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Build your own humidor cabinet

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  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    no but i have put plenty of thought into it. I have ideas and things that i want to see in a humidor that i cant get in one that is pre-made. i may some day build a humidor. but not any time soon. i have other projects i want to take on.


    those are some good humidors in that site. I wouldnt have someone build it. I would build it myself.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    kuzi16:
    no but i have put plenty of thought into it. I have ideas and things that i want to see in a humidor that i cant get in one that is pre-made. i may some day build a humidor. but not any time soon. i have other projects i want to take on.


    those are some good humidors in that site. I wouldnt have someone build it. I would build it myself.
    I agree, after watching the episode of Man Caves when they built that cigar lounge, I definitley want to build my own cabinet humidor for my basement. Should be great fun.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • bigharpoonbigharpoon Posts: 2,963 ✭✭✭
    That's a beautiful site. Some of those are really gorgeous. I'd like to make a small cabinet humidor some day. I think I'd like something that is made specifically to hold boxes, not any loose sticks. I can use the humidors I already have for that.

    kuzi, feel like sharing any of the ideas you have come up with that pre-made humidors don't offer?
  • Matt MarvelMatt Marvel Posts: 930
    I'm sure anyone who is serious about cigars has thought about it before. I know I have. And to go along with what others have said, I would much rather build it myself.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    bigharpoon:
    kuzi, feel like sharing any of the ideas you have come up with that pre-made humidors don't offer?
    the humidor im looking to build will be about 3 feet tall and 2 wide. and maybe 18-20 inches deep. it will have a few (5-6) drawers, each drawer having enough room to hold a few boxes. there would then be a door on the front of the humidor like a cabinet, containing all the drawers. on either side of the drawers there will be spaces for air flow with small fans in there that will click on and off every time the peltier device comes on to cool the box down. (yes, temp AND humidity control) there will be an outlet on the inside near the bottom to plug in the Oasis and a special spot for some beads near the top of the humidor. it will have lighting on the inside. im not 100% on where. im debating on if each drawer will hae a light that comes on when you pull it further than 5 inches open or if the lights will come on when you open the door. the outside will be walnut or cherry i havent decided. when the door opens it will play the opening song from 2001: A space Odyssey



    ok... maybe not the last part....
  • Garen BGaren B Posts: 977
    Kuzi, if you build one of those, and don't like it, I'll gladly take it off your hands. That's one sick humi.
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Hey man, I want to talk to you about the Peltier.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    what about it?
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Everything about it. Do you have a line on one? I'm about to either buy a new thermoelectric wine fridge OR build a humi with a peltier. I want to move it up into my office but during the summer that room has an even harder time staying cool than the rest of my house. So I have to do something.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    this is the THERMOELECTRIC DEVICE that i have been eyeing.


    the things that i have to work out are:

    will this cause condensation?

    If so, how do i control the water?

    what do i do with the 190*F side? put a fan on it?

    where do i mount this?

    how do i mount this?

    what kind of thermostat will work best with it?

  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Damn it, I was hoping you already had all that worked out. I really want to buid one but the temperature is the thing, I just need something that would knock it down a little. The wine fridge would probably end up being cheaper and easier.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    well....
    lets work this out a bit right here. I mean... this IS what the forum is all about isnt it?


    one at a time:

    will this cause condensation?
    lets just say that the thermostat is at 65*F (so that in the summer i have a bit of wiggle room when i open the humi up. I know 70* is the norm-- but a five degree difference wont hurt much would it?i suspect not.) that is only ten degrees higher than the cold side of the heat pump. will this cause condensation? i dont think it would all that much. maybe the first time it was turned on it would but on following cooling periods the temp difference would be so little that it may not condense water in the air.

