Vinotemp stays too cold

[The Green Monkey]

In what should come as no great surprise to anybody, the $50 Vinotemp I bought off of ebay (the ones packed in inside out Guitar Hero boxes and covered with tape residue) is starting to crap out on me. I've been having this problem for about a week now.

The top portion seems to be holding temperature and humidity just fine--roughly 65/65 with very little maintenance necessary. The lower section has just recently begun to overcool. It just won't stop cooling. If I set it for the highest temperature possible, it will max out at about 56* according to my digital thermometers, but the readout on the shelf says 48 or 50.

I tried unplugging it for an hour or so to see if "resetting" it would help (it didn't) and I also reconfigured my Tetris-ness in case the arrangement of boxes was somehow causing this issue. No help there either.

Any suggestions or recommendations on how to remedy this issue? For now, I've simply unplugged the thing to keep from having any wrappers crack or whatever other calamities might result, but I would prefer it if I could get the temperature regulation back under control so that it's more than just an airtight box...

Thanks!

 

[B.HOBS]

Haven't posted in a bit, but I am very familiar with troublesome Wine-o-Dor's. These units are very spotty when it comes to reliability and accuracy. I have a friend who is having the same exact problem as you are now. I know it has something to do with the PCB and thermo sensor located in the peltier unit, in the rear internal part of the humidor. These things range from really crappy to working just ok. Vinotemp is usually very stable, but I have had bad luck with my old one, which was a Haier , and had stopped cooling completely. My solution was actually to buy another fridge and replace the entire peltier unit, which took some work, and also replacing the stock thermo sensor with a Johnson Inline controller. Getting one of these Johnson units is a good solution for you, and will actually do two things for you, which is help keep the humidity more stable (you can keep your fridge a bit warmer and have it cycle less often) as well as bypassing the internal temp sensor all together. You can buy these units for about $50, and it does require a bit of drilling(for the temp probe) and a bit of electrical wiring(to override the internal temp probe). Its fairly simple to do, might take an hour or two. Other than doing something like this, you may as well just replace the unit or send it in for repair, which wont be worth it, economically speaking. Shoot me a PM if you want more info or any help. Hope this helps you out!

Billy

 

[MadMonk]

I wonder what would happen if you turned the upper one all the way up, and made the colder one the only one doing the work?

That is assuming you have put a thermometer in there to check temp. Just the first thing that popped in my "mind".

or what's left of it. :blush:

 

[The Green Monkey]

B.HOBS--you've used more than a few words that I don't understand, but I picked up the 'cheaper to just replace it' loud and clear. If I sack up and feel like soldering my Johnson rod to the aft canooter valve and offsetting the negative camber with a dingledangler, I'll be sure to shoot you a PM. Thanks for the technical insight though!

MM--that's an interesting idea. I'll give it a shot and see what happens...

 

[B.HOBS]

B.HOBS--you've used more than a few words that I don't understand, but I picked up the 'cheaper to just replace it' loud and clear. If I sack up and feel like soldering my Johnson rod to the aft canooter valve and offsetting the negative camber with a dingledangler, I'll be sure to shoot you a PM. Thanks for the technical insight though!

MM--that's an interesting idea. I'll give it a shot and see what happens...

Yeah....sorry bout the mumbo jumbo! :laugh: Good luck to ya whatever you end up doing.

 

[The Green Monkey]

Hey, no need to apologize! I appreciate the help even though I'm too mechanically disinclined to be able to follow through with it!

 

[modo22]

Thus far during this winter I have unplugged my Wine o door and and just kept my 65% beads in there...it has stayed almost perfect. When I would leave it on, it would run all the time and sit at 58-60 even though during the summer it sat at 65 just fine. Depending on your climate, try it. But during the summer, you may want to look into something different if it will not stay at 65 degrees.

 

[The Green Monkey]

I tried MM's 'make the bottom do all the work' strategy by setting both the top and the bottom to the maximum 66* last night. I just checked on it, and the Vinotemp's temperature readings claimed 66 on top and 47 below, though the two digital thermometers/hygrometers I have in there read 66 up top and 57 below. I trust those over the Vinotemp's readings.

I think 57 is a little bit too cold, isn't it? Especially when considering that I'm in Miami and would likely face some splitting issues if I were to take a cigar that cold directly outside and light it up, correct? I realize I could dry box for a day or two, but I'm not very good at planning my cigar consumption or anticipating my tastes...

