Coolidors

[Stogiedog]

A newbie to the site and unsure what may have been mentioned before please excuse me if I am covering old ground. I am trying to put together a Coolidor to age some cigars although my humidor holds 75 cigars it is nearly full. I have just read an article on Stogie review that I found very interesting see link below:

http://www.stogiereview.com/2006/09/...ld-a-coolidor/

Chatting with Deano earlier in the week about RH beads and quantitys to size of coolidor, the review also has a calculation that you can perform to work out the quantity of RH beads required.

I hope that someone will find the information of use I now that I did.

Stogiedog

[johnnycashsboots]

Great article stogiedog, thanks for sharing!

[daverave999]

That's a pretty good guide thanks! I've been thinking about doing this myself as it would look more in keeping with my living conditions than a beautiful polished wood desktop.

Where are you planning on getting your coolbox from? It's a bit out of season to be finding them in Tesco and I've struggled to find what I would call 'sensibly priced' ones online.

[Stogiedog]

Coolbox

Dave
I bought my Igloo some years ago for camping. Its been in the attic for some years unused just gonna give it a new lease of life. I have been looking on the internet for coolboxes but they all seem a bit pricey that said ebay may be the way?

Deano is hopefully going to price up some RH beads from the states from hearfelts. I have sourced a reasonably cheap Hygrometer from ebay that should be here this week. I then only really require one of those oust fans they are hard to source as they are a bit old school now.

I will store my Coolidor / Igloodor in my spare room then start filling it up got 25 Cuban style Belicosos coming from Don Gabriels hopefully they will be the first in there.

Dave if you source good sites for any stores let me now, on the other foot should I get any useful information I will pass it on.

Sorry did not post earlier just come out of hospital.


Paul

[daverave999]

No worries-hope you're ok Paul!

They are still quite pricey on ebay too, and I'm not sure about second hand either. You never know about smells, etc. I did find some polystyrene boxes on ebay designed for transporting fish. They are pretty cheap and I'm sure they'd be very effective but I'm not sure about leaching of unreacted monomers and other substances. I'll have to look into that a bit further as the claim was made on a competing product's website, but the substances claimed to leach were pretty nasty. Perhaps lining it with something may be satisfactory.

I must admit it was me who had Deano's last bag of 65% beads! I've been looking into alternatives for them too. They appear to be exactly the same as the Fuji-Silysia Art Sorb beads that some museums use for humidity control, which have their best buffering capabilities in the 60% to 80% area. They seem very expensive (surprise...) in the UK, but last night I found a Canadian company that does a bag of 8 Kg for somewhere in the region of CDN$50, so I might investigate that further because it is considerably cheaper.

That said, I've also been experimenting with silica gel crystal cat litter (Bob Martin one from Tesco). It was a right nuisance at first, hence I've just gone with the beads for bulk storage for peace of mind, but I have some in a cigar box I've been testing as an experiment. I'm pretty astonished by the results to be honest. It's sat at 65% for over a week now, and it hasn't fluctuated more than 1%. I'll put another picture in my gallery on Monday as I'm away this weekend, not that it will look very exciting!

Did you get one of those 5 quid panel mount hygrometers from uk-et? Mine calibrated spot on 75% with the salt test so I'm quite pleased with it. No idea if it's any good in the long run, but it's proved to be worth the cash already IMO.

Finally, if you want something similar to the Oust fan, I don't think it should be too hard to rig up a circuit that will do the job with a small computer fan. Something like a 555 timer IC maybe. I'll have a play when I have time!

I'll update here unless I come up with anything worthy of it's own thread.

[Stogiedog]

Beads

Yep ok thanks Dave but slow recovery.

Interesting post about the cat litter beads from tesco I will have to buy some and invstigate. I bought my hygrometer from Forttex from ebay I will salt test it let you know how it faired only ?8.00.

I read some where about Crystal clear cat litter being used in the states I now that you can buy these online.

I did see the poly boxes on ebay but thought them unsuitable.

