Gifted a NewAir CC-300H! Need some help!

[MasterYotti]

6 minutes ago, The Squiggler said:

Nothing wrong with 65/65.  Most people store at room temperature (~70F).  Admittedly that's because they aren't using a dedicated cooling system, but 65 is a good number regardless.  In fact, 65F might be safer than 62F depending on the climate you live in.  If your cooling system is causing temperature fluctuations because it's set too low (relative to the temp outside the unit) it can lead to condensation inside the unit.  Also, more (or bigger) bovedas is never a bad idea.

So my main adversary by using lower temperature is condensation? And I assume that this would then cause mold? I just worry that 65RH+ may cause too much resistance for the smoking experience.

[The Squiggler]

1 hour ago, MasterYotti said:

So my main adversary by using lower temperature is condensation? And I assume that this would then cause mold? I just worry that 65RH+ may cause too much resistance for the smoking experience.

There are some experts here that can explain this better, but in theory, if your temp stays at 62F (or whatever temp) and doesn't fluctuate, you shouldn't have a problem.  It's not low temperatures that cause condensation.  Rather, decreases in temp lower the capacity of air to hold moisture and can cause moisture from the air to precipitate onto the surfaces within the unit (walls, shelves, and cigars).  This has happened to me when winter weather hit and the temp in my house dropped drastically, causing some of my cigars to mold (a while later).  When you increase the temp and see a drop in RH, it's likely the moisture content of the air didn't change all that much.  Instead there was probably a shift in the relative humidity due to the increase of the capacity of the air to hold moisture at higher temps--Pretty sure air containing a certain amount of moisture at 62F will give you a higher RH reading than air with the same moisture content at higher temps because RH is a measurement of the amount of water vapor in the air relative to the saturation point of that air at the current temperature (somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here). 

Anyway, I guess this was sort of a roundabout answer to your question (or not an answer at all), but I know some people have experienced condensation in their wineadors when trying to keep the temp low... others I'm sure have had zero problems.  Either way, I think 65/65 is totally fine, unless you want to bring the RH even lower to help with burn issues and the like, in which case you might want to add some 62RH boveda packs. 

 

...or switch to a cigar oasis

[MasterYotti]

1 hour ago, The Squiggler said:

There are some experts here that can explain this better, but in theory, if your temp stays at 62F (or whatever temp) and doesn't fluctuate, you shouldn't have a problem.  It's not low temperatures that cause condensation.  Rather, decreases in temp lower the capacity of air to hold moisture and can cause moisture from the air to precipitate onto the surfaces within the unit (walls, shelves, and cigars).  This has happened to me when winter weather hit and the temp in my house dropped drastically, causing some of my cigars to mold (a while later).  When you increase the temp and see a drop in RH, it's likely the moisture content of the air didn't change all that much.  Instead there was probably a shift in the relative humidity due to the increase of the capacity of the air to hold moisture at higher temps--Pretty sure air containing a certain amount of moisture at 62F will give you a higher RH reading than air with the same moisture content at higher temps because RH is a measurement of the amount of water vapor in the air relative to the saturation point of that air at the current temperature (somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here). 

Anyway, I guess this was sort of a roundabout answer to your question (or not an answer at all), but I know some people have experienced condensation in their wineadors when trying to keep the temp low... others I'm sure have had zero problems.  Either way, I think 65/65 is totally fine, unless you want to bring the RH even lower to help with burn issues and the like, in which case you might want to add some 62RH boveda packs. 

This definitely gives me much to ponder. 

Also, since I have the NewAir CC-300H, and it has the heating element as well, sound my concerns for condensation be essentially at a minimum? The unit should self correct regardless of outside temperature (as long as the unit environment is +- 15 degrees to desired internal temperature) to maintain a consistent reading.

[The Squiggler]

43 minutes ago, MasterYotti said:

Also, since I have the NewAir CC-300H, and it has the heating element as well, sound my concerns for condensation be essentially at a minimum? The unit should self correct regardless of outside temperature (as long as the unit environment is +- 15 degrees to desired internal temperature) to maintain a consistent reading.

Yeah, I would think as long as the unit doesn't have to work too hard to control the temp you probably won't encounter any problems.  If it's 80F in the room and your unit is set to 60F, you might see the temp rise a few degrees inside the unit before it has a chance to kick on and bring the temp back down.  In that case, the unit would be kicking on and off and the temp would constantly be going up and down, which is not a good thing.  I'm not sure what the recommended range is, but if it's +/-15, just keep it there and you'll probably be fine.  And check the bottom of the unit for condensation on occasion just to be safe, especially the temp outside the unit is on the upper end.

[MasterYotti]

3 hours ago, The Squiggler said:

Yeah, I would think as long as the unit doesn't have to work too hard to control the temp you probably won't encounter any problems.  If it's 80F in the room and your unit is set to 60F, you might see the temp rise a few degrees inside the unit before it has a chance to kick on and bring the temp back down.  In that case, the unit would be kicking on and off and the temp would constantly be going up and down, which is not a good thing.  I'm not sure what the recommended range is, but if it's +/-15, just keep it there and you'll probably be fine.  And check the bottom of the unit for condensation on occasion just to be safe, especially the temp outside the unit is on the upper end.

Thank you for responding to this, very helpful!!!

[Subcomandante]

What % bovedas are you using and how many? I find whatever I use it’s alway 5% below. Even using 20+ 60 gram bags. I’m in California and need it plugged in for high temps for year round. 

[heftytome]

On 3/9/2020 at 1:50 PM, MasterYotti said:

What trouble did you have with the drawers? And yeah, I feel like from what I have heard, Boveda is a great option for the NewAir units. Do you rotate the boxes at all?

Apologies, I haven't logged in in a while. Humidity just kept getting wonky with the trays, air wouldn't circulate, so mold ended up growing on the cigars at the top while the bottom cigars were virtually dry. Just ended up taking out the trays and leaving the boxes in there and now humidity is not a problem.