My new Kool Adore

[2K6TBSS]

That thing is awesome! Would look awesome in my man cave How does it hold humidity and temperature?

thanks for the kudos. Don't know how effective it is just yet. Some Amazon customers who reviewed it as a cooler commented that it didn't keep items as cold as the plastic coolers. Wouldn't expect it to. However, as IronPeddler and other suggested, I added a sealing gasket and lined it with broken down cedar boxes. Seasoning isn't completed and readings are still a little dry as IronPeddler predicted.

OPINION WANTED: I placed a saucer of distilled water in the humidor to complete the seasoning but didn't bother removing the humidyfing crystal jars and cigars. Does anyone see a problem with this? I didn't want to leave my cigars in the open air while the Kool-Adore was seasoning.

If it were me, I would take my cigars out and store them in a tupperware (or some other type of device) until I was able to get the humidification all squared away. I wouldn't want my cigars to be in the humidor while seasoning.

 

[stogieguy5]

IC. How cool are you wanting it/expecting it to get? I saw one on youtube was pretty awesome as well. He didnt use cedar shelves though. He used rather large bags of those beads for humidity and seemed to keep it nice and cool as well as held the humidity he wanted. http://youtu.be/q3tNbdiahkw

 

[SkyKing]

thanks for the kudos. Don't know how effective it is just yet. Some Amazon customers who reviewed it as a cooler commented that it didn't keep items as cold as the plastic coolers. Wouldn't expect it to. However, as IronPeddler and other suggested, I added a sealing gasket and lined it with broken down cedar boxes. Seasoning isn't completed and readings are still a little dry as IronPeddler predicted.

OPINION WANTED: I placed a saucer of distilled water in the humidor to complete the seasoning but didn't bother removing the humidyfing crystal jars and cigars. Does anyone see a problem with this? I didn't want to leave my cigars in the open air while the Kool-Adore was seasoning.

If it were me, I would take my cigars out and store them in a tupperware (or some other type of device) until I was able to get the humidification all squared away. I wouldn't want my cigars to be in the humidor while seasoning.
[/quote]

That thing is awesome! Would look awesome in my man cave How does it hold humidity and temperature?

thanks for the kudos. Don't know how effective it is just yet. Some Amazon customers who reviewed it as a cooler commented that it didn't keep items as cold as the plastic coolers. Wouldn't expect it to. However, as IronPeddler and other suggested, I added a sealing gasket and lined it with broken down cedar boxes. Seasoning isn't completed and readings are still a little dry as IronPeddler predicted.

OPINION WANTED: I placed a saucer of distilled water in the humidor to complete the seasoning but didn't bother removing the humidyfing crystal jars and cigars. Does anyone see a problem with this? I didn't want to leave my cigars in the open air while the Kool-Adore was seasoning.

If it were me, I would take my cigars out and store them in a tupperware (or some other type of device) until I was able to get the humidification all squared

That thing is awesome! Would look awesome in my man cave How does it hold humidity and temperature?

thanks for the kudos. Don't know how effective it is just yet. Some Amazon customers who reviewed it as a cooler commented that it didn't keep items as cold as the plastic coolers. Wouldn't expect it to. However, as IronPeddler and other suggested, I added a sealing gasket and lined it with broken down cedar boxes. Seasoning isn't completed and readings are still a little dry as IronPeddler predicted.

OPINION WANTED: I placed a saucer of distilled water in the humidor to complete the seasoning but didn't bother removing the humidyfing crystal jars and cigars. Does anyone see a problem with this? I didn't want to leave my cigars in the open air while the Kool-Adore was seasoning.

If it were me, I would take my cigars out and store them in a tupperware (or some other type of device) until I was able to get the humidification all squared away. I wouldn't want my cigars to be in the humidor while seasoning.
away. I wouldn't want my cigars to be in the humidor while seasoning.

Thanks. I actually edited out the Opinion Wanted paragraph after going back and re-reading the pinned Coolidor FAQ article. It included a statement that said cigars would get to wet if in a humidor while seasoning. Also suggested that you not stock the humidor all at once after seasoning but rather add 20 or so smokes at a time, wait until the environment stabilizes, then add some, monitor again, etc. I edited the question out in acknowledgment of the Read Many, Write Once philosophy on this board.

 

[SkyKing]

Well about done. I'd load some pictures but there is a problem on the server at the moment that prevents uploading images.

One caution on my KoolAdore. The Rustic Cooler I used is made of 1x 3 rustic lumber that is far from true and level, e.g, the wood is slightly warped. As a result, the lid didn't seat properly on one corner. If you order one, you should probably be prepared to install rubber or silicone weather seal or something similar to close any small gaps - and there probably will be one somewhere. To check, close the lid on a dollar bill and pull. If the seal is goo there will be some resistance. The more, the better.

I was able to get a better but not perfect seal on my unit by installing weather seal under the lid AND on the lip. When the lid closes, the top seal meshes with the bottom seal. I would think it would more effective seal that way. In addition, I installed thicker weather seal on the corner that wasn't sealing properly. The KoolAdore now passes the dollar bill test on all sides - still not as good as I would like on the warped corner but do get some resistance on the pull. My hydrometer was reading 72% RH when I checked this morning. It will be a day or two before I know how well the seal is holding.

