Vinotemp and RH

K

kwoody

ChestBeater
I picked up a Vinotemp about two weeks ago and just recently got the shelving and extra beads to go in it.
I have about 1.5+ of 65% beads in there. I also have a cup of distilled water in it.
I am sure it is normal for beads/hygrometer to not be spot on but should I be worried that the RH follows semi closely the RH outside the Vino(60-59% if you cant make it out in the picture)?
Is it super Important that the drain at the bottom gets plugged up? mine is not.
I also have had zero water/condensation from the Vino come out.
Are the RH readings something to worry about if the RH in the house were to change to something not as desirable?
Thanks in advance.

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(outside)
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two (of three) things of beads plus one is only Distilled Water

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(inside vino at top plus last of beads)

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(middle of vino)

And all they hygros were calibrate.
 
Dude you gotta throw some sticks in there. Not only do they act as little humidifiers themselves but they will occupy space in the vino which will make the area that the beads are stabalizing smaller. The more sticks and boxes and what not you throw in there the easier it will be to have a consistant RH level.:tu
 
gwc4sc said:
Dude you gotta throw some sticks in there. Not only do they act as little humidifiers themselves but they will occupy space in the vino which will make the area that the beads are stabalizing smaller. The more sticks and boxes and what not you throw in there the easier it will be to have a consistant RH level.:tu
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You mean cigars right?:ss There are some in there just didnt want to take my trays out (drawers would be infinitely better, alas)
 
Fill it up with boxes or shelves or whatever, fill the space up. Then put your hygro in one of the boxes and check on it a day later. Ambient RH isn't as important as the RH the boxes are holding.
 
Darrell said:
Too much empty space, seriously.
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:tpd: He knows what he is talking about.

I have a bunch of empty boxes I can send you if you are interested. They will help fill up the space and regulate the humidity.

Send me a PM if interested.:tu
 
gwc4sc said:
:tpd: He knows what he is talking about.

I have a bunch of empty boxes I can send you if you are interested. They will help fill up the space and regulate the humidity.

Send me a PM if interested.:tu
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Thanks! I will check my B&M and see if they do it before I bother you with such a request. Only bought two boxes (CAO 10th and RP Decades. Neither really cedar so I will try and find something acceptable.
 
So you need cigars to humidify your vino? For some strange reason I thought it was the other way around.

I don't own a vino but I do own a little common sense and if you don't open it for 36 hours the humidity should be well in excess of 65 with it being 60 in the room. You should be struggling to keep it down not get it up. The only disadvantage of lots of empty space should be the recovery time after it has been opened. The boxes should help regulate it but if there is a good seal a completely empty space should be able to maintain humidity.
 
Rolando, it's true that recovery time is a big issue with a lot of empty space, but it's not the only issue. The wood of the boxes and the cigars themselves will act as a buffer for the humidity, storing or releasing humidity to get to equilibrium with the air. In a completely sealed system with enough time, you're right that the humidity should keep rising with standing water in there. In the real world, though, no system is completely sealed, and the evaporative capacity of what he has may not be able to keep up with the extreme demands a mostly empty vino would place on it.
 
Sorry but my opinion is that if it can't to 65 or greater with a room rh of 60 there has to be a problem.

I completely agree that wood greatly assists humidification and cigars themselves actually do as well. However, if the container you intend to use cannot keep enough of a seal to maintain proper humdity when left unopened for long periods of time you are starting with a flawed system.

I think that vino has a bad seal somwhere.
 
Rolando, There is a huge difference between a passive and active system. Your theories are accurate for a passive system. But you are not taking into account the temperature control mechanism. Whenever, the Vinotemp cycles, humidity is removed from the air inside the cooler. By filling the Vinotemp with boxes, there is less free air and therefore less humidity removed. leading to a quicker recovery time.
 
I just bought my Vinos taking advice from several of these helpful guys here among others on CS and I'm not as far along as you yet. I need to buy some shelves and beads but for now, I just threw my 3 humi's and 1 empty box in the Vino for cool storage.

But I do know that Rolando has it right, it seems....

Rolando said:
I think that vino has a bad seal somwhere.
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And I think this is why:

kwoody said:
Is it super Important that the drain at the bottom gets plugged up? mine is not.....

And all the hygros were calibrated.
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I've been told that you've gotta seal that drain up. Use black electrical tape. This would, I believe, keep the humidity inside, instead of allowing it to escape.

And hey, how do you calibrate a digital humi? Just salt test to see how much it's off or am I missing something?
 
Silly me. I assumed the unit would be off since cooling is undesirable unless completely necessary. The room is only 74 degrees. I don't know why the cooling unit would ever be on unless the room was maintaining 80+ degree temps for several hours during the day.
 
And hey, how do you calibrate a digital humi? Just salt test to see how much it's off or am I missing something?
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You can buy the kind that have the ability to be calibrated manually. Otherwise you just use the salt test to see how far it is off and keep up with it. Those Boveda calibration kits work too but you have to use your own ziploc bag with a double seal otherwise it can drive you crazy.
 
Yes, you HAVE TO PLUG THE DRAIN HOLE.
I'm gonna get a tattoo that says this. :)
There's no trap on a vino drain. If you don't plug it, you are trying to humidify the whole world with your beads. It doesn't work.
I've heard guys report that they didn't plug their drain and things are going along swimmingly. I can believe that, especially in the summertime with the RH hanging around 65%.
When the RH around the vino drops to 30% this winter, that story will change in a big hurry.
Guys, you gotsta plug the drain.
It's the same as having a 1/2 inch hole drilled in the front of your desktop humi.
 
shilala said:
Yes, you HAVE TO PLUG THE DRAIN HOLE.
I'm gonna get a tattoo that says this. :)
There's no trap on a vino drain. If you don't plug it, you are trying to humidify the whole world with your beads. It doesn't work.
I've heard guys report that they didn't plug their drain and things are going along swimmingly. I can believe that, especially in the summertime with the RH hanging around 65%.
When the RH around the vino drops to 30% this winter, that story will change in a big hurry.
Guys, you gotsta plug the drain.
It's the same as having a 1/2 inch hole drilled in the front of your desktop humi.
Click to expand...

I conducted an experiement with Shilala, actually I screwed up on my vinotemp setup and then we decided to do the experiement. I setup my Vinotemp with NO cigars in it. I didnt want them to dry out and my 'logical thinking' told me the boxes would hold the RH. So I filled my Vinotemp with boxes...about 16 to 20 cigar boxes that I got from my local B&M. I also tried to get the all wood kind. It took me a couple days but I did get the RH right and it held fine. When I introduced the cigars it just kept on trucking.
 
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