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

[Natep]

I live in the desert too (currently 100-106 degrees) and a small bedroom in the house used as a lung room with a 4x2 tent is perfect for drying. Don't need a dehumidifier, not in the dry desert. The room I picked out is the coolest room of the house. 73 degrees at the warmest (coolest?), have a humidifier in there set at 60% for a 2-3 week dry period. The infinity tent is all set up with it's charcoal filtration so no sweet smells coming out of that room unfortunately. My thermostat for the house is set at 77.

People don’t understand growing in the dry desert. I also grow in southern ca. never need a dehumidifier. I dry in a 5x5 tent with a humidifier. Set my acinfinty controller to 60 percent and leave it for two week minimum. Then into jars for burping.

 

[simonkay]

Guys I wired mine out the front door under the rubber seal then sealing it on both sides with sponges and then double sealing it outside with plastic & tape. I did this because the fridge I brought is mexican brand with not so good Amazon feedback but my budget wouldn't allow me to import a named brand. So I'm trying my best not to void warranty in case this needs returning. (Worst case I'll drill the damn hole but I gotta make sure this fridge has no teething problems first)

I then put one plant in but caught Dengue fever bad so left it for 4-5 days in the fridge but then noticed The water don't drain out it just sits in these silly little canals which don't even connect to the drain hole. Had to dry it out with tissue daily but futile has humidity spikes when I open fridge and my buds got mold after 8 days in fridge @ 17°c /60RH
Tried adjusting the humidifier but had no luck so thinking of gluing it on the back a little higher and then finding a way to make sure it all drains in the hole.

I need to figure this before my main harvest finishes cus I can't risk mold again

 

[simonkay]

Looks like it was mostly a drainage problem so now it's holding steady at 60/60.
Just gotta figure out the best way to dry it before curing. I hear some ppl do 50-55rh first couple days to pull out moisture and also hit it 45-50 on the last day. If anyone has any thoughts on that please let us know
Heres a nug that survived the initial week of mould and has been curing for 10ish days around 60

 

[simonkay]

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

Is there a way I can figure out my dew point using my temp/RH
Tia

 

[simonkay]

My next project is to build a dry and cure fridge because I refuse to spend 1700 on a cannatrol even if I had the money. There settings are 68 temp with 54 dew point for dry and then 68 temp with 52 dew point cure. I just need recommendations for what fridge and dehumidifier to use. Humidors come so close to those levels but would like to build something to get more percise levels. Can anyone help point me in right direction?

Hey bro when you dew point is that the same as RH, or is there a way I can figure it out
Tia

 

[simonkay]

I just started using my cannatroll my issue is the humidity is at 55 so I am set for 60 temp 55 humidity. May need to find a mini humidifier

Hi bro, is that the recommended setting for cannatrol and should we be following it
Tia and

 

[simonkay]

@misfitdad @Gizmo613 @mothy @MIGrampaUSA @Diverge @Backyard_Boogie @misfitdad @PahPahCee

Firstly Happy thanksgiving to those who celebrate hope you guys are having good holidays.
Sorry to pester all but I'm struggling a little with my fridge & hoping the wine cooler corp could help me out a lil.

I thought everything was good till I walked in on my fridge and it was 72f instead of 60f as the humidifier was working too hard (3% buffer) so I dropped it to 1% buffer to chill.
Keeping it on 60/60 with fresh nugs makes it work too hard.

@PahPahCee I believe you said you drop it by 1% a day or something right? But can I ask what's the normal max Rh when you load the fridge, I found mine go into the 70s quick and already lost my 1st plant to mould so trying to avoid it back to back.

Can I ask you guys what you normally keep your temp/Rh on when you load the fridge and how long it usually takes to finish drying, it would help me alot?

I hear some ppl will keep it dead around 60/60 but I'm speaking to other growers online who grow some wicked flowers and they say they drop it to 50-55 first couple days and also 45-50 last day. Does anyone have any experience with this as I've heard the first few days are always crucial with humidity. And I wonder how much of this matters if your drying in a room vs a small fridge

Thank you all for your kindness and patience have a good one

 

[PahPahCee]

@misfitdad @Gizmo613 @mothy @MIGrampaUSA @Diverge @Backyard_Boogie @misfitdad @PahPahCee

Firstly Happy thanksgiving to those who celebrate hope you guys are having good holidays.
Sorry to pester all but I'm struggling a little with my fridge & hoping the wine cooler corp could help me out a lil.

I thought everything was good till I walked in on my fridge and it was 72f instead of 60f as the humidifier was working too hard (3% buffer) so I dropped it to 1% buffer to chill.
Keeping it on 60/60 with fresh nugs makes it work too hard.