I've got too much into it to abandon it now - and I'm committed to making it work. If needed the next step will be to install a hook and eye fastener, or maybe a bungee fastener on the lid and lip to help pull and hold the lid down for a better seal.

 

[ironpeddler]

Another suggestion you may want to consider is finding a knick knack of some weight to display on top of your humidor that will help in compressing the 2 gaskets together to ensure a better seal.

 

[SkyKing]

Another suggestion you may want to consider is finding a knick knack of some weight to display on top of your humidor that will help in compressing the 2 gaskets together to ensure a better seal.

Thanks for the suggestion. Right now,I'm using two knick-knacks. One is a bottle of 15 year old Glenlivit; the other a 15 year old Glenfiddich. In my house, cigars are not the only items that go through stringent personal comparison testing.

 

[SkyKing]

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:9520]

[sharedmedia=gallery:images:9519]

Finished. The box is keeping RH at around 67%. Thanks for the assistance and tips everyone. Ironpeddler, the peel and stick weatherstripping did the job.

 

[BornaTiger]

I know. I know. This is an old thread. But, its been a year and I am curious how this is working out.
SkyKing, is it still going strong?

 

[smokem]

I really like that! Nice work!
 
If I had room(I live in a condo)I'd put one together myself...I know, copy cat, copy cat.
 
I see you lined it with ceder, which would answer the question of condensation I would have had.
 
With higher humidity and climate change, temps in the house going up and down, I would have worried moisture would form due to the metal interior, but the ceder should help control that...No?...thoughts?

 

[SkyKing]

BornaTiger, it is coincidental that you posted for an update. I never did get the top to seal 100% properly on its own but using a bungee cord to hold down the lid did the trick for most of the year.The Kool-A-Dor worked great in the summer and fall months but had a tough time in the dry, winter months, even with 4 jars of humidity crystals from Xicar.
 
I was worried my smokes would get too dry, so a couple of weeks ago, I pulled the sticks, the velcroed cedar panels, and the crystal jars. Took me less than 10 minutes to convert a regular old plastic cooler into a cool-a-dor, and it is holding RH well. It  is holding most of my cigars while I address the kool-a-Dor seal.
 
I then yanked the old stick&peel gasket, and put down a layer of rope caulk around the perimeter. The nice thing about the rope caulk is that you can build up areas that have wider gaps. The seal looks much tighter than it did with the silicon gasket. I'm going to replace the cedar lining this weekend and re-season the box. I hope that this handles the problem. This box will never seal as well as an Igloo cooler or well made wooden humidor but I love the look and it really is unique. BTW, I got the idea of the rope cord from other posts in this forum. If it works, CP will have come through again!
 
In reply to Smokem, I keep my smokes on an enclosed porch with just enough heat and a/c to keep things comfortable but there is a temperature swing between noon and midnight, as well as humidity. Had absolutely no problem with condensation. That would be pretty extreme, meaning RH would have to hit 100%. However, I suspect that if I moved the humidors to the inner part of the house, they would perform better. But I want my smokes in my man cave and I didn't build my Kool-A-Dor to hide in the basement.
 
Thanks for asking. I'll report back later.

 

[BornaTiger]

Thanks for the response. I like the look of the piece and am interested in copying it. Just wanted to know if it was a waste of time. When you get it figured out, I will use your example and then take full credit for it to friends and family. h34r:

 

[smokem]

I plan on moving down south in the next couple of years. My wife and I are already looking at homes there, so this might be a nice way to keep my cigars in my fourth coming man cave. Your information is appreciated!

 

[SkyKing]

You're welcome. As it happens, I didn't have time to line the Kool-A-Dor this weekend but hope to get to it soon.

 

[SkyKing]

OK, I broke up a few old cigar boxes, rubbed them down with distilled water, put in few empty boxes and began the seasoning process last week.
 
I used a new sponge and wetted it down with distilled water and put in an OPEN plastic sandwich bag.  I put some beads in a disposable plastic zip lock food container, spritzed about half to 3/4's of it with distilled water, used a sharp knife to slice a few slots in the container lid, and closed the humidor tight for about three days. Checked the RH and it was below 60%. Wiped down the cedar again, spritzed the beads again, and closed it up for another few days. Amazing how much moisture those cedar panels and boxes suck up. 
 
Checked it this morning and RH was dead-on at 65%.
 
I won't mention the kind of beads I used because I know I would get some catty remarks.  Anyway, it's holding purrfect. No CATastrophic results. Just kitten. 

 

[Kxthor911]

Just read over this thread. Really enjoyed your experiment. Might have to build one in the future myself. As of now I'm doing a fridge. Hopefully it will turn out nice as yours.

 

[SkyKing]

Just read over this thread. Really enjoyed your experiment. Might have to build one in the future myself. As of now I'm doing a fridge. Hopefully it will turn out nice as yours.
 
Hopefully, it will turn out nicer. Checked the RH tonight. It's now holding rock steady at 64% RH for 72 hours. Think we're there.

 

[BornaTiger]

That's awesome! Glad it is working out for you.

 

[SkyKing]

Actually, Cpprhead, mentioned in passing using Frost King Rope caulk in another post in this forum. I might have given up if I hadn't perused his post.