Cannabis Drying/Curing Refrigerator - Build Questions - Need Help!

PahPahCee · Dec 5, 2022

I don’t think efficiency is the goal. The benefit of the peltier is no compressor (wide temp/humidity swings). The wine fridge never turns off it just ramps up and down depending on the temperature.

The other benefit of the peltier on the mini Dehum (seen in the bottom of my fridge) is the low heat output. If it was running 24/7 it would get hot. You use the inkbird controller to steer the humidity down. Typically I will drop the RH every other day until it hits 62%.

I’ve seen others get to their targeted dryness in as little as a week and others will slow it down to 3 weeks with an indefinite cure time inside the fridge. I’m still playing with it and I’m about to chop soon so I’ll test it further.

The cannatrol is cool but I’m pretty convinced it’s just a modified wine fridge with a cool controller on it. The software is what you’re paying for.

All I did was drill a hole in the back to feed my inkbird temperature probe cable and Dehum cable. Silicon up the hole and added those silicon baking sheets.

MIGrampaUSA · Dec 5, 2022

The cannatrol is cool but I’m pretty convinced it’s just a modified wine fridge with a cool controller on it. The software is what you’re paying for.

Thats pretty much how I saw it. Nice unit, over priced but nice.

Spiman2u · Apr 4, 2023

PahPahCee said:
Hi dudes, first post on here. This is my “Canna Troll” recreation.

Do not confuse compressor fridges with thermoelectric peltier wine coolers. The dehumidifier is hooked up to an inkbird controller. The Dehum is also using a “peltier.”View attachment 1308851
View attachment 1308852
View attachment 1308853

You can easily maintain 60F and 60% humidity. Or really whatever range you want. No crazy temp or humidity swings.

Yea find the one you suggest. A 30 Bottle with your specs.. Nada. Take care of your old thing. She be rare.

PahPahCee · Apr 4, 2023

Spiman2u said:
Yea find the one you suggest. A 30 Bottle with your specs.. Nada. Take care of your old thing. She be rare.

They still make them. I found a couple 20bottle ones and this one looks pretty large. I live in a large city so I can also find some used locally.

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sometimes they incorrectly list the descriptions so you need to be careful.

Notice the one I linked to has a few specifications that indicate thermoelectric design.

1) only 70watt power draw - compressors draw more
2) freestanding - cannot be put under a closed countertop due to lack of airflow
3) weighs only 50lb - compressors weigh more
4) can’t get any lower than 54F - compressors get into the 40’s
5) you can visually see the thermoelectric vents both inside the fridge and out the outside in the back.

XYZVector · May 2, 2023

So this is late but just putting an inkbird temperature controller into a wine chiller you will not get a Canatrol. The Canatrol controls the dew point at a specific temperature. You are missing two key things here. One the controller you have controls temperature not dew point. The second thing your missing is that you need to also add the ability to heat the air back up to your target processing temperature. Think of it like this you need to have something that will remove moisture from your plants thru the air, to do that you need something cold enough to condensate the moisture out of the air. However after doing that you will find that the air is far to cold to pull moisture out of the plant you want to dry & cure, so you need a heater also. You can control two variables here one is the air temperature and the second is the amount of water that is in the air. The Canatrol does both it has the chiller part you have in that wine chiller, and the Cannatrol has a small heater to reheat the air back up after it chills the air to remove the water from the air and ultimatly the flower your processing. Your implementation of the Canatrol misses that second thing. Plus you have to control the dew point of the air, and the temperature no inkbird in existence controls dew points.

PahPahCee · May 3, 2023

I can control the temperature of the wine cooler. I can also control the humidity. This is controlling the dew point. There is a dehumidifer on the humidity controller. The only difference is about $2000 and presets.

StaticEmmanuel · May 3, 2023

dazedays said:
I live in so cal and my outdoor grows love the fresh California air and sunshine. But drying outdoors in 80-100 plus days is a huge mistake. I can’t stink up my whole house and I can’t keep a room or space at the recommended 65degrees and 52-58RH. I’ve been experimenting with the refrigerator for several seasons now and I’m very happy with the return.

Here’s what I do and how it effects the drying process.

Refrigerator temps are low 40’s. But the refrigerator creates a rh of around 15-30% which is a little too low and will create an environment that will dry too quickly.

I cut colas and bag them immediately from plant to paper bags and put them in the veg drawers of my refrig. I keep a hydrometer in the drawer at RH will settle at around 53-65% which is perfect.

In a 65 degree environment you’ll have plants ready around 7-13 days.

But what’s nice is in the frig at 43-50 degrees it’ll take closer to 25-30 days to hit the sweet spot.

I remove the paper bags every few days the first week or two and shake and set the paper bags out in front of a fan for about 5 mins if because the bags will feel slightly moist and this helps wick moisture slowly and equally from the plant matter inside. After they’ve been inspected and the bags are dry again, roll the bags back up and put them back in the fridge compartment.

