My "Coolidor" Project
 

Having just purchased my custom designed Daniel Marshall humidor and in the need of a new project, Jamie's post of his massive cigar storage system put a bug in my butt to try to build a "coolidor". The goal was to simply and cheaply build a cooled and humidified cigar storage system that would hold cigars in boxes at a perfect 66 degrees and 65% humidity, which is ideal for aging cigars. I researched designs that I saw in various cigar forums. Many of them involved drilling through a wine cooler or building a cedar box to stuff inside a wine cooler or even replacing the electronics in a wine cooler. I wanted something more simple (and cheap). I actually wound up finding the best design not on a cigar forum, but on a forum for pot smokers!

I started off by purchasing a Vinotemp 28 thermoelectric wine cabinet for about $330. My research revealed that the thermoelectric wine cabinets were superior to those with compressors because the compressor models suck the humidity out of the air each time they run. The thermoelectric units do this to a much lesser degree (or not at all).

After I received the Vino, I ran an Enercell 12V 1500mA AC Adapter (basically a cell phone charger) that I got from Radio Shack through the drain hole in the Vino into the Vino (you need to cut the end of the charger wire off first or it will not fit through the drain hole). It was really easy to unscrew the tray and then run the wire into the Vino. Then I hooked up two Ultra Performance 120mm CPU fans that I bought at a computer store to the AC adapter by stripping and splicing the wires from the adapter and fans together with crimp-on butt connectors (also from Radio Shack). Then I plugged the adapter into a Leviton LT112-10W digital timer that I programmed to turn on every 30 mins for 7 minutes (you can program this timer in virtually any way you want).

Then I cut a 1/2" square bass wood pole that I got from a local art store into 2" wood posts and fitted them to the CPU fans with 1 1/2" machine screws from a local hardware store. The idea was to prop up the fans off the bottom of the Vino in order to actually get some air flowing from under the fans. If the fans are too close to the Vino, you're not really going to get any air through them.

Then I added to the bottom of the Vino a 6" x 9" teakwood tray that I picked up at Bed Bath & Beyond and filled it with a pound of 65% Heartfelt humidity beads and sprayed the beads with distilled water (using a water spray bottle also from BB&B) until the beads produced my desired range of humidity.

Lastly, I purchased four cedar shelves from Chasidor, which is a company that makes cedar shelves and trays specifically for coolidor projects.

I think this size Vino will hold a maximum of 16 boxes (mix of 8 robusto size boxes and 8 churchill sized boxes) or about 400 cigars in boxes. Not bad for a less than $450 investment and it doesn't look bad either (although not nearly as nice as my Daniel Marshall humi that will actually hold 500 cigars). I now have storage for around 1150 cigars. So when the apocalypse comes, I'll at least have some smokes! But I might have to make another coolidor soon as my stash grows larger by the week lately. . .

Here's a few pics of my set up.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/...296a24ce_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/...1f8a0efa_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/...cc7c5fb4_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/...45246143_z.jpg

That's some dedication. Somehow I never took you as the DIY kind of guy, nice work. It sure beats some of the ghetto-looking coolidors on the cigar forums that guys make out of the Coleman beer/beverage coolers.

This is very relevant to my interests, thanks for sharing. I too did some research after Jamie's post. :D

Does the Vino have a lock on it?

^ Thanks. It wasn't too difficult to put together. Spent a night doing the research. Then a few clicks on the Internet and a trip to the hardware store and art store and I had all the parts. I only really needed to break out my power drill to drill guides on the wood fan posts and a pliers and a screwdriver to get it all together. It was a fun project.

It does not and I don't know whether you can get one with a lock. You should call Vinotemp customer service and ask them if they can do it if it's important to you.

You might also want to check out the Edgestar 28 and the Avanti 28. Both are very similar to the Vino, and Chasidor makes cedar shelves for all three brands.

I'm impressed. Thing is, wtf do you need more than even 50 cigars for?

I like to be fully provisioned -- beer, wine, liquor and cigars (condoms and ammo too).

Wow, I guess you are not completely useless after all!

I did take Woodshop in junior high . . .

Tell us something we don't know . . .

Very nice!

Is your avatar a picture of a 993TT that's actually drivable?

Great job UBC...

Here's something you probably didn't know: Most people wouldn't buy a used Porsche with a blown motor.

LOL

you guys crack me up.

I think everyone here is jealous of a Manthey Racing 993tt, even with a blown motor. I know I am...

Maybe I should build my own motor using some CPU fans and a ghetto wine cooler . . .

At least it would run (and have air conditioning).

Until I drive further away than the charger cord is long . . .

swet. nice work.

Love it..

:golfclap:

Wow, very impressive project. What did it take, an afternoon to put it all together?

Just buy more cord!!! Jeez, do we really have to do everything for you? Be a big boy, now.

It was a bit of trial error with the fans and the beads. At first I just tried to prop up the fans with some velcro in the corners of the cooler but not enough air was getting through them because they were too close to the bottom of the cooler. Then I came up with the wood post idea to prop them up and that worked like a charm. Also with the beads, I originally had them in mesh bags that come with the beads. But the bags were somewhat messy and so I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to find a container and came up with the teakwood tray.

If I were to build a second one and assuming I had all the parts on hand, I could probably put it together in about 90 mins and most of that time would be spent cutting the wood posts for the fans and attaching them to the fans. A lot of time would be saved with a power saw. . .

Great project. Thanks for the write up, gives me an idea... I do a lot of work for a vino equipment/cabinet manufacturer. I bet they have some old cabinets laying around.

Group buy?

Believe me, i sent a note out right after i read this thread.

I am heading over in the next day or two to discuss this with them. I am checking out a few things, see what i can find.

:smilie:

Awesome stuff U-boat. Thanks for sharing all the info!

Would you ever consider a couple of solar panels on the roof to power the unit?? Then you could really live out the apocalypse in style and be all green and self sustaining in the mean time :lol:

Very cool project!

Very nice! Doing the same with mine... Putting Exquisicat Crystals and Oust fans haha.