Thermoelectric wine cooler drying and curing - DIY

Well I loaded the new cooler up again, this time I chopped the rest of Bubba Kush 2. I packed it in this time, everything off the stems and fans removed, longer sugar leaves trimmed a bit. I almost got it all in, a bit of mids left to hang dry. Here’s just a couple shelves loaded



And here it is loaded up and ready to go



I pulled about 14 oz out before loading it back up, I thinks there’s a fair amount more this run, I’ll see how it goes. Started off with the temp at 62f and the rh at 66%, 1% rh difference value.

Hook Daddy said:

Well I loaded the new cooler up again, this time I chopped the rest of Bubba Kush 2. I packed it in this time, everything off the stems and fans removed, longer sugar leaves trimmed a bit. I almost got it all in, a bit of mids left to hang dry. Here’s just a couple shelves loaded

View attachment 5314903

And here it is loaded up and ready to go

View attachment 5314906

I pulled about 14 oz out before loading it back up, I thinks there’s a fair amount more this run, I’ll see how it goes. Started off with the temp at 62f and the rh at 66%, 1% rh difference value.

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Excited to see what this comes out to weight wise.

I was able to get some loaded into mine tonight. It'll be pretty full by the time I finish tomorrow night.



I set my temp a lil lower. I noticed when the dehuey kicks on the temp goes up. I want 60 to be the highest temp.

Humidity is holding pretty good so far!

Sweet thread. Attached a few pics of my 20 bottle Koolatron. Wifi capable dryer.

StoneDHedgE said:

Sweet thread. Attached a few pics of my 20 bottle Koolatron. Wifi capable dryer.

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Thanks! Your looks almost identical, very nice. Makes life so much easier, I still remember the old days of worrying about room temp and humidity, and the electric bills trying to maintain them. Feel free to post any settings you use or things that have helped or hurt your dry and cure process.

If anybody is on the fence about making one. Do it. A smidge over C$300 to make. Well worth it and a bonus of the unit is it really controls/eliminates the smell....until you open the door.

My happy spot. Just about store stage.

Thanks hook daddy for the tutorial. Well done. Just placed my order.

smoke and coke said:

Thanks hook daddy for the tutorial. Well done. Just placed my order.

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Glad to hear more and more people are giving it a go, with more people trying it out there is a ton of help on here now, so reach out if you have questions.

Just ordered everything today. Got 50$ off my koolatron online at Lowes. 207$ instead of 259$. My unit will be in my storage building which get in the high 80s on hot days, so I got some 1 inch k flex insulation to put on the outside. I wanted to cover the entire unit including the front glass but I got to thinking that thermoelectric compressor will need to breath to dissipate heat. I guess I'll make a final determination Wednesday when everything arrives

Vonkins said:

Just ordered everything today. Got 50$ off my koolatron online at Lowes. 207$ instead of 259$. My unit will be in my storage building which get in the high 80s on hot days, so I got some 1 inch k flex insulation to put on the outside. I wanted to cover the entire unit including the front glass but I got to thinking that thermoelectric compressor will need to breath to dissipate heat. I guess I'll make a final determination Wednesday when everything arrives

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You don't have any way to get that room temp down 10 degrees?

Vonkins said:

Just ordered everything today. Got 50$ off my koolatron online at Lowes. 207$ instead of 259$. My unit will be in my storage building which get in the high 80s on hot days, so I got some 1 inch k flex insulation to put on the outside. I wanted to cover the entire unit including the front glass but I got to thinking that thermoelectric compressor will need to breath to dissipate heat. I guess I'll make a final determination Wednesday when everything arrives

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If that is the only place you have to put it I would suggest putting in a couple damp small towels or something and do a short test run. The room my Koolatrons are in will get to 80 at times and do ok, but I’m not sure about high 80s, never tried it. I know one limitation of the TEC is they can only cool so far past the ambient temp. Only way to know is to test it out. I don’t think putting insulation around the cooler will help, and definitely don’t cover the rear, you are correct that big heat sink and fans have a purpose.

I found the Koolatron 20 bottle at Target for $184.99 and picked up the Pohl-Schmidt and Inkbird from Amazon. I guess next week is my week for refrigerators. My new kitchen refrigerator arrives Monday and the Koolatron is forecast for Thursday. I ordered the Pohl Schmidt dehumidifier and Inkbird 200 wifi, they are arriving tomorrow. I dislike the curved wine racks but maybe I can find a flat roasting pan rack that will fit to substitute. Is there anything else I need? Any tips to make the build easier?