Since the plants are never hung and they’re not air dried too quickly in a hot environment with low air flow, there is no chance of disgusting hay smell (lawn clippings) and no loss of terps that occur almost instantly if you hang dry at 80 or above.

I don’t even remove small fan leaves at this point because they help with a slow gradual dry.

The colas keep their beautiful lime green and pink hues and the sugar stays frosty.

Once the bags have gone 20 days or so I start keeping an eye on rh in the refrigerator compartment and when the rh drops to somewhere around 50 the herb in the bags is ready. The leaf will be crisp and wil break away easily with a gloved hand and the bud will feel dry but it’s not. Since it’s cold when you trim and de-stem the nugs will start equalizing and should go straight from trim screens to mason jars with a digital hydrometer. No moisture packs yet. Lids off, let the nugs come completely to room temp and then cap the jars. Place in a dark cupboard. Inside temps can be between 66-78. Check RH after several hours and if your at around 62 you’re good! Curing is now about to start.

If your jars are showing over 65rh, you need to empty the jars back on the screen and let the plants sit out for an hour then put them back in the jars and check again the next day.

If your jars are showing 40-50rh after 48 hrs, you went too long in the fridge and your plants will not be curing. I’d recommend a moisture pack to bring them back to 62rh, but no noticeable chemical reaction will occur that reduces harshness and “green” home grown flavor. They will still be tasty since they didn’t get destroyed from heat and high temp air terpene evaporation, but they won’t have enough natural “living” enzymes in the plant cells left to continue eliminating chlorophyll and other chemicals.

I burp jars daily for a few minutes and shake the nugs around to let them breathe. After about 2 weeks you can switch to burping once a month.

I enjoy testing my harvest right out of the fridge. And, I taste them continuously from day one of curing until I’m all out from this harvest and have to repeat my season. Flavors tend to be cleanest after 30 days in jars. Full jars stay good for 6-9 months in the dark. Near empty jars will lose quality within 30-60 days.

I also never bag my weed in ziplocks because the herb will dry out. So I always grab a few nugs from my curing jars and I like those medical pop tops you get at the dispensary to hold my day or weekend allowance and smoke to my head’s content.

I was wondering what size jars you use in this process?
Thanks

PahPahCee · May 5, 2023

PahPahCee said:
I can control the temperature of the wine cooler. I can also control the humidity. This is controlling the dew point. There is a dehumidifer on the humidity controller. The only difference is about $2000 and presets.

@XYZVector did you make an account just for that one post? I’d love to hear your response.

MIGrampaUSA · May 5, 2023

PahPahCee said:
@XYZVector did you make an account just for that one post? I’d love to hear your response.

Sounds like someone who works for Cannatrol. I have a wine cooler set up with inkbird controllers, a dehumidifier and a fan. Works just fine at a fraction of the cost of the cannatrol dryer. It might not be the same but accomplishes the same thing.

PahPahCee · May 5, 2023

MIGrampaUSA said:
Sounds like someone who works for Cannatrol. I have a wine cooler set up with inkbird controllers, a dehumidifier and a fan. Works just fine at a fraction of the cost of the cannatrol dryer. It might not be the same but accomplishes the same thing.

I thought the same thing. The response sounded exactly like their YouTube videos explaining the product. Vague and tooting their own horn the whole time.

Stonemason7767 · May 5, 2023

MIGrampaUSA said:
Sounds like someone who works for Cannatrol. I have a wine cooler set up with inkbird controllers, a dehumidifier and a fan. Works just fine at a fraction of the cost of the cannatrol dryer. It might not be the same but accomplishes the same thing.

Do you have a thermoelectric fridge or compresser fridge.

MIGrampaUSA · May 5, 2023

Stonemason7767 said:
Do you have a thermoelectric fridge or compresser fridge.

I am using a compressor wine cooler and a thermo-electric dehumidifier. The average RH is dead on however there's plenty of humidity swings due to the compressor. I realize someone who has not done this yet will come along and poo-poo this idea because it doesn't hold the RH at a constant 60% or whatever you set it at. That's ok, it works just fine. The wine cooler cost about $200 and everything else I already had on hand.

Scotty420 · May 5, 2023

Dewpoint is simply the temperature at which water vapor forms back into a liquid at a given relative humidity. At atmospheric pressure it's a set number depending on the temperature/rh. The only way to change dewpoint is to change temperature & relative humidity.