@PahPahCee I believe you said you drop it by 1% a day or something right? But can I ask what's the normal max Rh when you load the fridge, I found mine go into the 70s quick and already lost my 1st plant to mould so trying to avoid it back to back.

Can I ask you guys what you normally keep your temp/Rh on when you load the fridge and how long it usually takes to finish drying, it would help me alot?

I hear some ppl will keep it dead around 60/60 but I'm speaking to other growers online who grow some wicked flowers and they say they drop it to 50-55 first couple days and also 45-50 last day. Does anyone have any experience with this as I've heard the first few days are always crucial with humidity. And I wonder how much of this matters if your drying in a room vs a small fridge

Thank you all for your kindness and patience have a good one

Hey dude! Sorry I haven’t been online. I also seem to not get alerts when I get tagged.


I don’t agree with the immediate 60/60 environment when I’m using the fridge. Mainly for the reasons you’re experiencing with the heat raising past desirable temps. I also suggest making sure the fridge is level or at a slight angle to make sure the condensation funnels to the drain. You shouldn’t have much sitting water if any.


For this example let’s assume we are talking about a full loaded fridge. I buck the fresh nugs and do a quick trim. Load the shelves up. I cram them in there but I try to keep in mind airflow. The idea is to avoid “micro climates” where air can’t flow.

Once the fridge is loaded I set my fridge to the lowest temperature and turn my inkbird/Dehum to 99%, so it doesn’t turn on at all for the first 12-24 hours. (Don’t worry, the fridge is still on keeping the air moving while pulling moisture.)

After the 12-24 hours the humidity should stop raising and stabilize. Congrats you found your baseline. Usually mine hits 70-85%. (Make sure no nugs are touching the inkbird sensor and that the sensor is out of the way since the condensation drips down the back wall.)

time to set the inkbird/Dehum to turn on. If my RH is at 75% I will set my inkbird to 74%. Roll up a joint and watch the controller while monitoring the the internal temperature of the fridge. I try to keep my temperature as close to 60F throughout the whole process. If the fridge starts warming up too much then I back off, and raise the inkbird/Dehum setting to make it not work as hard.
I think of it as a cycle, the Dehum turns on and off and you can watch the RH lower and rise back up before the cycle restarts.

After the first 1-3 days I like to go back into the fridge and kind of lazily rotate my nugs around. The nugs will have noticeable shrank already and I like to reorganize the shelves so I can fit even more in. I tend to spend 2-4 days loading my fridge. If you reorganize the shelves after the nugs shrink you can really cram a lot in (I get 1lb dry in my large wine fridges).

honesty, I don’t stick to a hard and fast rule. Sometimes you can drop the RH faster. Sometimes I forget about it for a day or two. The only thing I really stay on top of is the temperature. Once I hit 62% RH I stop lowering it. I let stay in the fridge for a few days or longer until I am sure it’s actually stabilized at 62%.

I use one of those wood moisture meters to double check it. I then bag them up in grove bags or jars and throw a RH hydrometer into a few bags so I can monitor them. If it goes above 62% I will put it back in the fridge.



Tips from other users:

Hang dry the plant for the first two days if you really want to speed things up. Cannatrol recommends this and people have reported good results with this method.

Others have their end goal be lower than 62%. 58% being the lowest you should try to hit.

Make sure you calibrate your inkbird sensor beforehand.

If you want that 5 day dry that Cannatrol offers they achieve this by allowing the internal temp to get very very hot. I don’t recommend this personally because they have different goal.

The fridge will only lower 20F of the ambient temperature of the room the fridge is in.

 

[simonkay]

Much love brother, my fridge is fully loaded I did speed up a bit on this batch but I get what you mean with temps v the humidifier and will try your method on the next Chop.

I ended up starting it at 55 first 3 days to pull out the 1st wave of moisture as I was scared of losing 2 successive batches to mould then settling on like 64 and pulling it down a point a day it is now nearly on 60 so will pop into some glass jars and see how it settles. My fridge did go up 73f occasionally so this was not a great method for the fridge but I did keep my setting on 64f as I heard it's not much difference from 60 but for the future it makes sense to keep the fridge colder first to avoid the heat later

 

[D_L]

To bypass the physical buttons we need to dumb down the Dehum. I cut out the board with the on/off button.
View attachment 2019492

It’s fairly simple. All that you should be left with is 2 black wires and 2 red wires. You cut you power supply cable that plugs into the Dehum. This will expose the red/black wires. Combine all 3 red cables together, combine the three black cables together.

You can splice these wires. Or you can use a Wago connector.

