Options
Whynter CHC-251S
Steve2150_
Posts: 5 ✭
I have 3 coolerators Whynter CHC-251S, 2 are acting up. The temperature displays are way under actual temperature and are no longer cooling. The fans are working, they are no longer pulling out humidity as the drain tray is dry. Called Whynter they said to send them in for repair, they are no longer under warranty and I live in Florida and they have to go to California, no idea what the repair charge would be but shipping would be expensive. I asked can I repair by replacing the board or some other parts, got no answer about that except no parts in stock now. Anyone know about repairing or can a regular repairer fix at home.
0
Comments
I'm not an electrician but I did stay at a holiday Inn last night. Your can replace the thermostat/controller yourself for relatively cheap. Amazon/ebay for parts and plenty of YouTube videos for the repair. Or dump them for a plastic bin/cooler set up and never have to worry about it agian.
does anyone have one of these Whynter humidors that actually works? Please tell us about it, I'm so tired of these weekly questions about broken ones.
I think the meds are wearing off...my tolerance level is dropping rapidly...best go before Bruce Bannon has to do an intervention
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
Thermoelectric is a paradox. You don't really need to cool your cigars until they approach 75 degrees or higher. At that temp, especially if 'higher', you're asking your unit to cool them 7 or 8 or 10 degrees or more, which is working the unit to the max. Most of those units, especially the bigger wynter ones, are destined for failure.
Good news is that you can get a nice looking broken thermo unit for about 30 bucks on craigs list that is a nice humidor.
^^^^Agree, my cigars sit at 78 degrees/65% for much of the summer and I never have a problem with burn/bugs. I also never freeze my cigars, never have, never will.
Replaced the electric parts from Whynter and that works good now. My other cools but shows a lower temperature then actual but is cooling at 67 but the humidity goes down to 30-40 while cooling but the one with replaced parts keeps temp at 67 and humidity at 65. Both using heartfelt 65 beads. Any ideas to stop humidity loss, asking Whynter tech support useless.
Sounds like you have a leak or a bad hygrometer. Switch the hydrometers and see if the readings remain consistent between containers.
If they do remain consistent, you might have a leak. Check the door seal, the light fixture, and you can always plug the drain hole in the back but be careful! I did that and ended up with the water at the bottom.
I found it on my unit, one of the door seals was not very good at the top corner.
Door seals good, all the water is being sucked out to the tray in back of unit. I have 3 chc-251s and other 2 perfect. This one the temperature is 67 on my digital temp/hydra but unit display shows 59. I have used 3 different temp/hydra all same. If I unplug unit from electric temp is 76 humidity 72, when I plug in display shows 77 but after 5 minutes on display shows 63 but temp/hydra is 74 temp 62 humidity in 5 minutes it pulled humidity from 72 to 62, I use hearfelt beads, my other 2 shows constant humidity. Contacted Whynter but get same response check seals and if green/red lights on. I want to know why this one sucks the humidity out, not in warranty anymore. I also have a smaller NewAir, much better unit.
They don't necessarily suck humidity out as a main function. Cooling the air has a side effect of creating condensation. The condensation is just redirected to the tray outside the unit. It's working as it is supposed to.
I don't know how you stop physics. Maybe move your bead tray away from the drain. If your beads are close to where the drain is or close to where the thermal electric unit is, it's probably sucking the moisture right from The tray without letting the moisture circle throughout the container.
Another thing to try is to get One of those computer fans to create circulation. You can run the power cord through the drain hole and out to an external source. The problem with this solution is that it generates a tiny amount of heat, which will cause your thermal electric unit to run longer, which will create more condensation. So with the fan, you have diminishing returns.
Another thing you can do is to manage your humidity levels with boveda packs. It's very likely that you have very high humidity in one part of the box and low humidity in another part. Place boveda packs throughout the box. Some will get crusty and others will puff up. As time goes on, you just swap the puffy ones with the crusty ones. That'll work to keep your humidity more consistent throughout the entire container.
This is what I do with my unit.
Nothing wrong with 62% if I stable. Warmer air hold more moisture.
Question is I have 3 chc-251s units, the other 2 packed the same maintain proper humidity 65-70 while this one continuosly operates at 30-40 humidity at same temperature. All are using heartfelt beads. Why is this one doing this?
There is a variable that is different between the two units. You either have a leak, or there's another variable.
As I said before, you may have your beads in different locations. If you put the beads next to the thermoelectric unit, your thermal electric unit will transform all of the humidity from the beads into condensation.
Are both units completely empty?
Did you use both hygrometers in both units to eliminate the faulty hygrometer variable?
Do you have the same amount of beads with the same amount of water in the same location in each unit?
Did you crawl around each unit on your hands and knees with a flashlight inspecting for cracks, broken seals, a bad door seal on the bottom near the floor, a bad or missing seal around the LED light, and all other possible leak sources? The insides of those units are single molded plastic. There aren't a lot of possible areas of humidity loss. It's not like you're trying to turn a set of dresser drawers into a humidor.
There is either a difference between the units, a difference between your hydrometers, or a difference between your beads.
Eliminate each variable one at a time. It very well could be as simple as your hygrometer. You won't know unless you take these steps or unless you send both units and a check for a hundred bucks to me so I can troubleshoot them for you.
And when I say empty them, I mean completely empty them, to include the shelving. If you have shelving at 5% humidity in one and shelving at 70% humidity in the other, there's your answer. If you're using the crappy analog hygrometer that's hot glued into the drawer, get rid of it. Or don't pay attention to it. It's garbage. If you are using that thing, it could easily be 30% off, and all of the sudden, and for no reason. It's analog! 0.0 people on this forum use analog hygrometers for anything other than decoration. There's a reason for it.
DZR
MOW badge received.
Using digital thermo/hydro in each, switched all 3 of the thermo/hydro same numbers, the one losing humidity the drain in back of unit is full of water, switched shelves from each other, same one still losing humidity, no leaks I can see but the water is filling the drain tray. The other 2 basically the drain in back is dry.
Your thermal electric unit is taking all of the humidity out of the box and dumping it into the tray.
You could get rid of all those **** beads and just use boveda like everybody else. I don't understand why people insist on using beads, especially in airtight boxes. I can see using them in wooden boxes that constantly lose a little moisture.
What if you just unplug it? Not quite as cool I guess both figuratively and literally, but that would do the trick. Sounds like that one is a desktop model to me.
I'm sure you're not going to want to do that. The only last thing to try is to put cotton in the drain hole to slow evaporation in the box. You can actually put tape over the drain hole, but I have a feeling you'll just collect water at the bottom of it if you do it that way.
BOVEDA
How do you replace the temperature controller? Do you gently pry the cover from the front to access it?
Pry the shït out of it
Sledgehammer…then buy a cooler
Read this thread
I know, You're a big dog and I'm on the list.
Let's eat, GrandMa. / Let's eat GrandMa. -- Punctuation saves lives
It'll be fine once the swelling goes down.
Thank you. What thread? Was there supposed to be a hyperlink?
How did you replace the temperature controller? Do you gently pry the cover from the front to access it?
To answer my own question, there are three screws behind the rubber gasket securing the controller inside the stainless steel door trim.
@amourdevin
Second post, in THIS thread. YouTube videos
I know, You're a big dog and I'm on the list.
Let's eat, GrandMa. / Let's eat GrandMa. -- Punctuation saves lives
It'll be fine once the swelling goes down.
My WTF, what videos?
My wtf. 😉
I know, You're a big dog and I'm on the list.
Let's eat, GrandMa. / Let's eat GrandMa. -- Punctuation saves lives
It'll be fine once the swelling goes down.