Here's some pics of whats going on behind the trays at the moment as far as humidity and air products.

I have 2 large 4x12 bags of KL toward the bottom (bottom one is pretty moist with DW, the second big one is lightly sprayed throughout the outer gab on the surface) and 2 3x8 bags in the top middle and top (the middle one is very lightly sprayed to keep some Rh up top and to also sit in front of the fan and capture some of the cold air moisture coming off the fan at all times, and the top bag is dry... this will pull some of the Rh up doing this from what I have read). At the moment there is about a 2% difference from the bottom and top Caliber III hygros.

The Oust fan lays Perfectly in the rounded groove of the rack and has a slight angle pointed outward up which is Perfect! I may buy another to put on the same shelf to point up to the right (and stagger the on off cycle of the two fans so one is pulling while the other is off for more airflow more of the time). I thought I was going to have to maybe zip tie this to hold and point where I want but it lays there exactly how I wanted it too.

I have some ties on the back rack so there is more support in the middle of the media bags (not sure if you can see the black ties in the middle left and right back of the wire shelf holding up more of the bag).

And of course the electric tape on the drain that is working like a charm so far and is not letting any Rh out and there is pretty much NO condensation coming off the unit (which is good considering its over 100 here and around 80 where the cooler is). I got advice from another local BOTL to use craft glue as it wont stick and ruin the plastic or pipe and can be peeled of easy (may need a little swab of alcohol to help remove if needed).

I hope this helps your future build.

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After everything above its pretty much done for the moment until I get some money for a full 6 drawer with false bottom set-up from Forrest. At which point if a brother is looking for some Cedar trays they will be fore sale.

Put everything in with all the KL, fan, trays and all the smokes and here we have my sticks new home......

!!! Watcha Think ??? I kinda like this look !!!

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Nice thread!!! Reconsidering purchasing one now.
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Dude the way you have been keeping us updated from beginning to now is beyond amazing! This looks great, I am not even close in my collection to getting one of these yet, but when I am there I will be coming back here for reference. Amazing job brother. :-)
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wow nice set up I am ready for one myself
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Looks great!! :-) :-)
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Looks real nice, I wouldn't mind heading this direction eventually but think about how many smokes I can buy instead. tough descisions, I went with a coolidor for now. Really well done and thanks for documenting the experience!

Are you still using cat litter? That would kinda creep me out, did you think about buying beads? Sorry if I missed this somewhere if you already explained it.
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That looks great man, nice job.

I cannot wait to get home and get my own!!!
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Thats the reason for me doing this whole build thread! To help out a brother thats on the fence of getting one of these and push em over!!! :-)

If you need any help or have any questions bro I would be more than happy to help.

Ohh ya I will use Kitty Litter forever .... its a silica based bead.... almost nothing different then beads whatsoever.... as long as you get the correct kind and unscented then you are basically getting 8lbs. of beads for $16 to use in all of you humidors if need be.

KL works just the same as beads and holds my cooler at a dead on 63-65% Rh (normally about 63-64 at the bottom and rock solid 65 at the top) and will absorb and release Rh as needed to hold it perfect.

I know some guys like to go with beads but if you do a little research you will find that this kind of KL is the same thing brothers!

I actually bought a pound of actual humidity beads and I had more trouble with that stuff for a while until I switched over to the KL. I know some may disagree for whatever reason but there is NO REASON Whatsoever to buy to standard humidor beads over KL .... You are spending up to 5 times as much for "The Same Thing".

But I digress ... I am a huge advocate of this KL since it works perfect and saves us brothers a bunch of money for important things like the Sticks to fill out our new humidors.
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When you do I hope this thread helps a bit.... let me know if I can help or answer any questions brother! :-)
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Wow Chris, that looks great man. We truly appreciate you documenting step-by-step progress on your wineador. That's a lot of great information for those of us trying to do the same thing. I love how you added the handles to the cedar trays.

Forrest isn't going anywhere, so whenever you save up for his trays, he will definately take great care of you. In the meantime, enjoy your creation...great job :-)
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How many sticks do you estimate that this will hold Chris? I went looking at wine coolers today but the one you ordered looks like the best deal so far especially with the warranty.
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Nice, I love it Chris! Great build brother :-)
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Nice looking set up you have there. :-)

Not entirely true. There are some differences, including the amount of surface area needed to be effective, the rate that they can regulate and recover humidity during spikes and they are not 'pre-programed' to a specific humidity. Oh and the fact that kitty litter is designed and manufactured to absorb cat urine and not humidify cigars. :-)

That is purely speaking of silica beads, HCM beads are far more effective than both the silica beads and kitty litter.