Another thing that could work is they actually make dehumidifiers that are basically just little heaters. Anytime you heat air it's relative humidity goes down as a byproduct. This is why people install humidifiers for the winter because heating the air makes it drier. You could install one of those & hook it to an humidity control. Any time humidity is high it would come on lowering humidity. Given that it's inside a fridge it will also force the fridge on which will remove humidity. I want to try making something like this too, but I'm not anywhere near even needing it yet, so I'm in more of a thinking about it mode right now. Here's an example of a dehumidifier that I'm referring to. This one's designed for safes.

https://www.amazon.com/PEET-Dehumidifier-Control-Humidity-Moisture/dp/B08FCQYM3L/ref=sr_1_112?crid=VZT1OK9VAHP1&keywords=dehumidifier+heater&qid=1683321747&sprefix=dehumidifier+heater,aps,109&sr=8-112&th=1

Stonemason7767 · May 5, 2023

MIGrampaUSA said:
I am using a compressor wine cooler and a thermo-electric dehumidifier. The average RH is dead on however there's plenty of humidity swings due to the compressor. I realize someone who has not done this yet will come along and poo-poo this idea because it doesn't hold the RH at a constant 60% or whatever you set it at. That's ok, it works just fine. The wine cooler cost about $200 and everything else I already had on hand.

Same thing I'm using. Works great .

PahPahCee · May 5, 2023

Those little peltier dehumidifiers raise the temperature while also pulling moisture out. Mine is connected to a inkbird.

MIGrampaUSA · May 5, 2023

PahPahCee said:
Those little peltier dehumidifiers raise the temperature while also pulling moisture out. Mine is connected to a inkbird.

Exactly, mine is also run through an inkbird. Mine has a smart phone app and I can track temperature and humidity as well. It plots it on a graph so I know exactly what is going on inside the unit.

Like I said, it works well ... better than I expected at a fraction of the cost of a cannatrol unit.

Perrin6363 · May 5, 2023

freezeland2 said:
If I were going to do a DIY drying refrig I would cut a duct hole in the side. Pop rivet a dryer duct fitting to it over the hole. Put a Inkbird sensor in it and duct it to a dehumidifier. Run the dehumidifier off the Inkbird. The refrigerator thermostat should control temp.

When you say duct it to a dehumidifier, you would run the duct from the air that's blowing out of the dehu to inside the fridge? I'm trying to understand how I can drop the rh in my tent without being able to put the dehu in the tent. My thought was to duct the dehu air to the intake in the tent.

Op I didn't mean to jack your thread or anything. I'm very interested in this and hope a good link gets shared. I've got a decent drying area but would love to have a controlled drying unit like this.

Perrin6363 · May 5, 2023

Backyard_Boogie said:
What would happen if I just put the little dehumidifier and inkbird right inside the fridge down on the bottom? So instead of cutting a whole in the side just set it in there and then close the door. The magnetic door seal might simply close shut on the chord so long as its not too fat. I know the fridge will make high humidity so the machine would be running nonstop to counter for this but do you think it could work? Remember the target temp is 60 so that means the fridge will likely be set on its highest temp setting therefore it will run only half as much. Thoughts?

These are just thoughts. At first I was wondering if the fridge's highest setting might still be too low. Can you get a fridge up 60°? Then @freezeland2 mentioned the warm air coming out of the dehu. That warm air might be enough to bring the temp up to 60°, if the fridge can't do it. I haven't read through this thread yet, so I don't know how much you've figured out yet

Stonemason7767 · May 5, 2023

Perrin6363 said:
These are just thoughts. At first I was wondering if the fridge's highest setting might still be too low. Can you get a fridge up 60°? Then @freezeland2 mentioned the warm air coming out of the dehu. That warm air might be enough to bring the temp up to 60°, if the fridge can't do it. I haven't read through this thread yet, so I don't know how much you've figured out yet

My wine fridge goes up from 40 to 64.buy one that is thermoelectric so that the compressor kicking on dosnt fluctuate the humidity.put a small dehumidifier in the bottom hooked to ink bird .small a PC fan.you can keep it 60 60.the one I have has a compressor so the humidity swings down to 40 while it's running,but it still works good .if you get a thermoelectric this won't happen.

zipperdoyle · May 23, 2023

PahPahCee said:
Hi dudes, first post on here. This is my “Canna Troll” recreation.

Do not confuse compressor fridges with thermoelectric peltier wine coolers. The dehumidifier is hooked up to an inkbird controller. The Dehum is also using a “peltier.”View attachment 1308851
View attachment 1308852
View attachment 1308853

You can easily maintain 60F and 60% humidity. Or really whatever range you want. No crazy temp or humidity swings.

Quick question @PahPahCee . I ended up getting a used thermoelectric wine cooler similar to the one you have. For the peltier dehumidifier in the bottom of yours. Did you just take apart and pull the innards from a dehumidifier? Also, where/how do you drain out the water it pulls in your picture?

Cannabis Drying/Curing Refrigerator - Build Questions - Need Help!

Cannabis Drying/Curing Refrigerator - Build Questions - Need Help!

PahPahCee

MIGrampaUSA

Spiman2u

PahPahCee

Wayfair.com - Online Home Store for Furniture, Decor, Outdoors & More | Wayfair

XYZVector

PahPahCee

StaticEmmanuel

PahPahCee

MIGrampaUSA

PahPahCee

Stonemason7767

MIGrampaUSA

Scotty420

Stonemason7767

PahPahCee

MIGrampaUSA

Perrin6363

Perrin6363

Stonemason7767

zipperdoyle

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