An amazing friend of mine came over and laughed at the fact that I had hundreds to thousands of cigars all stored in 8-10 desktop humidors.  As a a gift he got me a brand new NewAir CC-300.  Awesome, right??!?!

However, Im super anal about these things and want to make sure I do things right.

I have read many reviews and setups and have decided that I would clean it (done), let it air out a few days (done), then sit plug it in without the drawers with a small bin of distilled water (done).

I have bought myself a good digital hygrometer and have decided to buy 3 large bags of HCM beads for humidification.

Now, I am running into the decision of the damn drain plug in the back.

Do I plug it or not?  

I would think of course, why would you leave it open and let out humidity?  However, I hear of a lot of people having condensation issues.

Background:  I live in South Florida (hot and humid), but plan on keeping this inside the house where we keep our house anywhere from 73 (at night) to 76 (in the day).  

Any help with this damn drain plug or other setup is appreciated!

Plug it, along with any other places that may not be sealed.  Other than that I have no other advice except keep your friends close. LOL Sounds like a helluva friend  

Can he be my friend too?

I had condensation issues when I first set my humidor up but I found that being a bit more conservative with the DW and using Boveda pack's that needed recharged in the rear bottom of the unit eliminated this issue. Had it for over 5 years now and no issues.

Quotentanner - 8/26/2017  11:30 AM

I had condensation issues when I first set my humidor up but I found that being a bit more conservative with the DW and using Boveda pack's that needed recharged in the rear bottom of the unit eliminated this issue. Had it for over 5 years now and no issues.

Im going to be buying 3 large bags of HCM beads and plan on having 2 bags on the bottom straddling the drain hole (plugged, as told to do above), and another bag at the top-middle of the fridge.

Will that accomplish the same of preventing condensation?

Sorry for the basic questions, previously all Ive done is thrown 70% boxed packs in a million little humidors and forgot about things.

QuoteMiaFLSurf - 8/26/2017  8:58 AM

Quotentanner - 8/26/2017  11:30 AM

I had condensation issues when I first set my humidor up but I found that being a bit more conservative with the DW and using Boveda pack's that needed recharged in the rear bottom of the unit eliminated this issue. Had it for over 5 years now and no issues.

Im going to be buying 3 large bags of HCM beads and plan on having 2 bags on the bottom straddling the drain hole (plugged, as told to do above), and another bag at the top-middle of the fridge.

Will that accomplish the same of preventing condensation?

Sorry for the basic questions, previously all Ive done is thrown 70% boxed packs in a million little humidors and forgot about things.

No problem. that will probably work well. My only question for you is, is there a channel at the base of the back wall? And if so does it tie in to the bottom where the drain is located?

Have fun sitting up your new humidor!

Quotentanner - 8/26/2017  8:57 PM

QuoteMiaFLSurf - 8/26/2017  8:58 AM

Quotentanner - 8/26/2017  11:30 AM

I had condensation issues when I first set my humidor up but I found that being a bit more conservative with the DW and using Boveda pack's that needed recharged in the rear bottom of the unit eliminated this issue. Had it for over 5 years now and no issues.

Im going to be buying 3 large bags of HCM beads and plan on having 2 bags on the bottom straddling the drain hole (plugged, as told to do above), and another bag at the top-middle of the fridge.

Will that accomplish the same of preventing condensation?

Sorry for the basic questions, previously all Ive done is thrown 70% boxed packs in a million little humidors and forgot about things.

No problem. that will probably work well. My only question for you is, is there a channel at the base of the back wall? And if so does it tie in to the bottom where the drain is located?

If I understand what you're asking, there is like a grove in the back that kind of leads the fluid down toward the bottom.

If I have HCM beads that are supposed to be amazingly perfect in keeping RH, do I really need to plug the hole then?  

I just keep reading horror stories of the entire bottom shelf getting flooded and boxes of cigars getting ruined!

I have never had any issues in mine, I plugged the hole with silicone, and ended up at first putting beads all in that little groove, thinking they would just soak up any extra water. i have since pulled them out of the little tray, because there was no need for them. I keep mine inside my closet, and the temp in the house is around 70 degrees. The humidity is always fluctuating, but the temp stays normal. Never had an issue. I have a tray of kitty litter in the bottom, as well as a little Hydra humidification unit.

E

Yes, plug the hole, as long as the channel drains to the middle you're good, on some the channel is independent and can hold condensation that has drained down the back wall if it does occur but you'res ties into the drain system. As for the horror stories about flooding the bottom, you would have to be a real numb skull to do that but it isn't a bad idea to put some cleats or a slightly raised floor in the bottom and then stack you're boxes and such on top of that. It is possible to get a thin layer of condensation on the bottom but by leaving some air space it isn't a problem.

I need friends like that!  Lol congrats on the new humidor and good luck.

I don't know about the one you have, but the one I purchased had two little rubber plugs laying in the bottom.  I used one to plug the little hole that was in the back.

MiaFLSurf,

First, PM me for my copious historical notes on my wineador. I don't have time to condense them and clean them up for public consumption, but I'll be happy to share then with you, warts and all, if you like.

Second, I've made just about every mistake you can make with my wineador, a Whynter CHC-251S, and have finally arrived at a happy place. My advice is:

1) Add a wick to the drain hole. You stop air-transport (and thus humidity loss) but still allow water condensate to migrate from the inside of the cabinet to the outside.
2) You will still get condensate running to the floor of your unit so throw a bag of beads down there and check it weekly.
3) RESIST ALL URGES TO ADD TOO MUCH WATER. Sure, you need to add water now and then, but it's far less than you think. I got to the point where any water I added simply evaporated, then condensed, then flowed to the outside of my unit, and things never achieved equilibrium. It was shedding water the water I kept adding! It has now stabilized at 65%-66% rH and will go NO HIGHER. With this system, and my locations and environment, that's just the way the physics work. If I add more water to try to achieve 70%rH I will destroy the equilibrium and ultimately fail. (And before anyone says it, yes, 66%-67% is perfect!)
4) Get at least 2 small computer fans and have them running half the time, preferably in interfals. I can show you how. You need air movement to avoid humidity stratification.
5) Ensure there's an open area on each shelf to allow more air movement between shelves.
5) Make damn sure your hygrometers are accurate and steady. I've been using many CAO Tags (no relation to the cigars) for wireless humidity and temperature readings and they "drift" every couple of months, making me think I need to add water! NOT GOOD! I now calibrate them often against some simple digital dial versions I know are true and steady. (Note that with _any_ electronic hygrometer, you will only ever get to +/-2% rH anyway, so don't get carried away.)
6) Take lots of notes.

Some day I'll retire and build my Humidor Masterpiece. It will have a separate enclosure for the Peltier cooling unit where all condensate drips into the active humidification reservoir, an active humidification system, fans to drive the cool humid stable air into and around the cigar inventory, and PID Controllers to manage everything. I recently "scienced the sh*t" out of my electric smoker, so I can certainly do the same for the humidor.