Vinotemp ceadar shelves/cooling unit .help

jeff_connors

Hello , got a question for the vinotemp carpenters/technicians out there . I made my self some custom cedar shelves for my 12 bottle vinotemp. The shelves smell of cedar heavily. ... my question is should I stain the shelves with anything(mineral oil?) , as i put in a test cigar, gave it a wiff after a few hours on the tray and the cigar smells like....cedar...not a cigar ..and yes it is Spanish cedar(Honduran mohonagy) not aromatic or anything else, its spanish cedar. how should i lessen the cedar smell...or should i worry about this. To make the shelves I got some unmilled spanish cedar, milled the wood and the made trays, sanded, finish sanded, the wiped each shelve with distilled water and put the shelves in the vinotemp... I put a pound of beads in th vinotemp and the humidity is great pretty much 70 the whole way though the cooling unit is broken...the peliter device somehow broke

bigharpoon

With concerns to the cedar my only guess would be that the un-milled cedar is also un-kiln dried. It probably has all the oils of the raw cedar that are released forever during the kiln drying process. This is why it is so aromatic and overwhelms the cigars.

niz33

bigharpoon:

With concerns to the cedar my only guess would be that the un-milled cedar is also un-kiln dried. It probably has all the oils of the raw cedar that are released forever during the kiln drying process. This is why it is so aromatic and overwhelms the cigars.

I agree. You should think about placing the trays in you oven.

jeff_connors

I checked , they where in fact kiln dried, the wood was just not pained and edged down,

kuzi16

niz33:

bigharpoon:

With concerns to the cedar my only guess would be that the un-milled cedar is also un-kiln dried. It probably has all the oils of the raw cedar that are released forever during the kiln drying process. This is why it is so aromatic and overwhelms the cigars.

I agree. You should think about placing the trays in you oven.

there is a reason for using "spanish" "cedar" and not "cedar."
Cedar (of the non spanish kind) is very aromatic.

come to think of it (this is why i put down cedar in quotes) spanish cedar is neither spanish nor cedar. Its actually part of the Mahogany family. in spanish its "Cedro" hence spanish cedar.

there is another type of wood that can be used in a Humidor, it is a mahogany, i just dont remember the name

the oils of the wood in "spanish cedar" have nothing to do with kiln drying. (since it is not actually part of the cedar family there is none of the "cedar" smell to it. mahogany and the related woods do not have the same aroma ) it has everything to do with working with wet vs. dry wood in work shop. if you work with wet wood when the finished product drys out it will warp and crack. if you dry it first you eliminate much of this problem.

jeff_connors

Yes Yes but "Spanish cedar" does have a smell....yes/no?....the shelves I made smell like the inside of my humidor(s) just multiplied by 2 or 3 .

kuzi16

everything has a smell to it. the wood will lose the smell after years of age. the kiln wont do too much. oils dont evaporate in a kiln. but they do break down over time.

cabinetmaker

As the Spanish cedar ages, it will lose the smell - gradually. Wait a few days, maybe even a week before you put cigars into it. This will give the natural oils in the wood time to dissipate somewhat. DO NOT stain it, your cigars will take on the smell of the stain. DO NOT use mineral oil, as it never dries, and will remain in the wood (and get on/in anything that touches it); and an oil soaked cigar will be much less pleasant than than one that smells like cedar. Mineral oil is flamable, and even a little bit on a cigar will cause some problems. OTOH, if you are someone (like me) who likes the aroma spanish cedar gives off, and your humidor no longer gives off any of that sweet smell, a light sanding will bring it back out. "...the cooling unit is broken..." Heat will also cause the wood to give off more of the scent, but it will also cause it to lose it's aroma quicker too. I hope that helped a bit.

jeff_connors

thanks! ............and hopefully the cooling unit is fixed...the Peltier cooler blew out...replaced it,,,no I have 6 extra Peltier coolers...anyone looking for one?

kuzi16

jeff_connors:

thanks! ............and hopefully the cooling unit is fixed...the Peltier cooler blew out...replaced it,,,no I have 6 extra Peltier coolers...anyone looking for one?

with the heat sinks?

jeff_connors

no just the modules...heat sinks aren't hard to find though...I was talking to a guy who used to scrap old vinotemps and other consumer electronics , power supplies and pelitiers in the coolers go quite often.....even though the peltiers are rated at 200,000 hours...i looked at the broken peliter I took out of my vinotemp, the PN junctions where completely degraded...weird.?.no?