Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Okay I remember way back in the day when Shilala made a compressor driven Frigidaire Wine Fridge into a Humidor. I always wanted one but at the time I had a working vinotemp. My vinotemp crapped out on me a couple weeks ago and I had to do something. I found the very model he uses to do this on craigslist for $100 and picked it up yesterday. In messaging with Scott on how to accomplish the conversion, he expressed a desire to post up all the info and pics he has sent me to help me do this in case someone else wants to they can use the thread instead of bugging the crap out of him (which is what I had to do). Here is what I have, and Scott said he will chime in when necessary because I am illiterate with handyman stuff.

Here is the Frigidaire, and mine is model #LFWC35F4LB and a 35 bottle fridge.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...2EBF81F6E9.jpg

and here is the back so you can see it's compressor driven:

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...18B5083117.jpg

In order for this to work right without drying out the cigars you have to use two or three computer case fans powered with an adapter (12 volt) to power them. You have a drain hole at the bottom that you run the adapter cord out of before sealing up the drain with electricians putty. Shilala has two in his but after talking to him about it I am going to use three fans at 15 CFM in the 60 mm size. Scott says if he ever builds another one that is what he will do instead of two, so if it's what he will do then it's good enough for me.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...2396A5C10A.jpg

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...BD047DEBD3.jpg

Scott bought his from http://www.svc.com

The zip straps and zip strap mounts can be purchased at Lowe's, and he used #10 nuts and washers and screws and cut them off to attach the straps to the fan case and attaching the guard to the fan. The fans will blow on the evaporator (the whole back wall of the interior) to dry the moisture and drive it back to the beads. They will hang at a 45 degree angle and run 24/7. You will only use two of the three leads to wire the fans and Scott said not to ask which one's. I don't know yet either but he also said that if you wire the wrong one's then as soon as you apply power it WILL fry the fan so be careful with this part. Google is your friend I am sure on this part.

As far as beads, I already have a pound and a half of HCM beads in from the vino and I'm going to use that and get another pound for a total of 2.5 pounds. Scott says it should be good to go. Of course you can add more if you like.

I will update with pics when I get the fans and stuff to actually convert it and hopefully we can make it a sticky for how to do this or at least the thread will be here to help guide folks in the process.

The only part I'm unsure of at this point is the adapter. Scott said you use one adapter to power all the fans and it is a 12 volt adapter. My question is does it matter about the polarity or the milliamps? Maybe Scott can chime in with the particulars on that.

I would also assume by looking at the unit, the adapter will need to have a pretty long cord to make it from inside to the drain hole then out the bottom back of the unit. Scott can also probably expand in this as well.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Yes, polarity matters since the fans are DC. Red wire is hot (+). If you hook it up backwards, it will either not run or you'll let the blue smoke out. If that happens, it'll never work.** If the fan has a yellow wire, you can ignore it, that's the feedback sensor for the RPM fan speed.

Assuming that each fan has the same nameplate data, 0.16A, that's 160mA each, that means for 3 fans, your draw will be around 480mA. In simple terms, equipment only draws the current (amperage) that it needs, so you can go higher, it won't hurt anything. I'd say go with at a 1A to 1.5A power supply would be fine and you can usually find them in thrift stores for about a buck. Depending on the fans, and I don't see it in the manufacturer literature for the ones you have, so I wouldn't do in your case without more research, you can run the fans at a lower voltage, like 9VDC to have them turn slower and not make as much noise.

So long as you maintain polarity, you can extend the wire by splicing in a longer section with crimp butt splices or just buy an extension that has the round plug ends (places like radio shack or fry's electronics have these).


