sealed plastic container in wine cooler question

[Cep]

My wine cooler doesnt seem to hold humidity proper anymore, so i resorted to using plastic sealed containers.   i wanted the temp control and a constant temp. my room temp seems to bounce around a lot.  but regardless, i noticed that the temp inside one of the containers that i took out opened and put back in is still at 70f, but my cooler is 62f inside.  

i wonder how long it will take for the air inside the plastic container to get down to 62?   or will it ever?   

its been 24 hours now and its not really dropping much.  i find it quite bizarre!    but there must be a reason.   anyone know what it is?

 

[cfc1016]

The air inside the sealed container is not circulating with the air in the open environment. This means it will take longer to cool down/heat up.

 

Let's address the underlying issue though, instead of the symptoms.

 

Have you checked the drain plug in your wine cooler? If that is not sealed tightly, that could cause your unit's tendency to not hold proper humidity.

[Cep]

its sealed with some blue puddy like substance. i can something else...   what would work?

[PapaDisco]

It's got to be instrumentation, no?  Even an insulated cooler will approach external ambient eventually.  An uninsulated container should get there fairly quickly.  The air doesn't have to circulate with the wine cooler air, although that would help.  The biggest impediments to temperature equalization relate to heat content and mass.  So if you're trying to heat up a body of water (which absorbs 25x the heat of air) with air, it will take a loooooong time.  But transferring a few degrees from one body of air to another, with only a thin piece of plastic (which is somewhat insulating) will happen quickly.  The mass of the cigars inside of your container will slow things down, but you'll eventually reach equilibrium with the wine cooler. 

I would guess that this process would equalize within 24hours, but that's just a hunch.  It could be that your temp sensors are off, or it could be that your average wine cooler temp is actually 70F (the temp of the inside of the container) and you happened to take this measurement when the wine cooler had been running the temp down to 62F.  Piggy sez that the untempered wine cooler will have very large swings in temperature, so maybe yours actually averages 70F but the sensor is too near the cold plate, or it's out of whack, or you're reading the only the low point in the temp cycle.

In theory, I like the idea of plastic containers inside of a wine cooler and am going to try this in my Saigon office.  It seems that one of the big challenges everyone faces in the wine cooler conversion process is getting humidity stable.  Plastic tuppers with Bovedas solves that problem easily and lets the wine cooler focus just on temperature.  It's not as elegant a  finely tuned controller with active humidification, but it is functional and somewhat failsafe.

[cfc1016]

13 minutes ago, Cep said:

its sealed with some blue puddy like substance. i can something else...   what would work?

Huh. That’s probably the loctite putty stuff. I wonder if it’s dryrotted? How long has the cooler been running?

i just taped my drainplug. Worked fine. 

I’m really vexed by the thing apparently not keeping a good seal though. 

[THEMISCHMAN]

I just put some tape over the drain holes on the ones I have. 5-6 Boveda packs and mine hold quite steady. What are you using for RH? Boveda, beads, KL....?

[Cep]

Boveda.

Ya i dont think its the drain hole. It seems sealed well and its pretty small.  Im leaning towards the rubber seal on the door.  But i really dont know.

Its pretty frustrating.  But i thought i found a good solution with the plastic containers. Im sure there are negatives though.  But i dont mind not having the boxes.  

Its a very small cooler.  12 bottle.

The thing i hate about it is even though the temp is on highest setting which is 64f it still gets 4 to 5f lower inside.  I would have been quite happy with 64f.  60f is a bit lower than i really wanted.  But who knows my cigars could be lovely in 5 years.

 

[Cep]

@PapaDisco   ya u could be right about the temps.  I think the hygros are good but i think you may be correct about the temps at different times and in different areas in the cooler.  

Honestly i dont know why its so confusing lol.  

And yes i agree. It seems like a great way to have stable rh.  

[Cep]

Well, i figured out the temp issue. 

I added a small fan to the top section and immediately the temp started to come down a lot.  So theres an air flow issue. Will see how it goes with the extra fan.

 

[PapaDisco]

1 hour ago, Cep said:

Well, i figured out the temp issue. 

I added a small fan to the top section and immediately the temp started to come down a lot.  So theres an air flow issue. Will see how it goes with the extra fan.

 

That seems like a surprising temperature gradient in such a small space.    I don't doubt your observation.  Just surprised 8F could fit in 3 vertical feet.

[Cep]

Agreed.  Tis weird

[havanaclub]

I did notice with mine when plugged in, the cooler temps and the humidity would always drop. When I unplugged the fridge the humidity was rock solid. I just need to spray my beads once every 3-4 months. However, my wine fridge is in my basement which is cooler and stays pretty constant around 66-68f.
I know you are looking for temp control but have you tried to see if your humidity is more stable with it unplugged? If it’s steady and not super low, then it’s likely not your seal.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cep]

ya,  tried it before,  cant remember results other than i just had to worry about my room temp too much.  

Anyways i havent really solved anything, spoke too soon.  the top is a bit cooler now thats all.

may add more fans at some point, but for now,  screw it!    So much headache for me the last few years.  If i ever have the coin i will invest in something that really works.