Thermoelectric wine cooler drying and curing - DIY

Hook Daddy

Hook Daddy

Well-Known Member
NINatas said:
Yeah that is currently the situation I'm running into. I'm either essentially designing a control board for this thing or I'll have to use the UIS plug.

Side note - I can't figure out how to like posts or direct DM someone on this site lol
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You get the like and dm messages after posting for a while, it doesn’t take long. @gooshpoo uses the ac infinity controller I believe, he may be able to answer your question.
 
gooshpoo

gooshpoo

Well-Known Member
NINatas said:
Hey all,

Has anyone been able to retrofit a ACI 69 pro controller to control the dehumidifier? I have the recommended cooler and dehumidifier, but I'm attempting to use an ACI controller so I can control my tents and fridge through the app. I am powering the controller with an external 10VDC supply.

The 4 wire cable is typically for communication, but I'm attempting to find a work-around using either a small relay (has to draw 3mA or less), a transistor (if I can find one that works) or using a control board from an ACI fan. Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

Brian
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Get the UIS control outlet , it will also power the controller.
 
N

NINatas

Member
Does Cannatrol have any real competitors when it comes to their 'home' unit?

They offer a larger industrial model, and also handle retrofits in existing buildings.

I have 15+ years in automation, programming, and project development and am considering making some career moves.
 
T

Tony9d9ct

Active Member
NINatas said:
Thanks everyone, I was aiming to save a few bucks but considering the cost of the UIS outlet and the time needed to find an alternative its a pretty easy choice.
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You can get the 79 Pro controller on ebay for 70$. It has 2 outlets, so I have the Koolatron in one with power on all the time, and the other I have for the dehumidifier that I have toggle on and off depending on humidity. It uses it's own probe sensor also. Great little units for those with anxiety who need the wifi to be able to check on humidity and temp from anywhere lol
 
taproot

taproot

Well-Known Member
I'm curious if anybody has tried the 2 way humidity beads or boveda packs to pull out the moisture and then add back as needed? I see the wine coolers you guys are building have a dehu in them, I was just curious if taking some 2 way beads that have been dried out would pull the moisture out of fresh cannabis that needs to be dried...and as it drys and cures release it back as needed.

Then you'd only need to worry about regulated the temp, doesn't the wine coolers have a built in temp controller?
 
Billytheluther

Billytheluther

Well-Known Member
taproot said:
I'm curious if anybody has tried the 2 way humidity beads or boveda packs to pull out the moisture and then add back as needed? I see the wine coolers you guys are building have a dehu in them, I was just curious if taking some 2 way beads that have been dried out would pull the moisture out of fresh cannabis that needs to be dried...and as it drys and cures release it back as needed.

Then you'd only need to worry about regulated the temp, doesn't the wine coolers have a built in temp controller?
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It might work but as im sure you know, those beads will reach a saturation point and cause excess humidity, they pool water into them (not pull but literally make a pool of water)
 
taproot

taproot

Well-Known Member
Billytheluther said:
It might work but as im sure you know, those beads will reach a saturation point and cause excess humidity, they pool water into them (not pull but literally make a pool of water)
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Hmm, the ones that go into cigar humidors don't pool. I guess if they got over saturated they might but I've never heard anybody says this. I'm switching over to the beads for my cigars as the Boveda get expensive over time.

 
gooshpoo

gooshpoo

Well-Known Member
Tony9d9ct said:
Thank you! Honestly it's a hobby that keeps me grounded, gives me that feeling of progress when I need it, and I get to give away some of what I enjoy growing. It's much less expensive and dangerous than my motorcycle hobby so the wife doesn't care about my spending lol View attachment 5417554
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Awesome man, The 79 pro is a great option im thinking of grabbing one to free up a controller =)
 
Hook Daddy

Hook Daddy

Well-Known Member
taproot said:
Hmm, the ones that go into cigar humidors don't pool. I guess if they got over saturated they might but I've never heard anybody says this. I'm switching over to the beads for my cigars as the Boveda get expensive over time.

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If that worked you could just put the beads in a glass jar and put the jar in a regular fridge, no need to buy a cooler. The cooler pulls out cups of water a day at first, I don’t know how many desiccant packs it would take, but it would be a lot.
 
M

mcog200

Member
Thanks for this post.

I built one using a 15 bottle wine fridge I got off Marketplace cheap. Already had the dehuey from years back. Inkbird WIFI versions were selling for 60CAD last weekend. So all in, under 200CAD, and a couple hours of my time.

My dehumidifier also had that weird third set of orange wires, it went to the PCB terminals labelled FUSE, which I assume means it's a thermal fuse, given it's embedding in the plastic shell and the look of the component.

I did modify the design slightly by mounting some 4" height adjustable legs to the fridge, to make adjusting level easier, andI removed the drip tray. With the new legs I can slide a much larger container directly under the drain hole, and it's removable for emptying.

Working beautifully with your suggested 55F setpoint, and 76%RH starting point, and slowly, ramping down.
 
Hook Daddy

Hook Daddy

Well-Known Member
mcog200 said:
Thanks for this post.

I built one using a 15 bottle wine fridge I got off Marketplace cheap. Already had the dehuey from years back. Inkbird WIFI versions were selling for 60CAD last weekend. So all in, under 200CAD, and a couple hours of my time.

My dehumidifier also had that weird third set of orange wires, it went to the PCB terminals labelled FUSE, which I assume means it's a thermal fuse, given it's embedding in the plastic shell and the look of the component.

I did modify the design slightly by mounting some 4" height adjustable legs to the fridge, to make adjusting level easier, andI removed the drip tray. With the new legs I can slide a much larger container directly under the drain hole, and it's removable for emptying.

Working beautifully with your suggested 55F setpoint, and 76%RH starting point, and slowly, ramping down.
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Awesome, I look forward to hearing how it works for you. I’m thinking of doing the exact same thing for raising the cooler and adding a larger drip tray for mine as well. It’s really the only thing that requires me to be home when I start the process, so I have to make sure I’m going to be around the week I start out.
 
N

NINatas

Member
mcog200 said:
Thanks for this post.

I built one using a 15 bottle wine fridge I got off Marketplace cheap. Already had the dehuey from years back. Inkbird WIFI versions were selling for 60CAD last weekend. So all in, under 200CAD, and a couple hours of my time.

My dehumidifier also had that weird third set of orange wires, it went to the PCB terminals labelled FUSE, which I assume means it's a thermal fuse, given it's embedding in the plastic shell and the look of the component.

I did modify the design slightly by mounting some 4" height adjustable legs to the fridge, to make adjusting level easier, andI removed the drip tray. With the new legs I can slide a much larger container directly under the drain hole, and it's removable for emptying.

Working beautifully with your suggested 55F setpoint, and 76%RH starting point, and slowly, ramping down.
Click to expand...
Did you find something that used the existing threading? I really like this idea so I'm curious what you decided to do. I've been considering just running a line out of the bottom of the fridge for draining.
 
M

mcog200

Member
I did have a couple legs that would fit the threading. My fridge (a Vissani brand 15 bottle) has a different small leg installed on the hinge bracket, and I couldn't really find anything that would work well with the other 3 legs.

I ended up mounting 4" legs to a piece of plywood cut so it's not visible with the fridge placed on top. I removed the legs entirely from the fridge and the front edge of the wood is tight up against the hinge bracket. I might glue it to the bottom of the fridge eventually.

*edit/update Fourth day after a coarse wet-trim and filling 4 shelves, I've emptied around 250ml of water total from my old-used-missing-a-lid-tupperware drip pan.
 
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