Drying Chamber 2.0....

[indaswamp]

Well, my new unit arrived Thursday. I was not expecting it until Friday at the earliest, but was glad it was in so I could pick it up and get it up and running this weekend. I had plans to cook for the guys at the firehouse Thursday night so once I got it in the house after lunch Thursday I let the coolant settle and went cook supper. When I got home, I plugged it in and let it run all night. I got up early Friday and checked it out...running good. When My day freed up after lunch Friday, I went home and started setting up my new curing chamber. Wiped it down with vinegar and a soft rag. secured the top shelf in place, rigged up the controllers and ran the probes inside the unit. Then I did a vinegar soak cleaning job on the humidifier, after 30 minutes, I scrubbed it good with a tooth brush. Filled it up 1/2 way with dilute vinegar and plugged it in to run a bit. Then flushed it, refilled and installed in the chamber. Hung all my salamis and started adjusting the parameters on the controllers for this unit. I finally have it lined out. 27 minute cooling cycle, but it has a 4.25 hour time frame before it reaches high set point and restarts the cooling cycle.

I like how this unit has removable door shelving. This allows me to hang another row of salami within 1" of the door walls. Lots of room in this chamber, it is 6" taller than my old one and I should be able to add a middle shelf to hang product low. Clearance is 22" floor to middle shelf and 23 1/2" middle shelf to top shelf.

The old unit had a leak directly under the bottom. Green Copper on the floor, and you can see the corrosion on the line. I will pull parts for my other Frigidaire and after that, have the city haul it off more than likely.

 

[indaswamp]

Decided to just run cheap 6' white extension cords in lieu of drilling a hole through the side for the cords. I'll see how that works for now. The freezer door had a hand groove on top so I fashioned a board with some sticky velcro to hold the controllers. One for the humidifier, one for the dehumidifier and one for the freezer (temp.)

 

[JLeonard]

WOW! Looks complicated.
Jim

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Nice

I miss mine

 

[indaswamp]

WOW! Looks complicated.
Jim

Yep...looks complicated, but really it is not. It's a box where I control the humidity 80-85%RH and temperature 50-59*F. The controllers are plug and play, very easy to program. You can use one controller for humidify and dehumidify; but I wanted a separate one for each so I could place the sensors where I need them to shrink the overshoot and smooth out the curve. The controllers are like $35 bucks....

All in, someone can get started for less than $250 if they find a great deal on a used refrigerator or freezer.

 

[indaswamp]

Nice

I miss mine

Thanks Rick. Those salamis have been through a lot! LOL! I had been scratching my head as to what the problem was with the airflow in my old chamber. Glad I finally figured it out. Hopefully this one lasts a while.

 

[bill ace 350]

Well, my new unit arrived Thursday. I was not expecting it until Friday at the earliest, but was glad it was in so I could pick it up and get it up and running this weekend. I had plans to cook for the guys at the firehouse Thursday night so once I got it in the house after lunch Thursday I let the coolant settle and went cook supper. When I got home, I plugged it in and let it run all night. I got up early Friday and checked it out...running good. When My day freed up after lunch Friday, I went home and started setting up my new curing chamber. Wiped it down with vinegar and a soft rag. secured the top shelf in place, rigged up the controllers and ran the probes inside the unit. Then I did a vinegar soak cleaning job on the humidifier, after 30 minutes, I scrubbed it good with a tooth brush. Filled it up 1/2 way with dilute vinegar and plugged it in to run a bit. Then flushed it, refilled and installed in the chamber. Hung all my salamis and started adjusting the parameters on the controllers for this unit. I finally have it lined out. 27 minute cooling cycle, but it has a 4.25 hour time frame before it reaches high set point and restarts the cooling cycle.
View attachment 482389
I like how this unit has removable door shelving. This allows me to hang another row of salami within 1" of the door walls. Lots of room in this chamber, it is 6" taller than my old one and I should be able to add a middle shelf to hang product low. Clearance is 22" floor to middle shelf and 23 1/2" middle shelf to top shelf.

View attachment 482390

The old unit had a leak directly under the bottom. Green Copper on the floor, and you can see the corrosion on the line. I will pull parts for my other Frigidaire and after that, have the city haul it off more than likely.View attachment 482391
View attachment 482392

Make and model of the unit?

 

[indaswamp]

Make and model of the unit?

https://www.midea.com/us/Refrigerat...-Ft.-Convertible-Upright-Freezer-WHS-625FWEW1

Bought it...not my first choice. Freezers and refrigerators are in very high demand around here with Covid and the 4 hurricanes that hit last year; two major storms. Lots of people lost both freezers and refrigerators and had to replace. I got this one from a friend that has a local appliance store. He gave me a solid review, and I trust him. This one you can select to cool as a refrigerator-35-45*F, which is perfect for a drying chamber; no harsh freezing cold air.

 

[bill ace 350]

https://www.midea.com/us/Refrigerat...-Ft.-Convertible-Upright-Freezer-WHS-625FWEW1

Bought it...not my first choice. Freezers and refrigerators and in very high demand around here with Covid and the 4 hurricanes that hit last year; two major storms. Lots of people lost both freezers and refrigerators and had to replace. I got this one from a friend that has a local appliance store. He gave me a solid review, and I trust him. This one you can select to cool as a refrigerator-35-45*F, which is perfect for a drying chamber; no harsh freezing cold air.

Nice. Do the power cords and probes just go between the door and body seals? No drilling?

 

[indaswamp]

Nice. Do the power cords and probes just go between the door and body seals? No drilling?

Yeah...
Buy cheap 6' extension cords 14ga. @ walmart....$1.37 each. Run those inside for your equipment. Unless you live up north and keep the chamber outside, you do not need a heater. Just an Ultrasonic Humidifier (analog-not digital; you want it to stay on so the controller can turn on and off), dehumidifier (evadry 1100), and the fridge/freezer (frost free recommended).

 

[indaswamp]

So far...so good. Maintaining 0.5~0.6% weight loss each day.

Changes- it has been recommended to me to buy an analog hygrometer, one that can be calibrated, to add inside the chamber as a reference. This one comes highly recommended and has a +-1% accuracy...
Western Humidor

So it is on order....