Thermoelectric wine cooler drying and curing - DIY

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Silvio hernandez

Member
Hi together, i have build also a koolatron but had then the problem that my dehumidifier froze often and teamperatur was rising inside the fridge. So i decided to attach also a temp. Controller to the setup. Now i am able to regulate rh and also the Temperatur will garanted not rise above 59f. At the end iam now able to set 62% rh and forget about it until its finished
 

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Bodoo

Member
Silvio hernandez said:
Hi together, i have build also a koolatron but had then the problem that my dehumidifier froze often and teamperatur was rising inside the fridge. So i decided to attach also a temp. Controller to the setup. Now i am able to regulate rh and also the Temperatur will garanted not rise above 59f. At the end iam now able to set 62% rh and forget about it until its finished
Click to expand...
How long does it take your fridge to cool down again after the Temp controller shuts off power to the dehumidifier?
 
taproot

taproot

Well-Known Member
This isn't a wine cooler but rather my FF refrigerator. The buds are in a cardboard box in the fridge, until I can care a cheap wine fridge to try out I was wanting to try the lotus cure. I'm surprised it's already at this humidity level, it's roughly only been about 10 days. It was hang dried over night with a fan blowing gently over it so maybe it started off more dry than I thought. However I watched in the first few days the humidity being much higher and when the fridge would go into defrost mode and heat up to 40F the humidity would go up in the 70%'s. Now it's more or less stabilized in the 50's over the last few days. Since I've noticed when it gets warmer the humidity rises about 6 degrees I was thinking of pulling it down to 52% so when it's pulled and gets to room temp 80F hopefully it won't be past 58-60% RH which I'll then put into a grove bag with a 58% boveda pack.

Since this is my first time drying like this ..what do you guys think of this mornings readings?
 

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TCH

TCH

Well-Known Member
Silvio hernandez said:
Hi together, i have build also a koolatron but had then the problem that my dehumidifier froze often and teamperatur was rising inside the fridge. So i decided to attach also a temp. Controller to the setup. Now i am able to regulate rh and also the Temperatur will garanted not rise above 59f. At the end iam now able to set 62% rh and forget about it until its finished
Click to expand...

If your dehumidifier is freezing over, you have the rh setting too low to start out with. Let it start up in the mid 70's or so. I was having the same issue early on and it was driving me nuts. Once I put some trust in the koolatron to keep things mold free, and raised the starting point, it worked so much better.
 
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Silvio hernandez

Member
TCH said:
If your dehumidifier is freezing over, you have the rh setting too low to start out with. Let it start up in the mid 70's or so. I was having the same issue early on and it was driving me nuts. Once I put some trust in the koolatron to keep things mold free, and raised the starting point, it worked so much better.
Click to expand...
Also when i started in the 80's i had the problem qith freezing up the dehumidifier. So for me this ist kind of set and forget solution. No brainfuck that hopefully the fridge is not heated up to 70f or so...
And the few bucks for the additional zemp controller is wotth for me
 
DriverMain

DriverMain

Member
Short simple question:
Why do you guys set the Temperature in your wine cooler so low? As we know low temps can not keep as much humidity as hot air does so it is more work for the fridge and for the dehum. Also when I check my VPD Chart, the risk of mold is higher if I set my cooler below 60 instead of let’s say 65… terps as far as iam informered get lost at around 70F and also the cannatrol starts with 68F, iam confused please help me out :) is it just some sort of buffer you keep? Most Dehums also state that they just work above 59F….

thanks a lot, keep it cool
 
B

Bodoo

Member
DriverMain said:
Short simple question:
Why do you guys set the Temperature in your wine cooler so low? As we know low temps can not keep as much humidity as hot air does so it is more work for the fridge and for the dehum. Also when I check my VPD Chart, the risk of mold is higher if I set my cooler below 60 instead of let’s say 65… terps as far as iam informered get lost at around 70F and also the cannatrol starts with 68F, iam confused please help me out :) is it just some sort of buffer you keep? Most Dehums also state that they just work above 59F….

thanks a lot, keep it cool
Click to expand...

