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Trouble with keeping beads hydrated in my Vinotemp

investandprosper

investandprosper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
Messages
1,522
I have an 18 bottle Vinotemp, and I'm having some trouble keeping the beads I have in bags and in a tube hydrated. I have the condensation from the fan collecting into a pan of beads in the bottom (about a pound). I also have a pound of beads in one bag, a half pound in another bag, a small tray, a large Heartfelt tube of beads. I have attached a picture so you can see how I have laid them out (without the cigars in the way). It may be overkill.

The problem is, the moisture is being taken out of the bags, tray, and tube, and is being deposited into the pan in the bottom via condensation. Even though the beads in the pan are fully saturated, moisture is still being pulled from the other beads to the point that puddling occurs in the pan.

What could I be doing wrong? When doing my research I saw others with this setup (which gave me the idea of corking the bottom and diverting the condensation to a large surface area of beads in the bottom), and I didn't see any mention of this phenomenon. ???

Edit: RH stays pretty constant between 62-66%, but drops down to 59-61% when the rest of the beads are dry. Should I just add more beads to the pan in the bottom?

vinobeads.JPG
 
investandprosper said:
I have the condensation from the fan collecting into a pan of beads in the bottom (about a pound).

The problem is, the moisture is being taken out of the bags, tray, and tube, and is being deposited into the pan in the bottom via condensation. Even though the beads in the pan are fully saturated, moisture is still being pulled from the other beads to the point that puddling occurs in the pan.
Click to expand...

That pan looks like a soup of beads. What is the source of that discoloration of the beads and water?

Do you have the condensation from the fan diverted into the pan? With that much water in the pan, moisture is not being pulled from the other beads sources, but most likely due to excessive condensation from the Vinotemp unit.

If you already have 2.5 LB in a 18 unit Vinotemp, needing more beads is not the issue.

35ml of distilled water is recommended per pound of beads. If your beads are sitting in a pool of water, you need to empty out the water and dry out those beads with a hair dryer (...after figuring out what is causing that discoloration.)
 
Drying them out or not, the gross looking yellow beads would not make it back into my humidor. Or maybe did you mistakenly leave a bowl of cap n crunch in there?

Joking aside, I think even if you removed that bowl you still would have enough beads. I think because if the color I would just put an empty bowl in there to catch condensation and see if its that same color on its own or if its something in the water the beads are reacting to. You wouldn't want to potentially damage anymore until you figure that out.
 
Is that corn soup, you keep in your humi? ???
 
The beads were a gift from a fellow CP BoTL, I was told that they were fine. They turned that color because of the cigars I was told, but perhaps they are old. I will swap them out with fresh beads to see if that helps. I have only used distilled water, it's not the water making them that color :laugh:
 
I have had beads turn yellow after several years with the cigars, they still work fine......
 
Perhaps those beads in the pan were not returning the moisture to the air in the Vino. I swapped them out with the beads that were in the bag at the bottom, and I will report back with the results.

The water is clear, it was just the beads that were yellow. Hopefully the new beads will return moisture into the air, and the other beads in the humi will not get dried out. So, right now, there is a pound of 65% beads and roughly a half pound of 70% beads that I had purchased previously. Would the 70% beads be throwing it off?

Edit to add photo.


vino_new.JPG
 
I would say having 2 different RH levels of beads could cause an issue. Seems like they'd be competing as to which one should make it constant.
 
Glad to see we cleared up the color of the beads. They just looked off to me. As for the 2 different types, I think the end result should be 65% in the vino.

The 70% are going to try to maintain that, whereas the 65% are going to try and maintain that. Theorectically, as the 70% release moisture, the 65% will collect it, to the point it can't anymore and at that point the 70% will be the only ones working. Assuming the 70% start to lose humidity (door opening, leaks, etc), once the vino loses humidity below 65% and the 70% beads can't keep up, the 65% beads will start working. Hmmn...but if you have more 65% than 70%....grr.

Lol now I'm confused. Save us the trouble and just put all of one percentage in there will ya! :) I guess it will probably flucuate a little between the 65 and 70..but shouldn't hurt anything. I would put the 70% beads higher up and the 65% lower. I think less humid the air, the easier it rises, but colder air will rise less than warm. Whereas the warmer air up top (assuming your vino works that way) would have the "heavier air" so it should sink easier. Or something like that..again, brain freeze lol.
 
I think you hit the nail on the head. The 70% beads are trying to make the entire vino 70%, and are just being drained, causing the pooling of water in the pan. I will try removing the 70% beads if the pooling continues.
 
I'm the one that send IAP those beads as previous threads state they can turn yellow but will still work. I used to have them in my cooler but when I went for the walk-in I didn't need them anymore.

John, if you need to dry them, use this method I learned from CP'ers. Spread them on a pan and put them in an oven @ 200 degrees for about 1/2 hour or so (check on them though). They will return to their natural? opaque.

Since you got so much flak for the corn soup
tongue.gif
, I'll send you another bag of beads, that are fairly white.

Where are you keeping the vino? if the outside temp is varying greatly with the interior, you may need a temp controller to help the constant on/off that will occur. That cyling is creating more condensation.

I don't know if you have enough room for computer fans to help the drying process and air movement in there.

Dave
 
Dave, you are a true BoTL. If a pound of beads are enough for an 18 bottle, I will be ok with the 65% I have. If not, I have some 70% beads if anyone wants to trade :D. I don't want you to feel like you need to send me more, it was a generous thing to do to begin with.

I keep the Vino in my office. In the summer months it can get to 84, but we usually run the air if it gets that hot. I may have room for some fans, I am expecting a few boxes and will re-evaluate when they arrive.
 
I use 1.25# beads(70%) in my 28 bottle Vino.
Currently sits at 69/69.
You have more than enough beads for the 18 bottle unit.

Never had a condensation problem, so I can't help there.

Chemyst :cool:
 
I took the 70% beads out, which helped with the excessive water issue. Right now there is a pound of 65%. I have another half pound on the way, just in case. It ranged between 55% and 65% today. I just put a box of Siglo IIs in there, so it may be the reason for the fluctuating. I don't see any pooling of water in the bottom container, which is good. I dried them out with a hair dryer a couple of days ago, and just added some more distilled water to them as they were a bit dry. Lots of trial and error, but I'm getting there!

With two more 4 ounce tubes of beads, one for each shelf, I think it will be clear sailing from there.
 
Update! I added two more 4oz tubes of 65% beads, and took the 70% out of there. Everything is running smoothly, and the RH stays between 63-65%. No excessive condensation or pooling. It was the 70% beads that were causing that.

Thanks everyone for your help! :thumbs:
 
Glad to hear you got it worked out.
smile.gif
You probably have it stocked full already, but if not, some empty boxes to fill the space probably wouldn't hurt. Just a thought.
smile.gif
 
That baby's pretty full. I can fit a couple more boxes, and I have an idea of which they will be :laugh:
 
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