Humidor Modifications

[gandolf565]

As promised here are pictures of the cooling unit I put in my humidor. I used a DDC controller for the logic. A simple thermostat would have worked, but I do building controls for a living, so why not go all the way

The actual cooling unit is a peltier device, it runs on 12v power at about 5 amps. I am controlling the unit using proportional control. What this means is that the farther away from the setpoint (70F) the more juice gets sent to the peltier device. I set this up to heat or cool as needed.

The thermostat has several functions. I can independantly set the cooling and heating setpoints, I can tuen the internal fans on, or let them run only when the unit is cooling or heating. I can set the unit to run fully automatic, heat only, cool only or OFF. The default display on the thermostat is the internal temperature of the humidor, it will also display the room temperature and the percentage of cooling or heating (proportional control). It will also turn the lights on with the press of a button and automatically turn them off after 5 minutes with a warning flash of the lights at the 4 minute mark.

I used a 12.4 amp switching power supply just in case I need to add another peltier device. The humidor will eventually be put in my son's room (if he ever moves out :laugh: ) and in the interest of economy I do not plan on heating or cooling the room unless I am actually in there.

Without further ado, the pictures:

The thermostat

The interior with lights off (I have yet to mount them permanently)

Lights on

The exterior goodies

Exterior goodies showing the peltier hot side and the cover removed from the panel. I used wood and plexiglass for the "ductwork" inside and out.

A bit better view of the DDC controller, pulse width modulation card, power supply and relays. (dang pic is upside down)

This works great, it holds a steady 70f in cooling mode

 

[Jeff1101]

NERD. :sign:
Just kidding very nice. Wish I had the time to complete a project like that.

 

[Shooter]

NICE

 

[RGD]

Cool deal. As you know we are both using the same cooler - how many cubic feet is your cabinet? I'm still hoping the single one will cool mine.

Ron

 

[gandolf565]

I believe it is a little over 5cu ft. If the room temperature gets very high at all it does lose ground. 80F room gets me 72 - 73F humi temp.

I am probably going to add another unit just for insurance.

 

[BrewMeister]

Nice!

Question - It is difficult for me to determine from the image, is there a means to collect the condensation that will collect and drip form the peltier plates?

 

[gandolf565]

The white tray that the lights are setting on does the job.

I was going to go to the hardware store and buy some copper foil to form a "downspout" to the tray, however, I have yet to see any condensation develop so it hasn't been high on the priority list.

 

[RGD]

I believe it is a little over 5cu ft. If the room temperature gets very high at all it does lose ground. 80F room gets me 72 - 73F humi temp.

I am probably going to add another unit just for insurance.

I guess I should go ahead and just install a second one now to make everything easy. My cabinet is about 13.5 cu ft. sooooo -

Ron

 

[xRanger]

Now all you need is an inverter back up system!

Looks good! I might have to steel your idea one of these days......

Bill

 

[Herfin Bigdog]

Very Nice! Where did you acquire your peltier device?

I bought one of those food cooling/heating units that can be used in a vehicle for heating or cooling food. It has a peltier device similar to what you installed in your 'dor. I made the purchase with the intent to do what you have done but I wasn't going to go to the extent that you did because I am not as knowledgeable with building control devices as you obviously are. I was just going to connect it to a timer and add a small fan or two to blow air across the fins.

Again, Very Nice job!

 

[gandolf565]

Very Nice! Where did you acquire your peltier device?

Thanks.

I got the peltier device from HERE

The biggest kick I get out of anything I do is when it works as I expect. Makes you puff your chest up and say "I'm the MAN!"

 

[outlawsp]

Cool use for the peltiers!
I have 4 of them keeping my overclocked processors cool in my computer.

 

[AVB]

You have symmetrical multiprocessors in your home computer? What else do you need 4 pelteir devices for?

Cool use for the peltiers!
I have 4 of them keeping my overclocked processors cool in my computer.

 

[NullSmurf]

NOAA is running hurricane models on Scott's machine while he's not looking!

Allen, would you post a schematic and a parts list (the list, at least)? I've licked the RH problems in my cabidor, but now I have cooling issues. Also, what noise if any do you have?

 

[RONINDICE]

That gives me hope that I will not have to one day spend 3k to get a nice cabinet humi with a cooling unit. Nice job!!! :thumbs:

 

[theorangeman]

After doing some research on climate controlled units, I was left with the impression that the only cost effective way to get a climate controlled humi (the size that I need) was to plunk down 4-5K for an Aristocrat. I really HATE the idea of spending that much, regardless of how nice they are, when I can spend half that and still get a VERY solid, attractive humidor. Therefore, I'm really excited to hear that this isn't necessarily true. I do have a few questions though (and it's kind of long), if you wouldn't mind sharing your wisdom and knowledge:

1. How much did you invest in all of this? What can I expect to spend?

2. Someone, who I don't think really knew what he was talking about, told me that climate controlled humis are made a little differently to accomodate these devices. Is there any truth to this or can I just buy any (decent quality) humi and expect to be able to make it climate controlled?

