Bought 2 NewAIr Aw-281E…Problems

TX98Z28

So I got two of these "Scratch and Dent Specials" from Air & Water. I cleaned them out, plugged them in, noisy as hell, I mean sounds like the fans are rubbing or something and a buzzing sound, they are almost unbearable to be around it's driving me nuts!

So is this normal for these coolers? Are they just loud?

To be honest I've bought a "Scratch and Dent" NewAir Aw-321ED from them before thats 2 years old and it has 4 thermo electric fans and just one of these AW-281E is louder than the AW-321ED with ALL 4 FANS RUNNING!

Looking for feed back on y'alls noise levels of this thing or the 280 or CC-300, they should all have the same fan/thermoelectric unit. I think I got hosed…  

matkn293

Probably why they are scratch and dent. Sounds like a bad fan or something rubbing. 

arch72

I have the Newair CC-300 and it does make some noise but it sounds like fans running 

TX98Z28

matkn293 said:

Probably why they are scratch and dent. Sounds like a bad fan or something rubbing. 

They do have some dents in the back, could have moved some things out of alignment when the damage happened.

TX98Z28

arch72 said:

I have the Newair CC-300 and it does make some noise but it sounds like fans running 

So no humming, rubbing sound or anything "annoying" with your CC-300? The sound these are making is flat out annoying, I could not smoke a cigar comfortably with in 10-15 feet of one of these, it's that bad. Honestly it makes a full size LG refrigerator sound pretty good. lol 

arch72

No nothing like that. I had it my bedroom for some time and when I turned a fan on in the room I couldn't hear the Newair over it

TX98Z28

Man I got hosed… Iv'e narrowed it down to one of the coolers being the main culprit, it's louder than the other one. The other one isn't as bad but still louder than my aw-321ed which is also in my bedroom, its got the 4 fans, it moves some air when it kicks on but these 281's sound like a damn freezer compressor running.

Maybe ill get lucky and they just need to run for a day or so to break in smooth out.

peter4jc

What is Air & Water's return policy?

arch72

Air and water return policy 

TX98Z28

Seems their return policy is straight forward no BS. Now I still got to get two aw281's back in their original boxes and then double box both of them. To make matters worse the Fedex driver left both my coolers in the fu**ing rain and just drove off, good thing I was home and saw them the outer boxes are water damaged pretty good.

This sucks! Wish I knew how to make them quieter, probably the fans just need adjustment or they're not screwed in all the way causing the sound.

The coolers cool perfectly fine, their just so damn loud.

I did do some digging around and some reviews say their aw281e isn't loud or annoying and others say its unbearable, seems its hit and miss even with the new ones.

I'm going to finish saying, I'm glad are cigars are NOT made in China! 

arch72

sorry to hear you had a bad experience brother

TX98Z28

Thanks Arch, It happens man just wish I could find a way to quite them down instead of sending them back. For me it's more of a hassle to send them back if all they need is 20 screws removed and things re aligned and tightened back up.

I know the scratch and dent can be 50/50 but two aw281e for less than $250 was really hard to pass on considering I missed the Cyber Monday sale.

This could be a sign I just need to get the CC-300 and be done with it and not have to wait on Forest to build me drawers and shelfs, those built were going to be like 420 shipped.

arch72

Is there any obvious damage to the back of them?

TX98Z28

Here's some pics, the damage is very minimal all to the back corners of the covers for the fan/ thermoelectrical components.

arch72

Have you packaged them up yet? If not try turning one one and put your hand on the back to see A) if there is any change in the noise level if there is any vibrations 

TX98Z28

Nope not yet, I'm cleaning out the pantry lol. I did notice the most damaged one is less noisy which makes no sense to me. I also noticed on both of them when they're on and have cooled to 66* after the fans whine down I open them up and push on the shroud that houses the fan and the humming noise reduces drastically. But then there is still an off noise on the out side of the back of the coolers that I can't pin point but it doesn't sound smooth as a fan unit should, sounds like a bad bearing/cattywampussound.