Welcome to the Koolatron Klub! Only other things you need are tools, just a Phillips screwdriver, drill and fairly large drill bit or small hole saw for the back of the fridge, and something to seal the hole once you drill it and run the cables through. As shown I just cut a couple extra neoprene plugs from an old cloner, worked great but what I had just laying around. A couple small hygrometers come in handy to calibrate the inkbird. A plate with some baking soda to put in during a test run to get rid of any “new fridge” smell it may or may not have. I had a small file I used to clean up the metal edges after drilling, but with the neoprene plugs probably not necessary just a precaution. If you get started and run into questions just let me know.

Hollatchaboy said:

You don't have any way to get that room temp down 10 degrees?

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I can bring it down to 78

Hook Daddy said:

If that is the only place you have to put it I would suggest putting in a couple damp small towels or something and do a short test run. The room my Koolatrons are in will get to 80 at times and do ok, but I’m not sure about high 80s, never tried it. I know one limitation of the TEC is they can only cool so far past the ambient temp. Only way to know is to test it out. I don’t think putting insulation around the cooler will help, and definitely don’t cover the rear, you are correct that big heat sink and fans have a purpose.

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That insulation is used for extremely hot or cold pipes. Nothing can be felt on the outside. If I install the insulation the wine cooler will never experience the ambient temp. That's my thinking.

Vonkins said:

That insulation is used for extremely hot or cold pipes. Nothing can be felt on the outside. If I install the insulation the wine cooler will never experience the ambient temp. That's my thinking.

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Unless the inside of the insulation is cooled, the fridge will still be in the ambient temperature. That said, the fridge will probably actually warm up the space inside the insulation.

Vonkins said:

I can bring it down to 78

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That may be doable. My rooms usually around 72.

Vonkins said:

That insulation is used for extremely hot or cold pipes. Nothing can be felt on the outside. If I install the insulation the wine cooler will never experience the ambient temp. That's my thinking.

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It needs to have the ambient temp to pull from to cool the heat sink fins, without that cooling it will quickly overheat. In fact without the heat sinks the thermoelectric coolers overheat in a matter of seconds, wrapping the entire thing in insulation is a recipe for disaster IMO. If you can get the room to 78f that should be ok, esp. if you try Cannatrols settings of 68f to dry at which should still work very well, my room reaches 80f at times with no problem.

Hook Daddy said:

Welcome to the Koolatron Klub! Only other things you need are tools, just a Phillips screwdriver, drill and fairly large drill bit or small hole saw for the back of the fridge, and something to seal the hole once you drill it and run the cables through. As shown I just cut a couple extra neoprene plugs from an old cloner, worked great but what I had just laying around. A couple small hygrometers come in handy to calibrate the inkbird. A plate with some baking soda to put in during a test run to get rid of any “new fridge” smell it may or may not have. I had a small file I used to clean up the metal edges after drilling, but with the neoprene plugs probably not necessary just a precaution. If you get started and run into questions just let me know.

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I like what you guys are doing with the wine coolers. I'm just done putting together a prototype for a vacuum chamber design, which isn't as that hard to achieve with little toy size motors... and then I come back and find someone did it better. I started out curing with a guide from here about 8 years ago.
One thing I wonder is how accurate your humidity sensors are? Because I have three of them and they vary by 10%. I haven't tried to calibrate them yet. I don't really have that much bud to dry, which is a problem for a design with that much headspace. So maybe the Arduiana still has a place.
I wish I could join the club, I think this thing could benefit from an arduino. I mean sure your setup has graphs and everything right on your smartphone. But I'd have to just tap into the power to install the system (if I built one). Put up a github page and sell the fabrication parts. Oh well, I'm just guerilla growing 5 autos at a time and I just smoke as I harvest.

refriedbeano said:

I like what you guys are doing with the wine coolers. I'm just done putting together a prototype for a vacuum chamber design, which isn't as that hard to achieve with little toy size motors... and then I come back and find someone did it better. I started out curing with a guide from here about 8 years ago.
One thing I wonder is how accurate your humidity sensors are? Because I have three of them and they vary by 10%. I haven't tried to calibrate them yet. I don't really have that much bud to dry, which is a problem for a design with that much headspace. So maybe the Arduiana still has a place.
I wish I could join the club, I think this thing could benefit from an arduino. I mean sure your setup has graphs and everything right on your smartphone. But I'd have to just tap into the power to install the system (if I built one). Put up a github page and sell the fabrication parts. Oh well, I'm just guerilla growing 5 autos at a time and I just smoke as I harvest.

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The Cigar Oasis caliber humidity sensor is pretty well regarded as being accurate. I tend to use that to calibrate my other sensors. I also suggest everyone do the table salt calibration Technique with their inkbird sensors prior to installing it in the fridge. Easier this way.


I believe temperature also plays a role when calibrating but close enough is good enough for me.

I would love to have a smart controller running my fridges. It’s just more work than I’m willing to dedicate right now.