Going by purely anectodal evidence in this thread, it has been stated that bud cured around 60F seems to be have been received better than the ones cured around 68F. Cannatrol does use VPD to a certain extent, but their drying times are significantly shorter as well with their standard setting (around 4 days?). Key is to get rid of the paranoia that mold grows much faster than everyone seems to think due to the fear of crop loss, and trust the dehum doing its job as long as the hygrometer is dialed in/calibrated.

I think Hook Daddy was the one that shared this specific image chart depicting temperature/humidity and the time it takes for mold to grow as a reference:
 

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Trust1337

Member
Hey Brow, I'm also thinking about buying the same, where did you drill the hole?

by2 said:
I just finished my fridge and wanted to share how I went about it. I Just started the fridge for the first time so can't say that it works so far but its the same principle as Hook Daddy's Koolatron.

Thermoelectric wine fridge - Klarstein, Barolo 28 - it was on discount 229€
Peltier dehumidifier - Trotec - from Amazone It was like 29€
Controller - Elitech STC 1000 Pro TH, Its not wifi but I had it at home so it will due.

So I built a little stance for the fridge so I can have a bigger drain and move it around in my tight space.
First action was to try and find an entry point for the dehumidifier and sensor.

View attachment 5423807

I was set on drilling a hole in the back, so started to remove the inner back plate.
As you can see this model has no internal fan. Only a big cold heatsink in the back.
On the right hand side you the thermometer for the fridge.
View attachment 5423809

After removing the screws in the corners I stoped for a sec, and thought about the possible problems with thermal paste and other things I might need to deal with.
So changed my mind and just shoved the cables true the drainage hole.
Pored some water to see if it still goes true and 50ml went straight true, so no issues.
View attachment 5423810

I had to cut the cable for my sensor thou, but that was an easy fix with some Wagu connectors.
I keep all connections outside the fridge so it won't come in contact with any moisture.
View attachment 5423812

I also mounted the sensor in the fridge using some foam thing from some packaging and double sided tape.
View attachment 5423820



Thank you Hook Daddy for sharing your Ideas and knowledge, and every one else that contributes to the Cannabis community.
Click to expand...
 
by2

by2

Well-Known Member
Trust1337 said:
Hey Brow, I'm also thinking about buying the same, where did you drill the hole?
Click to expand...
So in my initial post I just used the existing drain hole and showed the cables true it. Works great with just the cables from the dehumidifier and sensor.
I have now changed my design since I noticed a lot of fluctuation of the humidity.
I would set the fridge temp to 14c and then wait a 12 hours to let it cool down and stabilise the humidity. it stoped at 72% so I set the humidity controller to 71% with 1% Dif. And the humidity would spike as soon as the dehumidifier started. Causing the dehumidifier to run for too long and heating up the fridge.

So I just finished up my new design that includes a small computer fan as well. So I had to drill a hole in the end any way.
I unscrewed the back plate from the inside. And drilled a hole from the backside in the hole that is already there. Its just below the barcode in the picture.
IMG_1432.jpeg

I then just made the hole bigger from the inside with a step drill bit, I fucked up a little and damage the inside a bit but its only aesthetics.
Next up was to just get all the cables true the hole, I used a zip tie around the cables and used it pull them true to make as small hole as possible.
IMG_1492.jpeg
I have a new controller now. I got my self an inkbird with wifi. I just opened it up and removed the sensor, since the connection is much smaller then the sensor it self. It is a small clip connector, so just push the lever and use a plier to gently remove it.IMG_1491.jpeg

So this is how it looks right now.
The fan is blowing air down in hopes of creating some kind of airflow since the fridge it self don't have a fan.
I this picture you can see mistake nr 2 as well.
I drilled the hole in the wrong place off the metal plate. Will cover it up with silicone so no water gets in behind.
IMG_1494.jpeg

I also created a custom shelf so I have space for the dehumidifier and so that the air is directed to the back plate.IMG_1497.jpeg

I have just loaded her up with a whole bunch of leafs and it's cooling down at the moment. Will make updates along the way.IMG_1498.jpeg
 
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