Use what you like, of course, but to imply that kitty litter and beads are one in the same simply isn't the case. :-)
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People can use KL and feel superior about doing so but the fact above is true regardless of anything. KL was designed to be KL -- to mange the odor and abosorbion of cat urine and cat feces -- and that is a fact .

Heartfelt Beads, HCM beads while made of different materials, were designed for cigar humidification. That is a huge difference.

If people want to trust 100's or 1000's of dollars worth of their cigars to KL so that they can save a few dollars on the humidification product that is their choice. I personally think it is a foolish choice but we are each entitled to our own opinions and actions. :-)
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Beads will absorb urine just as KL does. Lol

KL is a 100% viable option over beads for sure.

Beads are awesome but maybe I just had a bad batch when I purchased mine cause the KL maintained perfect Rh when the beads I ordered did not.

Regardless of wether KL is programmed to be at a certain percentage the one thing is does is hold perfect at 65% 24-7. So as long at my Rh stays dead on at all times I will use it forever.

I did tons of research before using this stuff and regardless of what it's manufactured for it humidifys Perfect! The oust fan I have was manufactured to blow sweet smelling air in a room but I turned it into fan to move air around my cooler.... My media bags are made for aquarium charcoal but work great to hold beads or KL.... My wine cooler is made to cool wine but it works great to house and tempeature control my cigars. Some things are made for one thing but work excellent for something else.

I'm not a pro KL guy by any means but after all the research I did I found out it works perfect to humidify cigars so I gave it a shot after spotty results from cheaphumidor.com and it hasn't failed me yet and found that it takes even less upkeep to hold the Rh now.

If you decide to go either way im sure you will be happy. But it's always nice to have options at a cheaper price.
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Thanks so much bro! Ya forums helped me so much in building my cooler and the couple build threads I found were very helpful.... so I decided as being a new guy and doing this I was gonna document my progress from beginning to end and make as many good notes and details to help out more future BOTL looking to go this route.

Ya I got the handles idea from a picture I saw on a forum who did the same thing to their trays (they had black ones though) and I thought with leaving the chrome shelves in there that you can still see and with the brushed nickel handle on the door... I tried to find a handle that closely matched the front door handle. Plus having the handles on there makes it very easy to "Well Handle" (LOL) when taking the trays in and out.

I was gonna get some drawers but didn't have the money to do so so I decided just being new and not having to many smokes that I would start small so I went with these.... but ya I can fill these trays up to around 200 or so smokes so ones of these days If I can reach that and need more room I'm just gonna go balls out and order a full 6 drawer set up with false bottom from Forrest and have 3 times storage then.

Thanks again brother for the compliment and I really hope this thread helps out a future new brother in making the switch over to a wineador.

Wit the trays all depending on size of cigars I can fit about 13-15 from left to right 2 layers high...... So in total on average I can fit 28.... but if they around robusto toro size I have room behind them to fit about 8 cigars laying horizontally.

So in total on average for each tray all depending on size and RG I can fit around 30-32 smokes give or take!

So with having 7 trays total in my cooler I will have room to fit about 200-225 smokes (Like I said give or take but really no less than 200 for sure).

Now the goal is just to try and fill them up :-)

The trays work great for sure to start and if your cigars are singles and under 200 then they are the cheapest way to go for sure! But I have a feeling I will exceed that one of these days hopefully and when that happens I will be giving Forrest a call!

But ya go with the NewAir bro.... the price is hands down Unbeatable and the quality and looks are top notch. check out my warranty and price right up on this unit for further details as well on the best price and best way to warranty this unit for cheap!
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I think the new year has some new drawers from Forrest in my coolers future!

Anyone looking at a cooler and want to start small with trays like mine let me know I will be selling all 7 pictured plus one extra not pictured with handles and all in the next month or two.
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Seriously cool build and documentation. Thank you very much.
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Hmm... really liking this. I have been wondering what Im gonna do during the summer months here, as while at work we normally cut off the AC (When I head to work I am there for 3 days before I come home... Yay DOD). I have been worrying whether my sticks would be ok when the house temp pops over 85 degrees... but with this I can set my temp in it to 65-70 and not have to worry....
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