Part 4 - Day Four
This is the day I turned on the power to the Vino for the first time.
Since there is no on/off switch just a temperature controller and I wanted to simulate
short cycles rather than it running all the time I just plugged it in and unplugged it.
The first 2 readings, 9:39am and 1:09pm were done without any power to the unit yet.
I plugged the unit in right after the 1:09 reading and let it run for 1 hour and unplugged it.
The 2:52 reading represents the point where the Vino began to stabilize
and a few of the numbers had actually began to come back up.
Over the next 5 hours you can see from the numbers all the readings inside the unit continued to rebound. At 8pm I plugged the Vino back in. As you can see from the next reading, the RH inside the Vino began to drop again.
An interesting trend to watch was that of the RH inside the box. Like the previous day, the RH inside the box gradually rose as the temperature rose. While the RH inside the Vino fell rapidly in the afternoon, the RH inside the box only fell 3% and then climbed right back up to 66%. It did not begin to fall off again until after the 6pm reading. While the Vino experienced RH swings in excess of 15%, the box only saw a swing of 3%.
Here are the results:
And a few shots of the test throughout the day:
Conclusion:
The purpose of the test today was to illustrate the instability I noticed in my unit on those days where the unit cycles on and off repeatedly. Here in the northeast I noticed these swings at the beginning and end of our cooling season. In the heat of summer when the unit is running more than it’s off, the unit stabilizes much faster, and maintains it’s RH. As I type this the unit has been plugged in for over a week and is as stable as it was during the first 2 days of this test. I don’t think I have walked past it lately and not heard it running. It’s my contention that rapid swings I noticed could not be good for my cigars. I therefore keep everything in boxes, and that’s why I offer trays with tops. Some people report they have never seen the swings I have demonstrated here, others have. My suggestion to anyone who owns a cooled unit, buy a device that will track the highs and lows over a 24 hour period and check your conditions. The Acu-Rite Humidity/Temperature Monitors, even if not accurate when salt tested, will show you the “swing”. The middle unit in this test showed a swing in RH from 52% to 68% at 8am the following morning. Many factors will determine your own results. The amount and quality of your beads will also determine how fast the unit can bounce back. Circulation in the unit to evaporate the condensation back into the air will also be a key. In closing may I pose this final question; you have how much invested in all those cigars and paraphernalia?
It cost less than $10 bucks to check this out using an Acu-Rite.
It’s like high blood pressure; sometimes it’s too late once you realize you have a problem.
Thanks for reading,
Chuck