It honestly sounds like an old compressor on a deep freeze and these have no compressors. I think there going to have to go back, it's driving me insane. Sounds like I got lemons  

matkn293

I would mess around with it and see if you can get it to stop.  

TX98Z28

matkn293 said:

I would mess around with it and see if you can get it to stop.  

Thats my plan. Found out these things have two fans mounted at a 45* angle under the back cover then theres the one fan inside. I know now on the loudest cooler the inside fan shroud being pushed in quiets it down fixing the humming at the lowest speed.
 
Question is how to fix the fan shroud to have the extra tightness/weight on it.
Then messing with the back fans requires removing 12 screws for the back cover and whatever else in there that looks suspect.

Hopefully all it is is adjusting the fans alignment and screw tightness, Iv'e found that if things are over tightened with moving electrical components it can be bad also. 

I never thought my wineador builds would be such a PITA!

Wylaff

Always nice to find a deal, but you do get what you pay for...

TX98Z28

Wylaff said:

Always nice to find a deal, but you do get what you pay for...

I paid for scratch and dent, I've bought scratch and dent from them before with zero problems.

Hell time for a drink & smoke.

TX98Z28

I tried everything, tightened, loosened, gave it a wack or two the humming buzzing sound will not stop. This ones going back! Probably will send the other one back too. 

Time to reassemble and pack up, what a fu***ng PITA.

arch72

Sounds like you tried everything that really sucks that was a steal of a price 

TX98Z28

Yes it was. I contacted them for the return RMA, will see if they want to workout a deal or something to fix them. Cosmetic wise they were excellent the back covers are easy to take off and flimsy enough to pop the dents out re work the metal. I have a feeling they will want them back and will just send them to someone else to make money though.   

TX98Z28

Update, I got my CC-300 in Saturday morning. There was no cosmetic damage to the box or the unit after unpacking it. The spanish cedar smelled great, was stoked to get it seasoned, and completely filled until I plugged it in………….

Same s**t as both the AW- 281E's! Fact is its even louder than both of them! This was a new unit also, I am beyond pissed! More pissed that I have to repack the damn thing for the third time and send it back.

Next option is to get a CC-280E. It has a different thermoelectric unit and fan setup which should be quieter (I think it's the same as one of the AW-321ED fan/ thermoelectric units), has less temperature control an its wider but less depth, black instead of stainless steel but all the drawers and shelfs are made by Forest and are 3/8 thick, more wood for yearly sanding.

If that fails I will resort to building spanish cedar shelfs and drawers for the AW-321ED I already own that works flawlessly. Really don't want to finish out the 321ed as it will have very narrow drawers and selfs about 7-8" wide but they will be deep 14" and tall. Will have to wait a long while to get them made also. I don't have time to make them and really running out of patience…

Diver43

TX98Z28 said:

Update, I got my CC-300 in Saturday morning. There was no cosmetic damage to the box or the unit after unpacking it. The spanish cedar smelled great, was stoked to get it seasoned, and completely filled until I plugged it in………….

Same s**t as both the AW- 281E's! Fact is its even louder than both of them! This was a new unit also, I am beyond pissed! More pissed that I have to repack the damn thing for the third time and send it back.

Next option is to get a CC-280E. It has a different thermoelectric unit and fan setup which should be quieter (I think it's the same as one of the AW-321ED fan/ thermoelectric units), has less temperature control an its wider but less depth, black instead of stainless steel but all the drawers and shelfs are made by Forest and are 3/8 thick, more wood for yearly sanding.

If that fails I will resort to building spanish cedar shelfs and drawers for the AW-321ED I already own that works flawlessly. Really don't want to finish out the 321ed as it will have very narrow drawers and selfs about 7-8" wide but they will be deep 14" and tall. Will have to wait a long while to get them made also. I don't have time to make them and really running out of patience…

Sounds like you have a plan, but your comment about yearling sanding has me wondering.  Sand what and why?

avengethis

Not sure where you are living but a lot easier way for storage could be going the rout of coolers.  