**: Little known fact, electrical equipment doesn't actually run on electricity. It runs on a pre-installed charge of magic blue smoke. The electricity is necessary to create a field which keeps the blue smoke captive. If you let the blue smoke out, it won't run anymore.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I am certainly not an electrician, but I was thinking that the little picture on the back of the adaptors were something about polarity. It's probably the same thing you are saying, and it's good info whether I'm dumb or not. Thanks for adding that to the thread. I hope with my info, and others adding more, that someone can do one of these and just follow the thread and not have to ask ten thousand questions like I did. Thanks.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Yes, the pictures are.

AC vs DC markings:
http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/...3&d=1398382724

1A = 1000mA

Tip/Ring polarity markings - note how #1 and #4 are the same, as are #2 and #3 - sometimes they mark the symbols upside down on the power supplies. The important part is the center dot is the "tip" the outer "C" is the "ring".
http://support.radioshack.com/suppor...larity-all.gif


When you have a barrel connector, the center is always "Tip" the outer sleeve is always "ring". In the photo below, the power supply should be marked with the first or fourth image from the photo above.
http://www.smart-clip.com/power_polarity.jpg

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Now, if you are adding connectors, then you'll have to either test them with a continuity meter or go by the packaging as there are about a billion different styles, but here's an example of how they tend to be designed.

https://dlnmh9ip6v2uc.cloudfront.net...e67e000005.jpg



If you are cutting the connectors off and splicing wires, usually the wire with the marking is hot (+). The marking could be a ridge on the wire, a solid line, a dashed line etc. I say usually because sometimes they are wired with the marked wire as "tip" and with a tip negative supply, that would make the unmarked wire hot, so it's best to always double check with a multi-meter after you cut the connector off.

http://cdn.instructables.com/FN7/1TC...2TM4.LARGE.jpg
http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TFH..._LAMCOR_01.JPG
http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TFH..._LAMCOR_02.JPG

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Thanks, I always kinda went with the side with the marking (line, etc) was hot. Good to know.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I'd say that probably 98.2% of the DC power supplies I've cut the connectors off of, that is the case, but once in a while, for whatever reason, I see one that is reversed. An inexpensive ($5) basic multi-meter with DC volt setting is all you need to check the polarity of the wires.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

gotcha Adam.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Also was searching on Bing about this topic and came across an old thread where Shilala stated that there is a rubber grommet on the high right back of the unit and that is where he ran the power cable for the fans out of the back of the unit. I was thinking I would have to run in down to the drain hole before sealing it with electricians putty.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

The fans came in today, now just gotta wait for the other components to come in. They have red, black, and blue wires. I believe to wire them the red is hot, the black is ground, and the blue is tach. Only gonna wire red and black.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...8F4E9CFC13.jpg

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Went by Lowe's and got the cable ties, cable tie mounts, and electrical connectors for the fan wires.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Also was able to get a brother from my church that does woodworking to look at the four drawers from my vino and he says he can modify them to fit the frigidaire and build me one shelf from Luann for 35 bucks total. He has them now.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Most people don't know this, that's why it's a little known fact.
Absolutely true.
On the great big powerlines they have blue AND red smoke, or so the legend goes. Nobody has ever owned up to letting that smoke out. I happen to know a guy that knows a guy, though.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Someone will eventually ask "do I need to plug the drain hole?"
To this, I always answer "go drill a half inch hole in your desktop and see how well it holds humidity."
I've always wondered why guys think it's okay to have a hole in a winador, but not in any other kind of humidor.
And yes, if you have your winador in a basement or ambient condition where the RH is a constant 65%, the winador will also stay at 65%. So some folks can leave their cigars on the kitchen counter and they'll be fine.
But that's a very, very small percentage.
And humidity control is not the only reason we put our cigars in a humidor and don't want a constant transfer of outside air.
Did that sound pissy? :)

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Okay, will post up pics tomorrow if I don't have a lot of 911 runs. I have it rigged with the fans and the DRAIN IS PLUGGED. LOL Had to use siliconized caulk since I didn't want to drive 40 miles for a pound of putty. I did text Scott and make sure I wasn't gonna destroy something by using it first though. And he is nice enough to actually answer me.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Got the Fridge pretty much set up yesterday. Here are some pics. I used this to seal up the drain since I didn't have quick access to the putty Scott recommended:

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...109E3AF1D4.jpg

I had to run the wire for the fans out the drain hole because mine doesn't have any other places to run it without drilling a hole somewhere up in the top so I ran it this way. The wires will be hidden by the drawers anyway:

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...97C5F2171F.jpg

Here are the fans installed and they work like a charm. I used three because Shilala said that even though he used two and it works fine if he ever builds out another one he would use three. I have learned over the years that if it's good enough for Scott then it's probably worth doing. The different color cable ties are because the nice black one's I bought were too big to fit through the mounts and I had these laying around:

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...7B7252E8C1.jpg

I am now just giving it a couple days for the plugged drain to cure and also got a pound and a half of HCM beads from my vino. I have another pound on the way. As soon as all that comes together and I get my drawers back I will get it loaded up and see what happens.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Alright, a little update:

I had my cigars in the freezer for the last three or four days. I have been working crazy hours lately and have been on shift for 48 hours at a time for the last week.

I had the fridge turned off to let the siliconized sealer set up for two days since I wasn't here. When I got home from work this morning I checked the seal and it's all good. I turned fridge on and then put the cigars back in it. They are in what I had them in the freezer in because I don't have my drawers back from my friend that's modifying them for me. Anyway I am having trouble getting the dial to keep the temp up where I want it. This fridge is supposed to have a range of like 40 degrees to 64 degrees. It does ice up on the evaporator everytime I turn it on though. Shilala says it's cool and I just have to keep finessing it til I get it right.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...BF8ACE9351.jpg

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...EDCE801DE7.jpg

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...E44AFF567C.jpg

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Looking good

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Thanks Alfredo.

Small problem: This fridge is supposed to have a temp range from 40 to 64 degrees. I can't get it to go more than around 45 so far. Messaged with Shilala about it and he says that it'll be easier to get it up when I get my drawers and everything back in it.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I've been talking to Greg about the temp control on these things.
There's a spring stop right after the highest setting, then you force past that spring to make the knob "boing" and shut off.
It takes some practice to get the fridge set, and then I just leave it alone. I always kept mine at 72*.

On the evaporator frosting...
The whole back of this thing is an evaporator. Right now because Greg has nothing (or next to nothing) in there, the thermal mass is not sufficient to keep the air warm enough for it to short-cycle like we want it to.
In short, we want the giant mass of cigars to warm the air as fast as the evaporator cools it.

The evaporator may frost later, anyways. Doesn't matter. It's perfectly fine.
Eventually the compressor will shut off, the frost will thaw, and the fans will dry the condensate, sending it back to the air and the beads. Then it'll repeat, the cycles being more and more even as time goes on.

Greg's situation that he's showing you right now is actually really cool.
Most guys do the same thing, and it's easy to understand why. They expect a system to work when only part of the parts are in place, but it doesn't. And it does weird things.
It's because there are a lot of invisible numbers and temperatures, and physical properties at play. Lots of parts in the machine, and they all need to be in place, then have time to coalesce and work in harmony.

Now, if the front window were missing, nobody would give a second thought as to why things weren't working. Most guys wouldn't even try to make it work without a window except maybe Gainey and Murphy and Jerebek, but they Polanders. You'll have that.
Greg can't get predictable results right now because we're still missing lots of parts.
I'm not making foolish of him at all, really. We did this thread so guys can understand, and he's the PERFECT guy to do it with.
He's been super easy to work with, and reacted to the build exactly the way most brothers do. That's allowing me to answer all the questions I forget.

So, once Greg gets all the parts and pieces in place (cigars, boxes, trays, beads), stops opening the door 100 times a day, and lets the winador stabilize, he'll find that it just plain works.
Like magic.
Hopefully he'll journal all those fun days while it's coming together.

