady at 66/65! I have a little bit of a plastic smell, so washed it down, put some cedar in their and am letting it run overnight. Hopefully the smell will be gone by then. Just waiting on the heartfelt beads to come.
Posts: 190 | Location: U.S.A. | Registered: March 27, 2008
allfor, that's great that you had time to work on your setup. When I opened mine up this morning I could smell some plastic as well, so I'm going to let it sit open all weekend and see if it dissipates. It's just a mild plastic odor, so I'm not too worried about it - but auton0my stressed this point and I can imagine he is speaking wisdom.
Also, salibas, thanks for the condensation info!
-aphexafx
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
So far everything I've tried to plan has worked out freakishly well...(which is rare...)! I hope to have it back home and seasoning by the end of this weekend.
Cheers!
-aphexafx
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
NIce stuff there aphexafx.. go all out and make that thing amazing. Looking forward to more pictures. Did you wash the insides out? and try sticking a box of baking soda in the back, it keeps smells away. good luck
Posts: 239 | Location: Madrid | Registered: March 08, 2008
i like how you used the exisiting shelf wiring and wrapped the cedar around it.. I was thinking of simply making new shelves out of cedar, but this way, they will have the strength of the wire shelves, but with cedar in them... very smart...
are you planning on lining the humi with cedar as well ??
I stressed the point about the plastic out-gassing (that produces the smell) because it really is important (imo).
Try this experiment. Do what you were going to do over the weekend... but before using it and putting any cedar or cigars in - in an empty clean state, close the door and leave it closed for a day or two. Then open it and I expect you will be shocked as to how much the smell has 'returned'...and with an unexpected intensity.
The smell is a byproduct of the plastic/foam casing (that they use in the walls) curing. It is a process that releases a gas, that has odor.
Similar products that release gases when curing are glues, adhesives, silicone sealants etc...
ccsiglo, yes I did end up washing out the interior. A box of baking soda is an excellent suggestion too. Right now it is sitting open.
salibas, I'm going to see how the shelves work out alone for now, but I may install some extra cedar segments since I do have some left over. But I really like the mounting system in this unit so I think the wire shelf frames will be very handy indeed.
auton0my, the odor is very very mild, thankfully. I have to stick my head inside of it and really concentrate to notice it. But I will take your suggestion and let it season this weekend, and then check the odor at that point. Now, it is NOTHING like the plastic smell in a new large refrigerator. So I hope that it will be manageable without too much out time. I certainly DO NOT want to affect my cigars tho.
I'll post a pic of the mostly completed unit tomorrow for sure!
How is everyone else doing with their projects???
This message has been edited. Last edited by: aphexafx,
-aphexafx
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
Originally posted by aphexafx: Hey thanks for the kind words guys.
ccsiglo, yes I did end up washing out the interior. A box of baking soda is an excellent suggestion too. Right now it is sitting open.
salibas, I'm going to see how the shelves work out alone for now, but I may install some extra cedar segments since I do have some left over. But I really like the mounting system in this unit so I think the wire shelf frames will be very handy indeed.
auton0my, the odor is very very mild, thankfully. I have to stick my head inside of it and really concentrate to notice it. But I will take your suggestion and let it season this weekend, and then check the odor at that point. Now, it is NOTHING like the plastic smell in a new large refrigerator. So I hope that it will be manageable without too much out time. I certainly DO NOT want to affect my cigars tho.
I'll post a pic of the mostly completed unit tomorrow for sure!
How is everyone else doing with their projects???
Great work man. I wish I had the tools. I love it.
UPDATE: Havent gotten the shelfs in yet, but there was no initial smell, so I went ahead and put them in. Its holding steady right at 65/65. Sadly, its basically already full. I will take them out and show some porn someday. PLPC 50 cabinet taking up most of the back. No Drawer to hold the singles yet. So singles still in bags on top shelf.
Allforcigars, got mine at the righ temp and everything. Thought my humidity was holding well but its not. Got an Oasis XL on the way to help me out though. Justin
"Be a kind and gentle person when the world will let you."
Posts: 161 | Location: East Texas | Registered: December 12, 2007
allfor, you have a great stash in there, buddy! I would like to raid your humidor very much. I'm glad it's working out for you. Thanks for sharing your pics.
Justin, did you order a Cigar Oasis XL Plus? I think you will be happy with it. Mine is pushing my unit to 80% RH (because I'm seasoning the spanish cedar) in five minutes and maintaining it perfectly. It recovers a ten second door opening in < 2 minutes. My Cigar Oasis is on the dot accurate as far as I can tell – I’m very happy about that.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: aphexafx,
-aphexafx
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
I finished my shelves and added some cedar planks to the cooler body, lugged the thing back to my place, hauled it up eleven flights of stairs because our elevator is being serviced , and it is now seasoning at room temp (~72 deg. F).
auton0my, I closed it up all day before bringing it home and then checked the plastic odor, and it was undetectable. So I'm going to go ahead and season it and I'll keep checking it as I go. I think I'm going to be ok though! But now you've made me all nervous so I'll keep my nose on it.
Anyway, all that spanish cedar smells absolutely wonderful. The Cigar Oasis is maintaining the unit at 80% and keeping ahead of the thirsty cedar. When it stabilizes I will turn on the cooler and watch the condensation situation.
I have some tips:
- Spanish Cedar is bad nasty stuff. Wear a mask when working with it, or you will taste the dire bitterness for some time, and feel it in your chest. That can't be good. It also burns easily, so use sharp bits and blades and cut slowly to let the bits and blades clear.
- With your mask on tightly, lightly sand your spanish cedar with very fine sand paper and hand rub it with rag to get a smooth, slightly glossy finish on the bare wood. Spanish cedar takes to this quite well and will appear almost as is you've applied acrylic. (Don't apply acrylic or any other type of wood finish, obviously!) Also, be patient and let your cedar air-season to maintain the gloss - don't wet it down.
- Get some small felt pads and use them as feet on the bottom of your Cigar Oasis to silence it. The plastic interior of these cooler units conducts and amplifies the fan noise.
- Clean the interior glass pane with very hot water only. The smell of Windex (etc.) will linger. No need for that!
- Ultra-thin, industrial Velcro is cool. It can be used to adhere cedar planks to your cooler walls non-destructively.
salibas, thanks again for the link to that peliter device page with the condensation chart - very good read.
Plug the drain hole or leave it open? - that's my question for the week. Still waiting on some beads to buffer any condensation runoff from the peltier device...
I'm very happy with this project - can't wait to put my cigars in there.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: aphexafx,
-aphexafx
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams
, and it is now seasoning at room temp (~72 deg. F).