View attachment 2019504

as for the smell; it’s pretty sealed. You don’t smell anything so long as you keep the door closed. I’ve also heard reports that the water/condensation can smell a little. Not really an issue so long as you clean it up occasionally.

First off thanks for all the information PahPahCee. Like you this is the first thread I have posted in and this go round I have 7 girls that are going to be ready at different times. This method seems like the logical solution to my situation, which also includes a difficult environment to get to ideal conditions for drying.

I found a 5.2 cubic foot Vissani wine cooler used for $65. It runs on a compressor. The temperature range is 35f-55f. I have been testing it before my chop in about 4 weeks. Seems like the humidity range can be large with compressor type coolers. Mine will get down to 30 RH when running and up to 70 RH when not running. I have a similar dehumidifier as the one you pictured Sevon SN 160 that I never used (it seems to only work well in very small areas like a fridge). I put it in the fridge and set the thermo to 55f. It was able to hold the humidity at 55 RH until the compressor kicks in then it drops quite a bit. I would like to use an Inkbird or something similar so I can have the dehumidifier only come on at say 65-75 RH and turn it down slowly as you suggested in another post. Maybe use water and a $2000 sponge ;) to keep the humidity a bit higher than 30 RH.

The dehumidifier has a push button on/off so I need to bypass that. I disassembled my dehumidifier to get a look. From your post I gathered that I need to connect the 2 red and 2 black wires that are part of the fan and thermoelectric part of the unit to the 1 red and 1 black wires that come from where the plug attaches. If that is wrong could you explain in more detail? I am OK with running the cord through the door instead of drilling holes. There doesn't seem to be to much if any affect on the way the fridge runs this way.

I do have a question or two though. How did you bypass the sensor that won't let the dehumidifier run without the water reservoir attached? Do you completely discard the circuit board that the wires clip into? Trying to save some cash since I already have what should work. I'm no electrician but have tinkered with things before so I am fairly comfortable tweaking this dehumidifier that's been doing nothing for the past few years.

Thanks to everyone in this thread. Hopefully my experiment will go as well as most of yours have and I can share information when I get it up and running.

 

[D_L]

To bypass the physical buttons we need to dumb down the Dehum. I cut out the board with the on/off button.
View attachment 2019492

It’s fairly simple. All that you should be left with is 2 black wires and 2 red wires. You cut you power supply cable that plugs into the Dehum. This will expose the red/black wires. Combine all 3 red cables together, combine the three black cables together.

You can splice these wires. Or you can use a Wago connector.

View attachment 2019504

as for the smell; it’s pretty sealed. You don’t smell anything so long as you keep the door closed. I’ve also heard reports that the water/condensation can smell a little. Not really an issue so long as you clean it up occasionally.

Sorry for the multiple posts. One more question PahPahCee. The white wires are neutral correct? What do you do with those?


Thanks

 

[SamSquatch]

Im a longtime grower of both indoor and outdoor. Space is a premium in our home and as such the hanging and drying process can be a bit challenging. I live in Southern California and our summers are hot and we get very little rain with common dry patches. Humidity regularly goes below 20%. Over the years I have always chopped my plants and hung them to dry inside my closet with a humidifier/dehumidifier controller. During the winter months when the temps are cooler I will sometimes hang the plants upside down in my garage grow tents once again with the humidifier/dehumidifier controller. My wife is getting tired of the whole house smelling like Kush so I want to move my entire drying/curing operation into the garage permanently. During the summer months my garage gets well over 90F which is a big no no for drying. Originally I was gonna bite the bullet and purchase one of these nice Cannatrol units for $1600...
View attachment 1224225
However after reading on their website I see that this unit is only designed to be operated at room temperature. This does me no good because my garage is over room temperature most of the time. I read around on a few of the other grow forums and it looks like people have modified traditional refrigerators to be used for drying/curing. Can anyone comment on this? Perhaps someone can send a link or article my way that can assist me in this build. Apparently there is a way to rig the refrigerator so that it can cool off while putting out no extra humidity. Is this true? I'm a pretty handy person and can likely tackle a build so long as its not too difficult. Please let me know your thoughts! Thanks!

I use Damp Rid in my reefer refrigerator. I cure and store at 45° F. It keeps the weed fresh and terpy

 

[D_L]

Sorry for the multiple posts. One more question PahPahCee. The white wires are neutral correct? What do you do with those?


Thanks

Never mind, I figured it out. Had to further disassemble to find out what the white wires connected to. They connect to nothing, they were just kind of stuck into the fan/heatsink area with a plastic cap. Got it wired up and testing now to make sure it still works before I purchase a smart controller.