The only other thing I can mention is that lots of times guys use a Johnson Temperature control. That's fine.
I suggest this model because I personally know it's not necessary. Guys can save 60 or 70 bucks, get it set, and it never, ever changes.
I also like for there to be no extra moving parts and to keep the retrofit very, very simple.
There are tons of these setups out there. Nobody has EVER had a problem one.
Gainey will probably fix that. :lr

We do have the control option to fall back on, so it's out there.
We'll see what happens. I think Gary is just stubborn enough to get that temp set perfect. :tu

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Did you call me Gary? :r

I am slow when it comes to doing stuff like this I admit, but Shilala did say something earlier that is true. He said I was dumb stubborn like him. That's actually pretty apt, I will stay with it til it turns out like it needs to cause I aint got sense enough not to. LOL

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Just to add to the problem of getting the temp set right.

I know Shilala says it will be easier to get it right once I get the drawers and all the stuff in the humi. I have tried to get the temp down by tweaking the knob. The problem is when I turn it from off to on there is an audible and you can feel the click and hear the compressor come on. When it's just turned enough to get the click the temp will settle at around 44 to 48 degrees, then when I try to just turn it a little as Shilala suggested, it goes off and there is no discernable click so then when I see the temp get up to over 60 then I turn it back on and it starts all over. I can't get it to go over 50 when it's on so far.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I just figured out why you can't get it to work, Stashu. :lr
You're turning it the wrong direction.
The lowest setting is farthest from off. You want to turn the knob at least halfway in that direction, then on the way back to off, where the knob gets real stiff before it boings off, that's where the delicate high settings are.

You and I have put so many words into this that I have to go make a video for ya, even though I know you'll understand exactly what I mean.
It's something everybody will need to understand and a little video will make it real obvious.

One other thing...
You can use those plastic zip-strap anchors and zip-ties to hold your wiring running down the back and get rid of the black tape holding your wires down.
That's actually what they're for. Assuming you have some more?

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Okay let's see if I can make sense of this problem. Here are two pics of the setting knob:

In the first one it is off. In that setting you can only turn it counter clockwise to Cold, then normal, then colder. I thought that cold is the lowest, then normal is a little colder, then colder being the coldest setting.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...FF2E7EF8CF.jpg

In the next one it is on cold obviously. When I try to turn it back towards off just the tiniest bit it goes off. And when it's off you can't turn it clockwise to colder, you have to go counter clockwise past cold and normal to get to it.

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...8B4F73442D.jpg

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I have turned if off. Then following your directions have turned it halfway (Normal) and will adjust it back toward cold a little at a time.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I said it wrong above. Off, then cold, then normal, then colder. With cold being the warmest setting. Here is a pic from the users manual:

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/d...E993FF13F4.jpg

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I'm looking forward to see what happens now, Greg.

No sense in the video now that we know you have a different control.
If worse comes to worst, we can always add a controller. We still need to see what you can do and get it all put together and filled, first.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Yeah, I'm hoping that all those scientific things you said is the problem cause walking it down little by little didn't help. If it's on no matter where I put it it's around 42 to 44 degrees. It's mostly empty though so I'm still hoping once I get my drawers and shelf in it and put the few boxes I had back in it it will help.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

It may start that cold, but not maintain that temp once we fill her up.
Fridges do goofy things when they're just chilling air. Screws up the radiation of heat from near surfaces to your tstat.
Let's see what happens. I think Adam has a real cheap source for a Johnson control if necessary.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Good to know Scott.:tu

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I don't expect to have no beetle problem. LOL

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

So I am on duty for 24 hours until 8 AM in the morning but the pound or two of beads are in. I will have about 3.5 pounds of HCM beads when I get them in the humi. I called the dude that has my drawers and left a message but he hasn't returned my calls. That may be a problem, I mean he didn't sell em or nothing like that just seems like he must not be in a hurry to get them done since he has had them two weeks.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Two weeks is nothing, Greg. It takes me 6-8 weeks just to tired of something being in my way, then another year or two till I actually get it done.
The wheels of the woodshop grind slowly.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