In a fortunate position with my igloo i know whats been inside it nothing that is to foul.

I had never thought about the idead of usung a computer fan but that is worth looking into?

Have a nice weekend Dave catch up with you later mate.

[Stogiedog]

PCU Fan

Dave after you planted the seed of interest in PCU fans I visited the following site:

http://www.stogiefresh.com/journal/Cigar_Journal/Do-it-Yourself/Entries/2006/5/27_PC_Fan_Modification.html

Having got all the bits required at home and due to my operation the time, I am going to have a go at this little project. I will photo as I go and post if it all goes well. Stogiefresh is a good site for information for DIY projects Dave.


Stogiedog

[daverave999]

My hygrometer has gone mental incidentally. It was sitting in with my new 65% beads and I was most confused when it was reading dead on 70%. I tried a few different things, leaving the lid ajar, removing the bubble wrap and nothing worked. I'm just salt testing it and the damn thing is sitting spot on 80%. Is yours any better?

[Stogiedog]

Dave salt tested both my hygrometers one is out by 1% used in the table top humidor, the other by 3% this is the one I am using in the coolidor. I have finished the Igloodor. I am currently using cat litter silica cyrstals in the igloodor for an experiment, currently moving up the humidity to 64% = 61 true, only been a day though, might have to add more water to the silicia. I will try and post the construction details of the igloodor on the forum, however if you want it all dave I can email it? I have included websites, cost, detailed instructions and a summary all in all its about 10 pages long with photos etc.

[Stogiedog]

Homemade Igloodor

Hi all,

Please find attached a picture of my completed Igloodor. The file is to large to post on the site however if anyone is interested i have put together a 10 page document detailing in pictures and words how to go about the process of putting one together. I have included websites that I have used and sites that are of interest, also included are potential costs etc. Just drop me a line if you would like me to email the project details.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

That's one sweet coolidor and some sweet sticks to boot(I'm green with envy). A coolidor is a great way to go. You get the biggest bang for your buck, with a coolidor. It leaves you with more cash to fill it with. I see you still have a lot of room for expansion.

[Stogiedog]

Hi Rufus

I am afraid that they are empty boxes in the coolidor!!! that said the contents are my humidor. I have made my cigar wish list out for the coolidoor they include: Partagas D4, R&J Short Churchill, Cohiba Magicos No5, R&J Churchills & Montecristo No2s. I will have to save my pocket money up!! The coolidor is undergoing testing!!!before being loaded with expensive sticks, trying to get the RH correct and get the digitial timer to function at the right times etc.

Paul

[daverave999]

That is one lovely looking bit of kit there Paul! Fan setup looks good too.

Regarding the cat litter conditioning, when I sprayed mine with water I overdid it slightly, so added a bit more 'unsprayed' cat litter to try and balance it out a bit, then left it a few days. It did take a while to settle though, but seemed very stable after that.

What size is the document? It appears you can add attachments to your post up to a certain size. If it's too big for that, I'm happy to host it for you on my webspace?

[Stogiedog]

No space

Dave
Thanks mate the fan makes a big difference to the RH. The cat litter might be the way! Waitrose see picture.


The project file is 6.69mb a word document with pictures I cannot up load on this site as its to big! Happy to email it too you if you want mate.

No cigars in the Igloodor not until I have got the RH steady, though I do not think that will be long. The Igloodor is still an ongoing project, work in progress not sure that I cannot move the fan back etc, small re-finements.

Paul

[G-man]

Good day to my fellow cigar nuts.The cooler is a great tool for storing and ageing smokes.Used one for years,but never needed a fan .If U rotate your treasure every couple weeks :A U let stale air out and fresh air in. Also if you know a painter or home improvement store taht U can get empty unused 5 gallon plastic buckets from ,they work just as well if not better .Simply because U can pull the pour plug and let the gas out and freah air in. The cat litter works great as long as its not sented. Stogiedog hope U are feeling better today. If theres anything U need email me and I'll see if I can send it from across the big Pond. Peace