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Wineador people I have a question re odor

bucfan444

bucfan444

Cigar Hoarding for the apocalypse
Joined
Sep 23, 2013
Messages
331
I decided a few months ago to set up a NewAire 28 bottle wineador in my office at work as a temperature controlled overflow since I can't fit another damn stick in my Aristocrat. I properly cleaned the interior with baking soda, distilled water and aired it out. All is well as far as humidity but it has developed an odd, pungent smell comparable to smelly gym sneakers (seriously)
There is no standing water or moldy cigar boxes and the unit keeps humidity perfectly but the smell is causing me concern for long term storage. I've been airing it out a few times a week, but it's not a solution to the problem. My question to more experienced wineador owners is, is this odor normal? I realize the interior is not cedar lined like a conventional humidor, but I didn't expect a pungent smell to be present after just 3 months. What do other wineadors without shelving filled with just boxes smell like?
Should I place some baking soda in there to absorb or minimize the odor?
Just to clarify there is no shelving at all. Just boxes of Habanos stacked top to bottom and one pound of Heartfelt beads on the ground floor with a fan to circulate air on a timer.
 
That's a tough one. I've had my wino set up for about a year and haven't had any issue. To be fair, mine smells like cedar when I open it, but I have drawers and shelves. I would be surprised if it were the wineador itself and not the contents making the smell. If it were me I would go through each box and see if I could locate the source. If I couldn't, I would empty the contents into a cooler and let the wino set for a few days. You should be able to isolate the smell. I think you have plenty of beads so I doubt that is the issue. If you get the same smell from the cooler, you know it's in the boxes somewhere. Best of luck brother. Let us know what you find out.
 
My only thought is check the condensation drainage to see if that's where the smell is originating. I'm assuming here you plugged the drain with silicone or something, so I would check for cracks. There could be standing water in the drain tube that is leading to the pungent aroma.
 
That's probably where I'd start if you haven't already!
 
Along those lines, do you have enough circulation/open air, that would dry out any "wet" issues?  Are any of your boxes wet?  Do the beads have any mold growing on them?
 
Thank you guys for some ideas to pursue.
I blew out drain line with compressed air...not clogged and dry.
I have pulled out about 75% of the contents and left open for an extended period. Going to try and isolate.
Beads have no mold and there are no wet boxes.
I think I just may need to get cedar shelves like so many other wineador owners have. obviously the cedar plays an important part in the odors present inside the unit. Maybe my smell is just the result of a lack of cedar.
Thanks again for your ideas gentlemen. If I find a solution In a reasonable amount of time will post results in case someone else has this issue.
 
If you have your metal shelves still, stick one or two in there and restack your boxes.  Maybe it just needs circulation.
 
I just got my wineador two months ago and it smelled thick of red wine until I gave it a good scrub and left bunched up newspaper in there for a week. After that I plugged the hole with plumbers putty and left open boxes in there until it had a strong scent of cedar and was holding temp and humidity well. Haven't had a problem since. Haven't had time to install any cedar shelves and I'm thinking I might not. The wire shelves allow for more circulation.
 
I'm definitely replacing the metal wire shelves based on both your recommendations to increase circulation. By chance do either of you leave your door open maybe once every couple minutes of days for a few minutes to circulate fresh air? I have a large CPU fan running once every 60 min but that's just moving around my "funky" air throughout the interior. Should I be airing this think out? This is obviously my first wineador. I assumed the RH and temp would be my challenges. Didn't expect odor to trip me up
 
Haven't had a reason to air it out since i first got it. I'm hopeful you can identify the source and get it cleaned up so you won't have to deal with that or worry about fresh air being added. You want an environment full of fresh spanish cedar and tobacco scent, so fresh air doesn't really help that situation.
 
Really a wineador has more circulation than a large-count humidor which sits with the same air week in and week out. Doesn't make sense to have fresh air unless you've got the issue you're dealing with, because it'd just create issues maintaining consistent humidity and temperature.
 
In Minnesota winter, the humidity in my house is right around 20% so merely opening up the dang humidor to reach in quick and select a stick presents a loss of 2-3% humidity, let alone taking my time or checking my sticks every few weeks for bugs/mold. My battle is always keeping the temp down in the winter (when my thermostat is set to 80) and up in the summer (when it's set to 60) and maintaining that 65% humidity. I've been keeping my wineador closed for as long as I can stand it.  
 
Up until very recently, the wine fridge I used for my cigars was also used to hold my wine. The only cedar I had in there was one of those trays that sit in the top of a large desktop (and that was just at the bottom to make stacking easier) and whatever boxes I had at the time. I never noticed any odor problems. Mine is a VinoTemp, but it looks similar, so I'd imagine the build is similar. Take a look on the back of the fridge near the bottom. On mine there was what looked like a catch tray, I guess for the drain hole. Make sure that's clean. I'd also take a look at the fan at the back there and run the vacuum along that as well. 
 
You set your thermostat for your house to 80* F in the winter, and 60* F in the summer?
 
Not me... my wife... I'm convinced she's got a faulty heating/cooling system in her body and she refuses to get it replaced.
 
:)
 
bucfan444 said:
I'm definitely replacing the metal wire shelves based on both your recommendations to increase circulation. By chance do either of you leave your door open maybe once every couple minutes of days for a few minutes to circulate fresh air? I have a large CPU fan running once every 60 min but that's just moving around my "funky" air throughout the interior. Should I be airing this think out? This is obviously my first wineador. I assumed the RH and temp would be my challenges. Didn't expect odor to trip me up
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I am late to the thread here, but I will add that I bought mine a year or so ago and I opened it up and aired it out outside for about a week. Then I cleaned it just as you have, then aired it out again for a few days.  It was tough to be patient, but thats all I did.  Hopefully your smell goes away, but maybe just open it up, and let er be for longer than think it should be.
 
Never too late for good advice.
Im currently going the route you mentioned and have emptied if out completely. Letting it air out for a few days then going back to step one.
Thanks for the input.
 
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