The red and black we spliced together on the Pohl model dehumidifier were the peltier and the fan, which is how it was wired, it only has one TEC on that dehumidifier. If yours has two, or for anyone that gets a different model, they will have to figure that out. Glad you know enough to get it right.a tech observation I made while fooling around on this build :
On the dehumi I am using, (Breezome MCS008 amazon link ), the cooling module inside has 2 Peltier cells, each with it's own pair of red/black wires, but they are wired in series at the board - NOT parallel. In other words, two pairs of red/black wires, one to each cell, are connected in series when plugged into the PCB. Also, on the Koolatron WC20, there are 2 cells in the cooler module (TEC), and they are also wired in series. They split the voltage and have the same current.
I checked at the board connectors, and red on socket one is definitely connected to black on socket two, so the sockets are in series. I confirmed it by measuring on the stock unit before I took it apart. If I connected these in parallel, I'd get 4 times the current and would be doubling the power to the cells, possibly exceeding the capacity of the power supply and/or cells. Also getting twice the heat when it runs inside the cooler. Something to be aware of...
I connected mine in series. IOW, instead of splicing both reds together, and both blacks together (parallel wiring), I spliced red from one cell to black from another, and connected power to the other red and black (series wiring). On the bench it drew 2.46A at 17V (the included dehumi wall wart says 16 VDC, but it puts out 18 unloaded and about 17 loaded), for around the rated 40W.
I have not checked the one everybody is using from page one, but it def has 2 cells, and I wonder if they should also be in series. Does anyone know, or anyone checked? HTH
Perfect. I was mistaken - I checked the pic from page one. It's all good. Just wanted to help if I can. If I had wired mine in parallel, it probably would have smoked the wall supply.The red and black we spliced together on the Pohl model dehumidifier were the peltier and the fan, which is how it was wired, it only has one TEC on that dehumidifier. If yours has two, or for anyone that gets a different model, they will have to figure that out. Glad you know enough to get it right.
Walk-in?I think im going to build a larger one ill update when i have something
If it spikes into the 80s it’s just because the buds are still wet, it’s not an issue. The spikes will get smaller as they dry. Be sure to check the water tray, it can fill up daily the first week or so.Up and running. Was able to fit half of my harvest in the koolatron packed to the gillsfor 1 plant. I guess it will give me a chance to compare.
Threw in the koolatron without hanging at rh 75 and walking down 1 degree a day. Anyone have spikes up to high 80's then come down and re-regulate?
I would just let it ride at 58%.So I finished drying at 58f does anyone raise theirs up to 60? Or just let it cure at 58f/60%?
Awesome, do you have the dehumidifier turn on at 60% or 61% to burp it? I noticed when I had it turn on at 61, my average would never get lower than 61%I would just let it ride at 58%.
Try this automation. It triggers every time temp goes outside the target range (15.5-16 C) and outside the humidity range (58-62 %rH). The it toggles the humidifier off/on to maintain temp below 16 C. If temp is below 16 C it toggles it to keep humidity below 60 %rH. It needs a sensor for humidity and temp inside the fridge (I use an Aqara zigbee sensor) and a switch for the humidifier (a zigbee outlet switch in my case).To clarify, what is the purpose of stepping down the humidity gradually? Assuming putting the harvest right in the cooler without any hang dry time. Is it mainly to avoid overworking the dehumidifier which may cause freezing? Or is there another purpose of stepping down to not dry too fast / produce too much heat or something?
For context similar to @Lou66 looking to automate with home assistant which I already manage the rest of my grow with. What I envision is setting a target humidity in HA, then having an automation take care of the rest. My thought is rather than manually stepping down, just set to a target of 60% or whatever, and have it automatically turn the dehumidifier off every 2 hours for 10 minutes to prevent freezing.
alias: Coolatron 16 °C_1
description: ""
trigger:
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id:
- sensor.0x00158d0006ebd6a7_temperature
for:
hours: 0
minutes: 0
seconds: 30
attribute: temperature
above: 16
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id:
- sensor.0x00158d0006ebd6a7_temperature
for:
hours: 0
minutes: 0
seconds: 30
attribute: temperature
below: 15.5
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id:
- sensor.0x00158d0006ebd6a7_humidity
attribute: humidity
above: 62
for:
hours: 0
minutes: 0
seconds: 30
- platform: numeric_state
entity_id:
- sensor.0x00158d0006ebd6a7_humidity
attribute: humidity
below: 58
for:
hours: 0
minutes: 0
seconds: 30
condition: []
action:
- if:
- condition: and
conditions:
- type: is_temperature
condition: device
device_id: e0b9cdf8aec31b8245aa02c5f192e6cc
entity_id: 4134d7072f076db77f8059fb048a608f
domain: sensor
below: 15.6
- type: is_humidity
condition: device
device_id: e0b9cdf8aec31b8245aa02c5f192e6cc
entity_id: 4a08681ccc65543cb6718c9eef585720
domain: sensor
above: 60
then:
- type: turn_on
device_id: 82326e692699a403dff50e50998cdc82
entity_id: 9e0437be92c347977220834692df2f64
domain: switch
- if:
- condition: or
conditions:
- type: is_temperature
condition: device
device_id: e0b9cdf8aec31b8245aa02c5f192e6cc
entity_id: 4134d7072f076db77f8059fb048a608f
domain: sensor
above: 15.9
- type: is_humidity
condition: device
device_id: e0b9cdf8aec31b8245aa02c5f192e6cc
entity_id: 4a08681ccc65543cb6718c9eef585720
domain: sensor
below: 60
then:
- type: turn_off
device_id: 82326e692699a403dff50e50998cdc82
entity_id: 9e0437be92c347977220834692df2f64
domain: switch
mode: single
It looks like you’re accomplishing what you want so great. In my dries I like to take a couple weeks to get down to 60% so your example is very fast in my opinion, which is one reason I stopped hang drying in the first place. I would shoot for a drop to 70% in 3 days, then at least 7 days for the next drop to 60%. I also have never had my temps rise much since setting the difference value to 1 and slowing down the dry, I usually have mine set at 12c (55f) and it may rise to 13 for a short time, not an issue to me. By all means reinvent the wheel if you want, but the wheel already works, you are adding some shiny hub caps, and many people may want that.Try this automation. It triggers every time temp goes outside the target range (15.5-16 C) and outside the humidity range (58-62 %rH). The it toggles the humidifier off/on to maintain temp below 16 C. If temp is below 16 C it toggles it to keep humidity below 60 %rH. It needs a sensor for humidity and temp inside the fridge (I use an Aqara zigbee sensor) and a switch for the humidifier (a zigbee outlet switch in my case).
In practice it will look like this (temperature was constant at 16 C +- 0.5 C):
Drying rate depends on the loading of the machine. It can remove a certain amount of moisture per day. In this case it was not much put in so it didn't take long to get to the end. I noticed no difference in quality to the longer drying time.It looks like you’re accomplishing what you want so great. In my dries I like to take a couple weeks to get down to 60% so your example is very fast in my opinion, which is one reason I stopped hang drying in the first place. I would shoot for a drop to 70% in 3 days, then at least 7 days for the next drop to 60%. I also have never had my temps rise much since setting the difference value to 1 and slowing down the dry, I usually have mine set at 12c (55f) and it may rise to 13 for a short time, not an issue to me. By all means reinvent the wheel if you want, but the wheel already works, you are adding some shiny hub caps, and many people may want that.
Drying rate depends on the loading of the machine. It can remove a certain amount of moisture per day. In this case it was not much put in so it didn't take long to get to the end. I noticed no difference in quality to the longer drying time.
I didn't reinvent the wheel. I just used the controller I had on hand (home assistant) instead of buying an inkbird. An advantage is that it's set it and forget it. No need to set the target humdity repeatedly.
I was referencing your earlier quote post 681 when you said no reason to reinvent the wheel. I have run multiple strains in both my koolatrons at different dry lengths and it’s almost always been voted the longer dry the better tasting, along with a dry at 55f better tasting than at 65 and up. Not any real difference in potency. Your taste testers opinions may vary. I’m sure you can program in the ability to slow the dry, I suggest you try both and see for yourself. You said you couldn’t tell the difference, but how many runs have you put through the Koolatron and actually tried? In fact how could you even once if you don’t have 2 Koolatron to run them in?Just do what is recommended and proven. Not reason to reinvent the wheel and fail.
I am glad you got the home assistant to work, don’t get me wrong, it’s another tool people can use to make this work. I have a feeling it can be a lot more programmable to control more variables, I’m not that familiar with it. I wasn’t bashing your success at all and rereading my post it may seem that way. I was trying to suggest if you know how build in the function to control length of dry as well.Drying rate depends on the loading of the machine. It can remove a certain amount of moisture per day. In this case it was not much put in so it didn't take long to get to the end. I noticed no difference in quality to the longer drying time.
I didn't reinvent the wheel. I just used the controller I had on hand (home assistant) instead of buying an inkbird. An advantage is that it's set it and forget it. No need to set the target humdity repeatedly.
I had a slightly different model of dehumidifier lying around. Mine had an extra board with this wire with a resister pinched against the inner blades. I removed it. Should I still be good? Fan is blowing up and out and the outside blades are getting cold. Thanks!!Then I stripped all the useless stuff off the dehumidifier leaving just the unit itself. Here’s with the front of the case removed.
View attachment 5273718
Here’s the rest removed.
View attachment 5273720
There is a small circuit board you can leave if you want. I removed it just putting the humidifier and fan power together with the power wires from the small plug in transformer, of course positive to positive, negative to negative. If you don’t know about wiring get help or just leave it as is. I only remove the case and junk to save space. Oh I ditched the water collection bin as well, the water will drip from the fins of the dehumidifier into the channel in back of the fridge made for draining.