 

[D_L]

I'm in the process of testing my Vissani wine cooler now. It's a compressor model and is 5.2 cubic feet inside, temperature range is 35-55 F. I have a stripped down 220 square foot dehumidifier placed above the drain hole. I am going to be getting a temperature and humidity controller but for now just turning on things manually for the tests.

Set cooler thermostat to 53 F. Placed an 8x8" baking dish on the bottom of the cooler with a 3" usb powered computer fan blowing across it. When the compressor turns on the humidity will drop into the low 30's RH. Turn on the fan blowing on the water raises the humidity to 55-60 RH. Compressor turns off the humidity will rise to low 70's RH. Turned on the dehumidifier at 65 RH. It stabilizes around 65-70 RH sometimes a bit lower. Might need a lower temperature to combat the humidity or a larger dehumidifier.

The plan is to plug a power strip into the climate controller for the temperature. Plug the cooler and usb fan into the power strip. Set it to desired temp and when the compressor kicks on the fan will come on also. Plug the dehumidifier into the humidity controller plug and set it at desired RH level.

Going to need some tweaking to figure out ideal settings but this method should help with the large humidity swings. Things will obviously be different once I put some green in there but so far it seems to be working as intended. 3-4 weeks until chop so hopefully I can dial it in before then.

Have gotten a lot of knowledge from this thread, can't wait to put some of it to practice.

 

[JKash]

Hell nah those trichomes have to cure plain and simple. You can't turn a plum into a prune in 3 days. Same applies for bud

Freeze drying and curing is starting to become main....

For instance LIVE ROSIN...your freshly chopped flower is dunked in liquid nitrogen to freeze dry... no curing needed... there is validity behind this methodology

 

[JKash]

Yes I have considered cooling my garage however the electricity costs would be pretty high to run the AC 24/7. I know $1600 is a lot of money but I think cooling my garage would actually probably cost that much per year anyways. SoCal Edison already fuck me enough as is LOL

Summertime I run 4 ac 24/7... ontop of growing... summertime bills hit 450 bucks

 

[WTFWEED]

Do not cool your weed until it's cured.

Smoked too much garbage that would've been great had they been burping their jars at room temp instead of trying to preserve uncured weed in a fridge.

 

[WTFWEED]

Freeze drying and curing is starting to become main....

For instance LIVE ROSIN...your freshly chopped flower is dunked in liquid nitrogen to freeze dry... no curing needed... there is validity behind this methodology

Dispensary weed tastes like shit. That's the science. The industry is literally filled with incompetence.

 

[WonkasTHC]

Dispensary weed tastes like shit. That's the science. The industry is literally filled with incompetence.

You seem to know an awful lot for not knowing how to grow plants since yours are all dying....
Who the fuck hurt you dude?
Every post ive seen from you is either aggressive or just flat out wrong.....

 

[PahPahCee]

I'm in the process of testing my Vissani wine cooler now. It's a compressor model and is 5.2 cubic feet inside, temperature range is 35-55 F. I have a stripped down 220 square foot dehumidifier placed above the drain hole. I am going to be getting a temperature and humidity controller but for now just turning on things manually for the tests.

Set cooler thermostat to 53 F. Placed an 8x8" baking dish on the bottom of the cooler with a 3" usb powered computer fan blowing across it. When the compressor turns on the humidity will drop into the low 30's RH. Turn on the fan blowing on the water raises the humidity to 55-60 RH. Compressor turns off the humidity will rise to low 70's RH. Turned on the dehumidifier at 65 RH. It stabilizes around 65-70 RH sometimes a bit lower. Might need a lower temperature to combat the humidity or a larger dehumidifier.

The plan is to plug a power strip into the climate controller for the temperature. Plug the cooler and usb fan into the power strip. Set it to desired temp and when the compressor kicks on the fan will come on also. Plug the dehumidifier into the humidity controller plug and set it at desired RH level.

Going to need some tweaking to figure out ideal settings but this method should help with the large humidity swings. Things will obviously be different once I put some green in there but so far it seems to be working as intended. 3-4 weeks until chop so hopefully I can dial it in before then.

Have gotten a lot of knowledge from this thread, can't wait to put some of it to practice.

Glad you got things working for you. You got it right, match the colors of the wires together. To bypass the sensor you just get rid of it. No circuit boards needed. The inkbird controller will be the brains. We just want it to either be on or off.

the compressor is a lot to work against. You really need to dial in all these environmental controllers so you limit the humidity fluctuations. Those humidity spikes make me uncomfortable for mold.

Google around for “lotus cure.” People dry in regular fridges by using brown paper bags as kind of a moisture barrier. You might get some more ideas from it.