If it makes you feel better, I break stuff and cut myself a lot. :tu

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Nice project

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I can attest :r

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

See? Ben knows what he's talking about. :tu
Benster, I did invent/made a whole gob of new hold-downs just so I could try to get the umpteenth modification of your cribbage board done.
So, If I ever do get back in the woodshop, there's a remote chance I could get it finished in this decade. :tu

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Ain't no problems, jut messing with ya. Plus I hear the 20's are a great decade for this typa thing :tu

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

:tu

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Yeah, I know you don't care, Bensy. It'll be a beautiful day when I get done. :)
Greg, I'd suggest you make shelves out of duct tape just to hold you over. :tu

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Greg, for shelves, way back when I got my vino I measured that the size was and went to home depot had them cut me some temp shelves out of whatever type of wood Scott told me to use at the time. If you think it's going to be another may weeks before you see them that's always an alternative for the short term. It is super cheap. won't be able to hold singles, but great for boxes. I drilled a couple big holes in them for air flow and still use a few for underneath my singles drawers for putting stuff in 5-inger bags

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

It seems that Ben's idea is more practical. :r

I hope to have them back soon, should see him tomorrow at church and at least know when I will get them back.

I received the beads from Shilala and as usual he went beyond. Two pounds of the beads and an Cigar Asylum coin. Awesome and thanks to Scott.:tu

Scott labeled the beads and said they were 70ish% and I think I'm going to take them down to 62%. Anyone have a preference for the best way? Oven or refrigerator?

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

You throw a beatdown on that guy in the church parking lot, he's gonna get the message, Greg.
Don't ever say oven again. :lr

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I will whoop him good. No heating beads in a kitchen appliance, i swear. :r

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Also on Scotts advice i am going to leave the beads where they are until i get everything in the fridge and stabilize. He pointed out that the little extra oomph will help season the drawers and shelf and boxes and od course ceegars.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Okay, I got one of the drawers back from the guy. He only done one and wanted me to try it before he does the other three in case he has to make adjustments. It fit just fine so hopefully I will have the other three back in 6 weeks since it took two for him to do one. LOL He is working cheap so I really can't complain. I have the one drawer full of cigars with 3.5 pounds of beads and the humidity is hanging right around 66 to 68%. I have quite a bit of mass with a three boxes, a big Tupperware full of cigars, and the drawer full of cigars and still can't get the temp above 44 degrees. Still going to wait until I get the other three drawers in it with the shelf and see what happens then. Might have to go with a temp controller.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

Didn't that thing say it'd go up to 66?
You might want to try the coldest setting. Maybe it's just ass-backwards?
Reason I'm asking is because it might pay to just go swap it out, the temp control may be wonky.
Now that you've put the fans in once, it'll probably only take 10 minutes to do it the second time.
Or we can go with the temp control. Hopefully we can find a schematic to tell you what wires to grab.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

I would have to take the fans out to change the temp control?

I did think about it being backwards and have tried it several different ways. Turned it to the coldest setting yesterday and it went down to 35 degrees. Which according to the documentation it aint supposed to go that low. It's at 49 right now with it turned to the highest setting which is warmer than it has went before.

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

No, you'd have to take the fans out if you returned the unit and got another one.
But I was just thinking. Have you checked it with more than one thermometer, and what kind are you using?

Re: Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To
 

No return. Didn't buy it new. Bought it from a dude on craigslist. He bought a house in Fernandina Beach, and I'm sure it costed him a ton. The wine fridge was in the deal and when it didn't work he made them buy a brand new one. He don't drink wine and wanted to use it for drinks and beer. He said it didn't get his drinks cold enough so he bought a beverage fridge and sold this one. It's about a year old and he never really used it and I paid him $100.