3. How does the cooling device affect the humidity in your humi? Does the humidity drop a good bit when it cools? I had a wine cooler for a couple of weeks but finally returned it because the humidity dropped too much and in order to protect my cigars, I would have had to keep them all in boxes which is not what I want. I would like to be able to store my sticks on shelves without having to stack boxes in the humi. Are there any similarities to your unit and what I'm describing with wine coolers?

3. In a year, I'll be moving down to Tampa so heating my humi obviously won't be an issue. Therefore, is there another device that you would recommend?

4. I'll be the first to admit, when it comes to things like this I'm not very skilled - how difficult is this? I might have to bring in someone to give me a hand! You don't live in Florida do you? :whistling:

 

[RGD]

After doing some research on climate controlled units, I was left with the impression that the only cost effective way to get a climate controlled humi

In the simplest terms you would need the cooler such as the one pictured ($40) - two fans ($10) - a 12 volt power supply at 5 amps ($$75 to $100) and a thermostat of some type ($20).

Allen knows a ton more about the control side than I do - hence he was able to use the DDC controller and all as in his pictures above. I think that the amount of coolers is one of those trial and error deals - and based off of his notes and the size of his cabinet - I have ordered one more unit to give me two devices. So for the size of the cabinet - 5 to 6 cubic feet could use one device - up to 10 to 12 cubic feet would need two.

The basic design notes for installing these in any cabinet would be to remember that you need space either behind or under the unit to mount the power supply, the hot side of the device and the fan. The hot side must have a fan.
His stuff is mounted on the back of the unit - mine is under as I want my cabinet to fit flush against the wall. Either or works fine.

Ron

 

[NullSmurf]

This Peltier technology is tailor made for humidors! I found a one-stop shop for information and parts sources. I haven't read in depth yet, but is power pulse modulation necessary? It also appears that the conesquence of cooling with a heat sink is dehumidification. Cooling past the dew point is an unavoidable side effect. Have you had trouble maintaining RH?

 

[RGD]

. . . but is power pulse modulation necessary? . . .

Allen is smarter than us on this - so he is using it - I don't know crap about it so I am not. Most manufactors info that I read said that you can either use an on/off switch or the ppm. I have taken apart a Coleman cooler and all it had was a simple thermal switch - nothing else.

My views on the RH is this: there may be an intial RH drop when the unit is first started to cool the cabinet - but once it's under operation you are not letting the temps get to high levels. Therefore by using a fan across the fins of the heatsink (cooling side) - you would be returning the condensation back into the air of the cabinet. My bench testing of my unit has produced zero condensation on the heatsink fins.

Now my theory could be that I'm full of BS - but it's my story that I'm sticking with

Ron

 

[theorangeman]

After doing some research on climate controlled units, I was left with the impression that the only cost effective way to get a climate controlled humi (the size that I need) was to plunk down 4-5K for an Aristocrat. I really HATE the idea of spending that much, regardless of how nice they are, when I can spend half that and still get a VERY solid, attractive humidor. Therefore, I'm really excited to hear that this isn't necessarily true. I do have a few questions though (and it's kind of long), if you wouldn't mind sharing your wisdom and knowledge:

1. How much did you invest in all of this? What can I expect to spend?

2. Someone, who I don't think really knew what he was talking about, told me that climate controlled humis are made a little differently to accomodate these devices. Is there any truth to this or can I just buy any (decent quality) humi and expect to be able to make it climate controlled?

3. How does the cooling device affect the humidity in your humi? Does the humidity drop a good bit when it cools? I had a wine cooler for a couple of weeks but finally returned it because the humidity dropped too much and in order to protect my cigars, I would have had to keep them all in boxes which is not what I want. I would like to be able to store my sticks on shelves without having to stack boxes in the humi. Are there any similarities to your unit and what I'm describing with wine coolers?

3. In a year, I'll be moving down to Tampa so heating my humi obviously won't be an issue. Therefore, is there another device that you would recommend?

4. I'll be the first to admit, when it comes to things like this I'm not very skilled - how difficult is this? I might have to bring in someone to give me a hand! You don't live in Florida do you? :whistling:

I quoted myself so that you don't have to go back and search to find what I'm referring to in my follow up question. Regarding my earlier question, specifically number two, isn't that why a thermoelectric unit would be the best option? When I was first looking into doing this, I believe I found thermoelectric devices to be very expensive (yet my search was fairly limited because I wasn't very clear on what I would need). Perhaps that is why you have not used one. I'll stop now before rambling on too much because my knowledge on this topic is very limited, but I do want to learn because I'm excited that there is an option versus buying a temp. controlled humi. :thumbs: