Thermoelectric wine cooler drying and curing - DIY

by2 said:
I am using mine now and it is working out great this run. I had some problems when only using the inc bird humidity control. Temperature would spike randomly.
So I connected a smart plug in to the incbird controller that have set to 62% and the smart plug timer to cycle 2min on and 3 hour of. So the dehumidifier runs for 2 min every 3 hour until it gets to 62% humidity.
That dropped the humidity pretty quickly until I hit 70% and now it seems to drop 1% every day.

It was easy to drill, just make sure to use a metal when drilling true the back plate.
Click to expand...
Hi and thanks for your respond.
I drilled from the backside with a 5mm steel drill into the foamhole through all, then with a cone shaped one from the Backplate for a bigger hole.

I do not understand what you mean with the smart plug.
so when the INKBIRD is triggered by reaching the RH, the smart plaug gets on and runs the timer. So the dehumidifier will kick on for 2 min. and then for 3 hrs off.
That mean, that the smart plug is still powerded because the RH is still too high - after 3 hrs again for 2 min? Prevent freezing i think.. but is 2 min. enough every 3 hrs? For 14 days?

Or do you set to the final RH, and the timer 2min/3 hrs. runs till it reaches this point?
 
Last edited:
Frankenstonr said:
Hi and thanks for your respond.
I drilled from the backside with a 5mm steel drill into the foamhole through all, then with a cone shaped one from the Backplate for a bigger hole.

I do not understand what you mean with the smart plug.
so when the INKBIRD is triggered by reaching the RH, the smart plaug gets on and runs the timer. So the dehumidifier will kick on for 2 min. and then for 3 hrs off.
That mean, that the smart plug is still powerded because the RH is still too high - after 3 hrs again for 2 min? Prevent freezing i think.. but is 2 min. enough every 3 hrs?
Click to expand...
I'd be pretty concerned about only running the dehumidifier for 2 min every three hours. I started at 75% RH on Monday. My average is down to 70 after 5 days by stepping it down 1% each day which is exactly where I want to be. I have not had any freeze ups and on average it runs for 2 min on and 2 min off after initially stepping it down and by the next day its 2 min on and 5 off on average. Mine is the 20 bottle so maybe that is the difference.
 
mobilekasey said:
I'd be pretty concerned about only running the dehumidifier for 2 min every three hours. I started at 75% RH on Monday. My average is down to 70 after 5 days by stepping it down 1% each day which is exactly where I want to be. I have not had any freeze ups and on average it runs for 2 min on and 2 min off after initially stepping it down and by the next day its 2 min on and 5 off on average. Mine is the 20 bottle so maybe that is the difference.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Makes sense what you say with the longer periods on the off time as a marker setting RH down. Did you start without dehumidifier for stabilization 1 day before starting at the reached RH? And did you put the flower direct to the unit without 1-2 days of drying?
LG
 
Frankenstonr said:
Thank you. Makes sense what you say with the longer periods on the off time as a marker setting RH down. Did you start without dehumidifier for stabilization 1 day before starting at the reached RH? And did you put the flower direct to the unit without 1-2 days of drying?
LG
Click to expand...
This time I did a pretty decent wet trim but no initial drying. Last time I did a very rough wet trim but again with no initial dry.
 
So it's the first time im using the timer so don't have much data to go on.
And I have my fridge in a room where the temperature fluctuates a few degrees every day so the fridge struggles some times.
I have a temperature spike every 2nd day or so for some weird reason.
2 min on and 3 hour off have worked so far for me. I started at 95% humidity.Screenshot 2025-03-01 at 15.54.01.png
 
by2 said:
So it's the first time im using the timer so don't have much data to go on.
And I have my fridge in a room where the temperature fluctuates a few degrees every day so the fridge struggles some times.
I have a temperature spike every 2nd day or so for some weird reason.
2 min on and 3 hour off have worked so far for me. I started at 95% humidity.View attachment 5454706
Click to expand...
understand.but how do you work with the inkbird together with the smart plug? When the plug runs all time with the on off cycle, then what does the inkbird regulate? Or does it only shows you the progress?
Maybe the spikes com from something like deicing from the fridge ?
 
Frankenstonr said:
understand.but how do you work with the inkbird together with the smart plug? When the plug runs all time with the on off cycle, then what does the inkbird regulate? Or does it only shows you the progress?
Maybe the spikes com from something like deicing from the fridge ?
Click to expand...
The ink bird will make sure that I don't over shoot 62%. I would probably use a temperature control if I had one to dry as quick as possible. And then just cure for longer.
I been thinking the same about the deicing of the fridge. But I can't imagine that they would program a function that will fluctuate the temperature inside a wine fridge.
Not sure what to do about it.
 
by2 said:
The ink bird will make sure that I don't over shoot 62%. I would probably use a temperature control if I had one to dry as quick as possible. And then just cure for longer.
I been thinking the same about the deicing of the fridge. But I can't imagine that they would program a function that will fluctuate the temperature inside a wine fridge.
Not sure what to do about it.
Click to expand...
Better end product with a slow dry.
 
I need to build two more units. I used the Pohl Schmitt the first time, but it's OOS now. Can anybody recommend a copycat product with the same internal wiring? thx
 
So I picked up a used 28 bottle fridge on craigslist. When I picked it up he plugged it in for me and I was able to confirm it was working and cooling rather quickly. I got my dehumidifier installed and it was running for a few hours before it started making a high pitched sound and the temp started going up consistently. My guess is one of the fans is going bad since that's really the only moving parts in these things. Trying to figure out if I should try to replace the fans or scrap it and take the loss and buy a new fridge. Thoughts?
 
mobilekasey said:
So I picked up a used 28 bottle fridge on craigslist. When I picked it up he plugged it in for me and I was able to confirm it was working and cooling rather quickly. I got my dehumidifier installed and it was running for a few hours before it started making a high pitched sound and the temp started going up consistently. My guess is one of the fans is going bad since that's really the only moving parts in these things. Trying to figure out if I should try to replace the fans or scrap it and take the loss and buy a new fridge. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I’d check the fan, or at least take the back off and see what the noise is coming from. If it’s just a fan it should be an easy fix.
 
by2 said:
So it's the first time im using the timer so don't have much data to go on.
And I have my fridge in a room where the temperature fluctuates a few degrees every day so the fridge struggles some times.
I have a temperature spike every 2nd day or so for some weird reason.
2 min on and 3 hour off have worked so far for me. I started at 95% humidity.View attachment 5454706
Click to expand...
I make a testrun with one bud :-) and a few leaves... I have also those spikes sometimes and now want to make a timer plug. I ordered the govee plugs and hope they will work. My plan is like you to set it off after.. a few minutes.. so the plug gets into the inkbird.. i will see .
 
Frankenstonr said:
I make a testrun with one bud :-) and a few leaves... I have also those spikes sometimes and now want to make a timer plug. I ordered the govee plugs and hope they will work. My plan is like you to set it off after.. a few minutes.. so the plug gets into the inkbird.. i will see .
Click to expand...
I only use the the plug since that was what I had at home. If I would spend money on something I would rather go with a temperature control.
It works with the timer but I guess a temp control would be better.
Humidity stalled around 70% so I changed the setting to 2min on and 30 min off and it seems to be decreasing the humidity again.
 
Ok understand. I recognized the same spikes once a day or so. I think the fridge is making a deice cycle or so, because the temp. rises at first i think.
I put the plug into the inkbird. When the dehumidifier kicks in, the plug gets power. Here i made a 15min on and 10 min off cycle over the days. So when it kicks in, it depends on the plug cycle if it is running immediately or at max. 10 min. later.. So i am sure, that the dehumidifier does not end in a heat up cycle where humidity increases too..
So my spike was 62F at 70%.. came from 55F and 61%.. after the cycle everything calms down.. but.. hmm..hope that is not that problem.
 
Do the colder temps suppress the odor? I'm on day 10 of 55⁰ dry cycle currently @ 65 Rh and there is very little terp odor. Will it come back once I get it jarred up?
 
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