    If so, how do i control the water?
    but lets assume that since the RH is fairly high (65% in my humidor) there will be condensation. lets also assume that it drips. my initial thought is that i would place the cold side sticking out into the humi. directly under could be a place to hold beads. this means that if it does drip (this is, in a way, distilled H2O) it will drip directly into the beads, causing no harm whatsoever to the cigars.

    what do i do with the 190*F side? put a fan on it?
    i did a bit more reading on this. in the comment section of that link above to the device it says
    Dr. C. Cavanaugh:
    From using a similar-sized product from my old refrigerator/warmer, I advise using a high-velocity fan, pulling air through the hot side fins and exhausting it upwards (if using it for cooling). Using a hair dryer (on cool) and placing the rear (intake) side on top of the hot side fins and blowing the air up and away, I have managed to get temperatures well below the freezing point of water on the cold side when measured with a thermocouple touching the cold side directly.
    this leads me to believe that if I do put a fan on it, this would make it more "efficient" or colder on the cooling side. would not want that. however, i would not want this hot side to be exposed. pain associated with burns starts at about 140*F. the hot side on this is 190*F. though this wont start anything on fire it is still hot enough that i wouldnt wanna accidentally bump into it. maybe a railing or something around it that still ahs plenty of breathing space. ... the comment also said he was using a high velocity fan. would a lighter fan or a "low velocity" fan work out better with less effect on the temp regulation? i think so.

    the other thought is that this would also heat up the room that it is in a bit.

    where do i mount this?
    im thinking higher up on the back. this way i could get the beads under there.

    how do i mount this?

    in the linked picture it looks like there is a black box thing in the middle that divides the hot and cold sides. a heat resistant rubber seal pushed into a hole cut in the side of the humidor could work well. the top side of the pictured device looks to have a bit of metal designed to do just what i described above. the rubber will just make it air tight.

    what kind of thermostat will work best with it?
    yeah... this one i dont know. I assume that it would work with just about any thermostat. but you know what happens when you assume.
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Hmmm. Thats a lot of thought right there.

    My question is a lot more basic, wtf do I hook a 12vdc device to? How do I tie in a thermostat? Is it only at 190* when running at full force or is it at 190* all the time? because you're right that would cause a temp problem in my office.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    madurofan:
    Hmmm. Thats a lot of thought right there.

    My question is a lot more basic, wtf do I hook a 12vdc device to? How do I tie in a thermostat? Is it only at 190* when running at full force or is it at 190* all the time? because you're right that would cause a temp problem in my office.
    12vdc.... ummm battery? maybe AC/DC converter... (on the highway to hell...)

    i think it would only run at 190 at full tilt. im not sure if its an all on/off device. and how often would it turn on and for how long? the thermostat would be fairly easy to install im assuming. there are two wires on that thing. one "+" and one "-"
    simple on off switch or thermostat with a high low range would work out well im sure. id probably set mine to turn on at 71* and off at 65*.


    each heat sink side is 4 x 4.5. thats 18 square inches of heat sink at 190*. would that even heat up the room as much as a toaster? or a burner in the kitchen? maybe a coffee pot? iduno. it makes me wanna play with one of these things though.
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    As cheap as it is, I'm considering buying it and playing with it. It really would be the basis for everything for me. I already have the Cigar Oasis. Hmmm .... you're gonna get me in trouble Kuzinicki.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    theres gunna be trouble.
    right here in River City
    that starts with "t" that rhymes with "p" that stands for "peltier"
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Hmm so have you found one of those there adjustable thermostats that would tie into this? I'm not an electrician and this is the part that scares me.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    no, but i havent looked.

    ok... i just looked. the way that i was assuming the thermostat would work is, the thing would click on at 72 and off at 65. apparently this will reduce the life of the device significantly. on/off/on/off/ect... is the problem. the way that you would actually regulate the temp would be by the amount of power going into it.
    again in the comments section:
    A customer from LA, USA:
    To regulate either the hot or cold side of a TEC without harming the life of the TEC you should use a pulse width modulator. I recommend the PWM's sold specifically for this purpose that you can buy at TETech.com for about $100.00. The same PWM can be used for either the hot or cold side by simply changing a jumper wire.
    yeah.... $100 just put this out of reach for a guy like me. its cool but not $100 worth of cool. maybe someone on this board that knows about this better than i would can chime in.
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    Where's RUSIRIUS when you need him?

