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John's (small) Wine-o-dor

J

JLW

New Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2007
Messages
8
I picked up the 12-bottle Haier HVW12ABB last night at Target for $100. The exterior dimensions are 25.625H X 10.25W X 19.5D. The interior is roughly 7W X 12D X 22H. This is a little smaller than most of the other Wine-O-Dors I have seen, but it is the perfect size for my office and hopefully my collection will not outgrow it for a while.

The temperature setting is not digital, rather a small knob inside the cooler. To me, this makes for a really clean exterior "look" and from what I have read, the digital models aren't all that accurate. Condensation appears to be an issue with thermoelectric coolers in general. This one has a small indention on the back wall of the liner to catch the water and a tube that should pipe it out of the cooler and into a drip tray on the back. I'll let you know how that works out.

I have a couple questions:

1) The compact size of this cooler worries me a bit as I have only purchased singles up to this point. For the most part, the cigars I smoke are in the 5-6" range. I realize there are probably exceptions, but would it be safe to assume that most 20-25ct cigar boxes for these cigars will have a length or width dimension that is under 7 inches?

2) Beads. I'm basically looking at 2000 cubic inches of interior volume. which calls for 4 ounces of beads. I have plenty of room under the bottom shelf... would it be overkill to buy a half pound of beads for this cooler? From what I understand, it would help recovery time from door opening, right?

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Edited to add (small)
 
jfields said:
It's too small John!!!! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

^X2

But I just set my cousins up which is the same model. I think we put about 3/4lb beads on the bottom for the swings. Threw all his sticks in boxes and setup a digital timer. Held high 60's temp and low 60's humidity for weeks. We also put a small peice of cedar to cover the fan but not completely just so the fan is not blowing directly on the boxes. LMK if you need help setting it up. And make sure you check the seal on the cover. The rubber could be bent so you may have to adjust it.
 
jfields said:
It's too small John!!!! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You know, I was afraid of that. Do you mean too small as in it won't work, or too small as in I'm going to outgrow it quickly? I just can't imagine not being able to get 5-6 boxes in this thing??? I went with this model due to space considerations in my office. The 30ish bottle models are too tall for where I want to situate it... and I'm told it is best to keep whatever you have full to help buffer fluctuations in temp/humidity, no?

Thanks for the feedback.
 
You'll out grow that by the end of the year and then you can buy a bigger one and use this for wine!

The extra beads won't hurt at all.
 
I've got the same set-up at home!
It has worked for me for about a year in conjunction w/ my desktop.

I picked up a few small plastic bins from the drug-store that fit perfectly on the shelves. I have one on the top shelf for loose singles and one on the 2nd shelf that holds the beads (i can't remember how much I'm using) along with some extra smaller smokes.

It turns out that the Fuente Sun-grown Cuban Belicoso box fits PERFECTLY in the cooler, so one of those goes on the third shelf, though all the Belis have long since been smoked from it. Now it holds mainly ISOMs and singles that I want to 'age' for a while. The remaining space is filled with boxes. I've managed to squeeze a Fuente Cuban Corona box (stuffed full of Johnny-O farm rolls), a box of Havana VI Angeles, a box of DPG petite lanceros, and a cab of Petite Tatuajes in the space, and there is probably room for 1-2 more small (PC or Robusto sized) boxes.

I don't buy a whole lot of cigars though and these space limitations have actually helped keep my buying in check. However this leaves me very little room to age smokes. I'd love to add a cooler so that I could keep more stock on-hand but I simply don't have room in my apartment for one...
 
So I took my calibrated Heartfelt Hygrometer out of the Humidipak calibration bag and put it in the cooler... I'm reading 65F and 68% with no beads. Arkansas phenomenon?

I ordered some beads and an extra hygrometer this afternoon... and I still need to work on the plastic smell.
 
So I have a pound of beads on a rectangular plate that pretty much fills up the bottom of the cooler. My hygrometer was calibrated with a Boveda pack last week. The cooler was at 65F and 72%RH this morning before I put the 65% beads in, so I did not add any distilled water... most of the beads are white. The beads have been in place for 6 hours with the door closed and there has been no change in RH. Any suggestions?
 
JLW said:
So I have a pound of beads on a rectangular plate that pretty much fills up the bottom of the cooler. My hygrometer was calibrated with a Boveda pack last week. The cooler was at 65F and 72%RH this morning before I put the 65% beads in, so I did not add any distilled water... most of the beads are white. The beads have been in place for 6 hours with the door closed and there has been no change in RH. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Where is the hygrometer in relation to the beads? Is the fridge on? You may want to distribute the beads some between the lower and top half. The other choice would be to add a fan to get the air moving a bit more.
 
The hygrometer is approximately 6" above the plate, on a shelf. The fridge is on... the fans run constantly. Normal? I will move some of the beads up half way. I'm not sure what the characteristics are of the beads and and moving air, but we're not talking about a lot of space here... and I have about 4x the required beads.
 
My advice would be to put some *empty boxes in, leave it turned off and see how it is tomorrow. I see no need for an extra fan or change of location for the beads. My cousin has his on the bottom in tupperware and the readings were just fine on the top area. Might want to also invest in a digital timer. He has his setup to go on for 15mins every hour and every 2hrs at night. (on hotter days)

*edit
 
I unplugged the fridge 2 hours ago and things are already looking much better... 71F and 63%. I think a temperature controller or a timer is definitely in store... and a few boxes of smokes. Thanks again for all the help.
 
regarding question #1...

...you can always use plastic ziplock bags to store your single cigars...to protect them from drying out.
 
KeyserSoze said:
My advice would be to put some *empty boxes in, leave it turned off and see how it is tomorrow. I see no need for an extra fan or change of location for the beads. My cousin has his on the bottom in tupperware and the readings were just fine on the top area. Might want to also invest in a digital timer. He has his setup to go on for 15mins every hour and every 2hrs at night. (on hotter days)

*edit
Click to expand...

X2 on the timer. You dont want your cooling fan running constantly. Currently I have mine set to come on at 69F with a 3 degree differential. So off at 66. The RH has been very stable with the beads spread out to top and bottom, but I have a larger unit than you do with 2 pounds of beads.

Bill

Edit to add: Shoot me a PM if you have any questions
 
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