We keep our house at about 72 year round, though the Vinotemp is upstairs where it's probably a degree or two warmer most of the time. I obviously don't want to facilitate beetle hatching which begins north of 70 as I understand it--please correct me if I'm wrong.

So my options (at least those that involve continued use of this particular Vinotemp) seem to be having the top at 65-66ish and the bottom at 57ish, or else have the whole thing at 72ish. Are either of those acceptable risk levels, or should I get to work finding a replacement soon?

Thanks again!

 

[PhatCat]

I unplug my vino in the winter. My basement gets down pretty cold. So far the coldest the vino has gotten is 51 degrees. That's pretty cold. Currently it's at 65% RH and 54 degrees. It did that last winter too.

I didn't notice any issues.

So, while I think 57 degrees is on the cool side, I don't think it's a deal breaker.

Do what you think is right. Sorry your wine-o-dor is acting funky.

Third option: Just get some new horizontal boosters or alluvial dampers. Or a couple new hydrospanners and you'll be all set. My buddy Chewy can hook you up.

 

[{tpc}]

I think this might have been mentioned, but if the upper and lower half's have seperate fans or cooling units (which I assume they must), why not just disconnect the bottom fan or cooling unit? Once you open it up to expose the wiring it is probably pretty simple to just disconnect the bottom one and if you can leave the bottom fan running (assuming it is one upper and lower), more the better for circulation.

Just a thought.

 

[The Green Monkey]

I unplug my vino in the winter. My basement gets down pretty cold. So far the coldest the vino has gotten is 51 degrees. That's pretty cold. Currently it's at 65% RH and 54 degrees. It did that last winter too.

I didn't notice any issues.

So, while I think 57 degrees is on the cool side, I don't think it's a deal breaker.

Do what you think is right. Sorry your wine-o-dor is acting funky.

Third option: Just get some new horizontal boosters or alluvial dampers. Or a couple new hydrospanners and you'll be all set. My buddy Chewy can hook you up.

What is the warmest environment you take your 55*ish cigars into to smoke? I'm worried about the sudden 10/20/30+ degree temperature swings when I take a cigar outside to smoke.

TPC--You too are greatly overestimating my mechanical competence. While I'm sure I could very easily render the bottom portion non-functional, I'm not sure I could do so with any great degree of precision or with a specific outcome in mind . I'd be concerned about somehow having created a fire hazard...

 

[PhatCat]

What is the warmest environment you take your 55*ish cigars into to smoke? I'm worried about the sudden 10/20/30+ degree temperature swings when I take a cigar outside to smoke.

Good point. Seems when I smoke in the winter it's fricken colder outside than in my basement! :laugh:

Well, maybe you'll have to smoke cheaper and experiment to see how many cigars split going from mid-50's to 90 degree Miami heat. However, I would think if you even gave your cigar an hour or two "warm up" that should be sufficient time to adjust to a warmer temp. Again, it will probably come down to experimenting. Just don't do it with your GOF's. :0

I'm not too mechanically inclined myself beyond basic repairs & stuff. I'd say keep an eye out on craigslist for a new vino.

 

[{tpc}]

Well I'll be in florida for the 500....so if you have tools and feel like a drive, I could probably figure it out for ya, no guarantees....no refunds lol.

Does the thing have a model number or serial number on the back? Might be able to do some google-sleuthing and find a wiring diagram.

I would say you could just email vino and ask them, but they never responded to my email about their vinotemp humidor of which I got for xmas, so that would be just a waste of time.

 

[4cbln3]

If you've already unplugged the vino and it previously was internally at 60ish degrees, take the time to open the boxes and the door to the vino and let the cigars release the coldness slowly or they will start to sprout mold in the boxes. Trust me, I know because I did the same thing. Lost a handful of sticks that way.

I was going to suggest maybe using a Johnson temp controller click me for a temporary solution, but they cost more than your fridge originally did.

I hope things work out for your sticks.

 

[The Green Monkey]

I unplugged it yesterday afternoon and it seems to have stabilized around 65% and 71*.

I just went and opened up all the boxes (none were sealed anyway) and left the door cracked to let things air out a bit.

The climate of Miami (currently 69% rh outside) is probably making this easier for me to deal with than it would be if I were in a place that dries out over the winter.

I'll plug it back in once summer rolls around if the temperature starts creeping upwards and see what happens.

TPC--thanks for the offer, but I'd probably spend more in gas to get up there and back than I would simply replacing the damn thing...

 

[vinnyvega]

I bought the same Vino. My mine did the same thing. Then ... it died. Sad story. I hope yours works out better than mine did.

Joe