TCH
Well-Known Member
Thermoelectric is what you want. If you read through this whole thread, he details how he built.it.
Thermoelectric wine cooler drying and curing - DIY
- Thread starter Hook Daddy
- Start date
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
They cap out at about 24 bottles, anything larger will be split, basically just two, or compressor based. I haven’t seen any larger anyhow. I will eventually build another. I figure I could build 3 and still be under $1,000. I have been waiting for the small dehumidifier to fail, but so far so good.
Nugnewbie
Well-Known Member
Do you ship to Canada?
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
I don’t ship them but Amazon will ship the parts I’m sure. They are really quite easy to put together.Do you ship to Canada?
Nugnewbie
Well-Known Member
Yes, your post showing how you built it seemed simple enough. Many thanks for taking the time to document and post your work. So, I see some thermoelectric wine fridges are described as "dual zone". What is the difference between that and the one you used to build yours?
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
It’s basically just two fridges on top of each other, or side by side sometimes. They have separate peltier coolers to control each zone, although there’s no reason you couldn’t use one I guess. Just put a dehumidifier in each section.
Blue brother
Well-Known Member
BRAVO! Very slick! Makes mine look like the ugly sister haha. Well done mate. I got silicone mesh for mine easy found on Amazon and Google
Blue brother
Well-Known Member
They’re hard if not impossible to find mate, I remember just accepting that I’d have to make another one in the future, the guy I copied my build off has 2 as he couldn’t find a bigger one either
Blue brother
Well-Known Member
The compressor makes a much more drastic change to the environment that would strip moisture away too quickly, I remember theorising I’d need a humidifier too smooth out the drop in humidity as the compressor cycles.
maybe it would work well for the first couple days when there’s plenty water to spare but by the end you’d be wishing you had something a bit more gentle on the dehumidification, also u probs wudnt need a dehumidifier when using a compressor as on its own it would get rid of too much water per cycle
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
As @Blue brother said, the compressor models dry them out much faster. It would be the same as just putting them in a regular fridge. It can be done, and is why some people put them in pizza boxes and things to keep them from drying too fast. I believe there is a thread on RIU about fridge drying as well, but it is not the same process. The thermoelectric gives much more control over the temp and humidity IMO, allowing for a longer and precise dry and cure.
Tracker
Well-Known Member
Thanks for posting this DIY @Hook Daddy . this might be in my future.
pahpah-cee
Well-Known Member
I keep forgetting to add this info.
you can disconnect the inkbird probe cable from either the controller board itself or you can disconnect it from the probe itself.
this picture demonstrates how it separates.
you can disconnect the inkbird probe cable from either the controller board itself or you can disconnect it from the probe itself.
this picture demonstrates how it separates.
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
It works just like a regular fridge, you can buy a walk in restaurant style fridge at that point, but you don’t need a dehumidifier you need a massive humidifier or your buds are crispy in days. This has all been done, re-tested and verified by many sources, this is not new. Here is one of the better threads here on RIU for fridge drying if your interested, I’ve never tried it so really don’t know, I was told by many thermoelectric wine coolers were the way to go, and all my research lead me to thermoelectric, so that’s what I did, no regrets so far.
Drying in a fridge
Anyone tried this? I’m going to try it, been reading about it over the past few months and I feel confident it will work, it’s actually pretty well documented practise over at thc farmer and on 420 mag. I understand the science behind it and have seen it work, and I also understand why so...
www.rollitup.org
Vonkins
Well-Known Member
I'll just stick with the thermoelectric model. Does a dual zone koolatron require 2 dehumidifiers or will 1 suffice?
Hook Daddy
Well-Known Member
Honestly I’ve never used one but it would make sense that if there are two zones then both would need their own separate dehumidifier. Also looking at the two zone model the zone temps are different ranges, so I expect they are counting on cool air from the top to sink, cooling the bottom section some. so they must not be completely separate. When I build my next one I will just use another 20 bottle size singe zone. I have thought about finding a used small fridge and refitting it with a TEC but after pricing out the parts it’s about the same cost if not cheaper to just buy it unless building a bunch.
Vonkins
Well-Known Member
I'll be getting the 20 bottle single zone model
pahpah-cee
Well-Known Member
I always figured if I found a large dual zone I would just drill holes or cut out the divider.