TX98Z28

Diver43 said:

TX98Z28 said:

Update, I got my CC-300 in Saturday morning. There was no cosmetic damage to the box or the unit after unpacking it. The spanish cedar smelled great, was stoked to get it seasoned, and completely filled until I plugged it in………….

Same s**t as both the AW- 281E's! Fact is its even louder than both of them! This was a new unit also, I am beyond pissed! More pissed that I have to repack the damn thing for the third time and send it back.

Next option is to get a CC-280E. It has a different thermoelectric unit and fan setup which should be quieter (I think it's the same as one of the AW-321ED fan/ thermoelectric units), has less temperature control an its wider but less depth, black instead of stainless steel but all the drawers and shelfs are made by Forest and are 3/8 thick, more wood for yearly sanding.

If that fails I will resort to building spanish cedar shelfs and drawers for the AW-321ED I already own that works flawlessly. Really don't want to finish out the 321ed as it will have very narrow drawers and selfs about 7-8" wide but they will be deep 14" and tall. Will have to wait a long while to get them made also. I don't have time to make them and really running out of patience…

Sounds like you have a plan, but your comment about yearling sanding has me wondering.  Sand what and why?

Your spanish cedar will lose its luster/aroma over time thats essential to proper aging. This is completely normal as the ammonia gases from the fermentation process of aging takes place and some of it imparts it's way in to the wood from the exchange.
 
You remove your cigars and sand the spanish cedar using fine sand paper some say courser to re open the pores in the wood but 120 grit should be good enough to do the job as its still reopening the pores in the wood. Your spanish cedar aroma will be back strong again and once again providing the essential aroma for proper aging. That why the 3/8" wood is better. More wood to sand down for years to come and more wood to hold humidity, overall better aroma.

Also keep in mind strong full bodied cigars with more nicotine content will off gas more ammonia during aging, which means sanding once a year is a must!

  

TX98Z28

@avengethis, I live outside of Houston, it gets very hot here. The house can get around 80* during the summers with the A/C on. If I want a huge A/C bill I can keep it around 76 or lower but the bill gets outrageous. The wine cooler converted to humidor is the safest way to go for the cigars keeping them in the upper 60's for proper aging and to avoid the huge $400+ a month A/C bill.

avengethis

Yeah I know there are a few texas members here that I would be curious to know how they are storing.  For me in Wisconsin coolers are the best option for quantity and price however they are not as attractive as a wine cooler.

Yakster

TX98Z28 said:

Your spanish cedar will lose its luster/aroma over time thats essential to proper aging. This is completely normal as the ammonia gases from the fermentation process of aging takes place and some of it imparts it's way in to the wood from the exchange.
 
You remove your cigars and sand the spanish cedar using fine sand paper some say courser to re open the pores in the wood but 120 grit should be good enough to do the job as its still reopening the pores in the wood. Your spanish cedar aroma will be back strong again and once again providing the essential aroma for proper aging. That why the 3/8" wood is better. More wood to sand down for years to come and more wood to hold humidity, overall better aroma.

Also keep in mind strong full bodied cigars with more nicotine content will off gas more ammonia during aging, which means sanding once a year is a must!  

Hmm, I'd never heard that before, interesting.

peter4jc

Yakster said:

TX98Z28 said:

Your spanish cedar will lose its luster/aroma over time thats essential to proper aging. This is completely normal as the ammonia gases from the fermentation process of aging takes place and some of it imparts it's way in to the wood from the exchange.
 
You remove your cigars and sand the spanish cedar using fine sand paper some say courser to re open the pores in the wood but 120 grit should be good enough to do the job as its still reopening the pores in the wood. Your spanish cedar aroma will be back strong again and once again providing the essential aroma for proper aging. That why the 3/8" wood is better. More wood to sand down for years to come and more wood to hold humidity, overall better aroma.

Also keep in mind strong full bodied cigars with more nicotine content will off gas more ammonia during aging, which means sanding once a year is a must!  

Hmm, I'd never heard that before, interesting.

I'd never heard that either, and think it's bunk.  Maybe I'm wrong, being the noob I am, but I don't believe cigars need aroma from cedar to age properly.