Humidity Question in Vinotemp

V

v-gar

Young Chimp
So I've got my Vinotemp currently setup in my basement. I've got a 1 lb. tray of Heartfelt beads in there along w/ about 15 boxes of cigars. The problem is I can't seem to get the humidity below 71% and that's WITH the door open and the unit unplugged. If I close the door the humidity creeps up to 72%. The temp remains steady @ 68 degrees regardless of the door's position.

Moving the unit out of the basement isn't an option right now and really shouldn't be an issue as I also have my Aristocrat down there and that's operating at a steady 67/67.

Any ideas on how I can get the RH down about 4% in the Vinotemp?

Thanks in advance.
 
v-gar said:
So I've got my Vinotemp currently setup in my basement. I've got a 1 lb. tray of Heartfelt beads in there along w/ about 15 boxes of cigars. The problem is I can't seem to get the humidity below 71% and that's WITH the door open and the unit unplugged. If I close the door the humidity creeps up to 72%. The temp remains steady @ 68 degrees regardless of the door's position.

Moving the unit out of the basement isn't an option right now and really shouldn't be an issue as I also have my Aristocrat down there and that's operating at a steady 67/67.

Any ideas on how I can get the RH down about 4% in the Vinotemp?

Thanks in advance.
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Introduce yourself in the new member section, folks here like to know a little about you.

As far as the humidity in the vino, I don't mean to sound stupid but are you sure your hygrometer is right, they are notorious for being off. If you haven't yet I would recommend salt testing the hygro.:ss
 
ggainey said:
Introduce yourself in the new member section, folks here like to know a little about you.

As far as the humidity in the vino, I don't mean to sound stupid but are you sure your hygrometer is right, they are notorious for being off. If you haven't yet I would recommend salt testing the hygro.:ss
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Thanks for the thought. The Hydro is dead-on. Calibrated it via the Humidipak and adjusted the digital accordingly.

I'll take your advice and post in the new member section.

V-
 
It might just be that the humidity in that area is 71%. If that is the case then I would make sure to dry the beads out and then they will work as well.
 
v-gar said:
Thanks for the thought. The Hydro is dead-on. Calibrated it via the Humidipak and adjusted the digital accordingly.

I'll take your advice and post in the new member section.

V-
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Are your beads clear, translucent, white, or a mix of clear and translucent? If they're too wet, they won't absorb any moisture. Especially since it's in a basement. What's the RH in the basement itself?
 
chenvt said:
Are your beads clear, translucent, white, or a mix of clear and translucent? If they're too wet, they won't absorb any moisture. Especially since it's in a basement. What's the RH in the basement itself?
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The beads are a mix of white and translucent. RH in the basement is 72%.

Again, thanks...
 
v-gar said:
The beads are a mix of white and translucent. RH in the basement is 72%.

Again, thanks...
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That would be one reason you can't get the humidity down. The beads are still damp and need to be dried out to bring down the humidity. Having an ambient humidity of 72% around it would definitely keep the humidity high inside when the door is open. :tu
 
I'm having a hard time with mine also. I'm starting to think that my beads were mislabeled. I have 2 lbs of 65% beads in my vinotemp and this thing is pretty much pegged on 70%.

What is the best way to dry these way out so I can start from there and see what happens?
 
rizzle said:
I'm having a hard time with mine also. I'm starting to think that my beads were mislabeled. I have 2 lbs of 65% beads in my vinotemp and this thing is pretty much pegged on 70%.

What is the best way to dry these way out so I can start from there and see what happens?
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My heartfelt beads were over humidified too...the beads I got from Shaila were dead on.

I think the heartfelt beads have instructions to put them in the oven at 180 degrees to dry them out. I would email heartfelt to verify that it is 180.

What Shaila had me do is, put the beads into a ziploc bag with the hygrometer for 3 to 4 hours. Check the RH. Then take the beads out of the bag and put them on a plate. Put the plate in the freezer for 20 minutes. Then put the beads back in the ziploc bag for 24 hours and check RH again. Repeat as necessary.

The reason you wait 24 hours, is because it is SO dry in the freezer that it will dry out the beads on teh very outside...you need the inside beads to rehydrate the outside beads, and then you should have a lower RH.
 
rizzle said:
What is the best way to dry these way out so I can start from there and see what happens?
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When I accidentally got mine too wet, I used a hair dryer at the lowest setting without any heat. Just took the beads and put them in a large plastic container and gently used the hair dryer over them until they turned all white.

Just becareful not to blow them out of the container and all over the floor.
 
rizzle said:
I'm having a hard time with mine also. I'm starting to think that my beads were mislabeled. I have 2 lbs of 65% beads in my vinotemp and this thing is pretty much pegged on 70%.

What is the best way to dry these way out so I can start from there and see what happens?
Click to expand...

You can also lay them out on a cookie sheet and put them at the oven at about 200 degrees..
 
poker said:
To get the RH down where you want it, I would suggest removing the cigars into a temp storgage and dropping a bag or 2 of desiccant (moisture absorbant) into the humi for a day or so or until the humidity drops below where you want it, then introduce 65% beads until the humi is stable before re-introducing your cigars.
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Good advice taken from this thread. :tu
 
Here is the easiest way to suck moisture out... Set the Vino really low, like as low as it will go. This will cause the Peltier element to condense moisture out of the air fast. Funnel that condensate into a container and discard every day. This will dry out the beads. Once the beads are white, set the system back to normal and let the environment tune in. Then see what your humidity is.

Did you get 70, 65 or 60% beads?

I have a Vino with about 1.5 lbs of 65% beads. I keep my temp around 65F and my humidity stays somewhere between 62-65%.

Do a search for Vinotemp, there are more threads on this than you can shake a stick at.
 
You can put the beads inside a knee high stocking, and spread out on a counter. With a blow dryer set to low, dry them out. Just keep turning the knee high every so often. This way you don't have to worry about losing any.:ss
 
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