Just picked up a Vinotemp VT-36 duel climate wine cooler to turn into a humidor. It does not work so I bought it very cheap. It does power on, but not sure it is actually cooling yet. The left zone is rated for 34-43 degrees and the right zone is 40-65. So I really don't care if the thing works it would be too cold for my sticks. So unless it starts working and cools nicely to where my wife demands it for the wine, I will be ripping the guts out and making it into a decent sized humidor. Hopefully it will fit on my desk lol. So now the adventure begins finding shelves and trays that will fit and deciding on humidification for this beast. 

 

Nice! Been waiting for my wife's wine fridge to die so I can convert that for box storage.

Amazon has a couple different sizes of cedar trays that may fit. https://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Cedar-Tray-HUMI-TRAY-Cigar/dp/B00B9234HE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474748575&sr=8-1&keywords=cedar+tray

Very nice

i've seen pics of people wiring them through an adjustable t stat/cold control to do what they wanted them to do. looks cool!

I've had it running for a couple of hours now and it is only getting cooler because the air temp has.  So it probably needs more coolant and who knows what else.  So I think I will remove the compressor and coolant and see how much of the internals I can keep to use.  The led lights and fans I really want to keep.

Very nice been thinking about something like that

That's a fun build! I did a dual zone a while ago (also broken) that I disconnected the compressor to just kept the fans running when it was plugged in. Threw that on a cheapo timer to run for 15 min every couple hours. Works like a charm!

Nice! Anything I should worry about getting the compressor Off?

Quoterunewolf - 9/24/2016  9:43 PM  Nice! Anything I should worry about getting the compressor Off?

 I actually didn't remove mine, just disconnected the power to it. That way everything else (lights and fans) kept working. 

Well not removing it would be easier. I figured on taking it out to reduce weight.

that will be a great humidor!

Nice

Well had a couple of setbacks on it.  The left side control panel has a broken oscillator, so I cannot use the power button or the light switch on that side.  So now I'm looking at adding my own LED lighting and tracing the wires for the fans to put in a timer and power for them.  I ordered a drawer to see how it would fit before I order cedar planks to make trays for the drawer to fit on.  It won't be here until friday :(  So slow slow progress....    It looks awesome on my desk though lol!

I am running a hydra, and beads to suck up any extra humidity. Works great!

E

  Great looking project you have there!

Good looking unit, looks like one side for boxes the other for some nice tray storage

Kinda what I was thinking. The insides are a tiny bit more than 8 inches wide, so boxes have to be limited lol. It is keeping a constant 64 humidity since I closed the doors and couple days ago, so I may be good with just beads and fans.

Enjoy the project!

Well quick update on my wineador... I had to move to it a bit sooner than I planned since I found some mold in my little humidor. So two Spanish cedar boards from rockler.com and 6 trays from Tampa humidors later, I have way more room than I need (I need to order more sticks!) and I only have one side Done! Humidity is holding at 67% with a small container of humidity beads and the built in fans. I  found a timer for the fans that can be set for cycles, so right now it is set for 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off. Hopefully I won't have to add another fan. Future plans include led lighting and making cherry end caps for the trays.  

What's the timer you are using? I need a timer for the fans in my tower, right now they only run when the humidifier does or all the time. i'd like to hook them up to a separate power source/timer.

Looks great so far!

Quoteninfiction - 11/30/2016  11:51 PM

What's the timer you are using? I need a timer for the fans in my tower, right now they only run when the humidifier does or all the time. i'd like to hook them up to a separate power source/timer.

Looks great so far!

X2

E

Quoteninfiction - 12/1/2016  12:51 AM  What's the timer you are using? I need a timer for the fans in my tower, right now they only run when the humidifier does or all the time. i'd like to hook them up to a separate power source/timer.  Looks great so far!

 

I bought it on Amazon.  Very easy to program.

https://www.amazon.com/Plug-Timers-Digital-Programmable-Electrical/dp/B01DF4T288/ref=sr_1_42?ie=UTF8&qid=1480596223&sr=8-42&keywords=on%2Foff+timer

looking awesome so far!

Thanks!  Now I have to find a way to justify getting everything I need for the other side before I fill the other up lol!  Actually, I'm thinking of making it mostly for boxes of cigars and a place to put accessories.  I have to repair the control panel for that side so I can turn the inside light on (that's why it is hanging there in the pic oops). I'm happy that I haven't had to do any rewiring yet.  I simply found the wires for the compressor and removed them from the control board.  Everything else still worked with them removed.