    Yea $135 bucks would almost have me at the Wine Fridge I want. Not to mention the cost of the materials to build the humi.
  • bigharpoonbigharpoon Posts: 2,963 ✭✭✭
    As far as temperature and condensation go:

    ...maybe you could seperate the device from the main part of the humi but have it be just as effective. You said you wanted a door that opened into a column of drawers; you could build a box inside of a box. The exterior box is solidly sealed with your door that opens. The interior box holds all the drawers in a carcass that is open in many areas to the interior volume of the exterior box. In between the two boxes is where you place the unit. Any condensation collecting on the fins will be outside of the drawers, no need to put your hand anywhere near it, don't have to see it or the thermometer and all the conditioned air and RH will flow all around the interior box very evenly.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    maybe this thread could help answer some of y'alls (yes, I'm from the South) questions: http://www.puff.com/forums/vb/cigar-accessory-questions/31112-getting-close-finish-my-cabinet-humidor.html

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    mother of god, he has a ton of work in that cooling setup.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    Yeah he did, you get what you put into it though I'm sure. I'm very impressed w/ his humidity/temp system.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    i looked up a few of his parts

    the Johnson A419 (controls the temp of the peltier) still runs about $70 plus shipping. again, if one of your main factors is cost the wine fridge may be the way to go. but if cost is not an issue and you want a project to work on... this is a slightly more reasonable option.


    also reading through the pages on that link i ran across this:
    opus:
    My unit produces about a 1 1/2 cups of conednsate per week. Mine drains into a condensate tray as well, although a different setup than a J trap. I think you should go ahead and install the J trap. I love the tidiness of your peltier setup and wiring. Excellent work.
    at this point in the conversation they are discussing how to remove the condensation. my thought is: if you have a pipe leading out you dont have a sealed humidor. but thats where the J trap comes into play. the water will actually seal the humidor again.

    at the same point 1 1/2 cups of condensation a week? geeez. the only water that I put into my humidor goes onto my beads. i add maybe a few tablespoons at a time. this means that all that water that is exiting the humidor has to be added in. that is almost a daily recharge of water.

    how much water does the Oasis hold?

    im starting to think that a peltier may not be such a good idea. you are exchanging worry about the temp for worry about humidity loss and massive upkeep.


    the Johnson A4129 apparently isnt a constant control unit anyway. at one point he says
    RGD:
    I re-adjusted the thermostat to it's normal on and off positions at that point.
    though a peltier CAN work with a standard on/off thermostat its life span is reduced greatly. so if this is the rout you are gunna go, make sure the Peltier can be replaced easily. this may cost more in the long run (buying a new peltier with heat sink every "x" number of years) but in the initial investment you could save a $50.


    sorry if this post seemed a bit out there and hit or miss. i was kind of reading along on that forum and commenting here.

    iduno. im not as excited about the peltier as i used to be, but i still have yet to rule it out from my design.

    thoughts?
  • betasynnbetasynn Posts: 1,249
    That's just an impressive piece of work. Period.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    betasynn:
    That's just an impressive piece of work. Period.
    iduno.... im on the fence. the humidor itself is impressive, but the electronics may just be a giant waste of time.
  • betasynnbetasynn Posts: 1,249
    Regardless, it's the effort put forth. Building something, cigar in hand, is a fun scenario. He's having a good time doing it, and if I had the money, I'd love to tinker around with something like that.
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    betasynn:
    Regardless, it's the effort put forth. Building something, cigar in hand, is a fun scenario. He's having a good time doing it, and if I had the money, I'd love to tinker around with something like that.
    +1

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    oh yeah... the tinkering aspect of it is fantastic. i guess im just looking at it from a design aspect. i don think that this would do what i want it to do. what i want it to do is make the humidor as worry free as it could be. If im filling the oasis every few days and emptying out a condensation dish ever week that hardly sounds like less trouble. it sounds like more given my current set up.
  • madurofanmadurofan Posts: 6,219 ✭✭✭
    betasynn:
    That's just an impressive piece of work. Period.
    I'm not criticizing someone else's work, well yes I am. If I was going to spend the time to build a custom humidor it would definetly be more of a custom piece than that. Don't get me wrong it looks like he's done a nice job with it but its awfully simplistic and aside from the peltier system its basically a big open humidor. I'd want shelves and drawers for singles, etc. Maybe he only buys boxes idk, it still seems awfully simplictic.
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