Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Is this a bad idea? Lol
Thermoelectric wine cooler drying and curing - DIY
- Thread starter Hook Daddy
- Start date
TCH
Well-Known Member
I'd personally let them air dry for a day, but you can definitely try. Just start at a high rh. And I would make sure you have an extra tray under the drip tray. Make sure your koolatron is angled enough to get the moisture back to the drain.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Blue brother
Well-Known Member
I’ve gone further than that bro haha, just keep an eye on all the parameters and you’ll be golden, I bucked mine all down to golf ball ish sizes and packed it
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Yea I'm trying to avoid doing that. I'm lazy. Lol
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
You should be fine, I’ve loaded it with more as well without drying first, just watch the drip tray the first couple days as mentioned and start slow bringing the ph down just .5% or so a day for the first few days. Looks good!
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I think something is wrong with the dehuey. It gets to about 66-67% and just stays there.
That's why some of us let it sit out for a day. When I put more in mine it hovered around 70ish but fell in a couple days I think
TCH
Well-Known Member
That's a shit ton of flower and in turn, moisture. Have you checked the dehumidifier to make sure it's not icing over? If I try to go too low out of the gate, mine will ice over.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Ok I was thinking that might be the case. I wonder if 2 dehueys might work better for more mass?
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
The fan will still run if it ices over, the fins in the back will be covered in a block of ice. Happens trying to go to low rh with that much moisture, unplug the dehuey for half an hour then start again, and set the rh higher, around 73-75, then drop down slowly each day. That’s what I did my last run that was packed fairly tight and not dried at all first and it came out fantastic.
Most of the dehumidification is done by the Fridge. The dehumidifier functions mostly as a heater (so they fridge can cool more and removes more water).
Staying constant just means that the flower has reached an equilibrium with the air. If you remove moisture from the air then more evaporates from the flower. Over time it will slowly go down.
If you want to see progress check the tray for water.
TCH
Well-Known Member
And if I understand correctly, by keeping the temp low, under 60°F it isn't an ideal condition for mold growth, right? I was so scared at the beginning to put wet flower in there because of mold, but with each run, I get more comfortable with it.
Mold (and bacteria) needs water to grow. Low temps just favours mold over bacteria.
To prevent mold the flower is quickly dried initially. That reduces the water activity (a measure of "free" water that is not bound up by other things) below the point where mold can germinate. Then it can be cured in this fashion.
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Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
I was worried a bit at first as well, but the cooler is pulling the moisture from inside the buds fairly quickly. If there is already mold present it obviously is a problem, but you are quickly taking the rh to under 70%, and at 60f it takes a long time for mold to actually start and thrive. Here’s a chart, it’s not perfect but gives you an idea how long mold takes at different rh and temps. Keep in mind it’s also not the rh of the air in the cooler, but inside the bud, so each day that moisture is decreasing significantly. At 60f and 76%rh it takes over a month for mold to start, and once below 72 rh there is virtually no risk of mold.
gooshpoo
Well-Known Member
So what im testing now, is follows.
I placed flower in the koolatron set to 65 allow a short time around an 2 hours for things to all get the same temperature. I then record what RH im at , at that point i use a VP calculator with a DP calculator and set a rh to about half of what ever the VP is to get a proper DP. run for 24 hours then repeat the process and checking the flower.
I placed flower in the koolatron set to 65 allow a short time around an 2 hours for things to all get the same temperature. I then record what RH im at , at that point i use a VP calculator with a DP calculator and set a rh to about half of what ever the VP is to get a proper DP. run for 24 hours then repeat the process and checking the flower.
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
If you read through this thread you’ll see I went through a testing period where I was figuring VPD and DP, but in the end they are all just different calculations of the same basic data, and if your temp is constant you can pick any of them to target, in the end you lower the dehumidifier until you get to the desired rh, if you convert that to VPD and/or DP it still works the same. I think the main lesson I have learned is if you don’t hang dry a bit first, start with the rh higher and slowly go down until you hit that target. I think it also helps the more fan leaves and stem you remove, that’s a lot of moisture that doesn’t effect the end product from all testing everyone has done on here. If you hang dry first or loosely pack the Koolatron you can be a bit more aggressive with the initial rh setting and drops.
Nugnewbie
Well-Known Member
I have been following this thread from the beginning with full intentions of building one for myself. I want to be honest here, I'm not the handiest, and definitely lack confidence in building one, even though on the surface, it seems fairly simple. So, I have owned a Koolatron 20 bottle wine since July of last year. Have purchased mesh covers for the racks to place the freshly harvested bud (mid March). I had an Inkbird Ihc-200-wifi already. So, all that was left was the small dehumidifier,. So, I purchased this one off of Amazon.
I pulled it out of the box, and started disassembling it. As soon as I got the back off, it seems quite different from the Pohl Schmidt one @Hook Daddy used in his build.
I don't know if this will work. I'm leary of taking it apart any further if it won't. Was hoping @Hook Daddy or anyone else that has put one of these together could chime in and help me decide if I need to order the Pohl Schmitt dehumidifier and return this one.
I pulled it out of the box, and started disassembling it. As soon as I got the back off, it seems quite different from the Pohl Schmidt one @Hook Daddy used in his build.
I don't know if this will work. I'm leary of taking it apart any further if it won't. Was hoping @Hook Daddy or anyone else that has put one of these together could chime in and help me decide if I need to order the Pohl Schmitt dehumidifier and return this one.