This is my first post and I'm relatively new to cigars. With that said I ventured into creating a winador as a gift with an Emerson 8 bottle wine cooler. It is thermoelectric. I ordered custom drawers which can be seen in pics. I ordered HMC Beads preset at 65 RH, which were in unit for 48 hours with no RH change and vacuum sealed until use. I've read to plug the drain. I looked but there is no drain, just an indentation on back part of floor below fan/cooling components. The door appears to have a tight seal. In the dark I cannot see beamed light getting in from the outside from any direction. The RH is holding around 45%, which I assume is the RH for Michigan this time of year, which suggests a leak or major opening I'm not aware of. My question is: Am I missing something and this unit somehow is not sealed in back where fan is or elsewhere? I honestly see no drain. From everything I've read the drain would only need sealing, which doesn't exist to the naked eye. Thanks. Jonathan
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Additional pic
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Back of unit. Ipad letting me load one image per post. Sorry.
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Did you season the drawers?
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Thank you for the response. If by seasoning you mean when I started this process no cigars were in the wineador and just pound of HMC beads and a hygrometer were present, then yes. If you mean something else, then no and I probably need to be educated. I was instructed by the seller of the beads to place them in empty winador (Spanish cedar drawers present I thought) and then be patient. Thanks.
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Jonathan,

Seasoning the drawers is basically helping the wood absorb humidity. What you need to do is wipe down the drawers with distilled water. Don't soak them..just use a wet cloth or something similar.

This will raise your RH considerably. Wait 24-48 hours before opening the humidor and check your RH. If needed you can repeat the process until you reach the desired RH.

Hope this helps!

Some people won't do it this way, but I've had success in the past with this.
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These steps also apply for a wineador with spanish cedar drawers.
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=620

Basically, the drawers are soaking up all the moisture from the beads. Put a bowl of distilled water in the windeador for 10-14 days. If you put a clean sponge in the bowl it will increase the surface area and allow for more moisture to be released. The above link has a ton of info in it.
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Also, what kind of hygrometer do you have? Digital or analog?
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Thanks. I guess I've done that before with small Spanish Cedar lined desktop humidors but some how thought that with the set point of 65 RH with the pound of clay beads I would be good to go (and the seller cautions against any water/moisture inside in the beginning due to the beads preconditioning). Maybe it is assumed one will already have conditioned their Spanish Cedar ahead of time or if no wood is present (guessing some go this route with winadores) just follow the directions of beads and no additional moisture initially? The environment would find the beads baseline. Now I'm assuming the beads have lost their set point and will need to be reconditioned themselves or possibly "come back" with the conditioning of the wood?

Digital hygrometer that I tested with Boveda bag. Thanks.

Jonathan
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Jonathan, I would assume the seller means exactly that, any extra moisture in the humi would be absorbed by the beads. Most spanish cedar, in my experience is very dry. After seasoning my drawers and shelves you could actually feel a difference in the wood. And the smell of seasoned spanish cedar is pretty amazing...to me at least.
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I honestly know nothing about the beads. I figured you would still season the drawers but then again I've never used them. :-)
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Thanks. I started reading the link and will cont. to do so. I will place the distiller water in wineador and wait.

Leave beads in during this process or seal in freezer bag and recondition them separately?
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I concur. It is one of the most inviting and intoxicating smells.
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