Shilala's Perfect Frigidaire Wine Fridge How To

G G · 03-11-2015, 06:58 AM

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.

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

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.

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.

03-11-2015, 06:58 AM	#1
G G BR549 Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Greg Location: Taylor, FL. Posts: 12,701 Trading: (10)	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. and here is the back so you can see it's compressor driven: 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. 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.