My cheese cave humidity improver

[Boofer]

I was faced with higher humidity outside my cave than inside.   Then I read some threads here about fans and draping cheesecloth with a source of water....

A problem.

As I read about the fans, I glanced over at my old (8 years) laptop computer that hadn't been powered up in quite some time. Under it sat its nondescript laptop cooler, also unused in the same length of time.

<Momentary flash of inspiration> A solution. 

The laptop cooler was powered through a USB cable connected to the laptop computer. The USB cable delivered +5 volts to the cooler unit. But wait, I must have a 5 volt adapter somewhere in the house. Ta-da!!! I did. I opened up the cooler just to see about reversing the fan polarity, but that wasn't possible. And in the end it didn't matter at all anyway, because the unit works just fine to solve my humidity problem. I improved the humidity from around 50% to 80%.

You see that the temperature is wrong. That too is about to be corrected. I ordered a Johnson Controls temp controller. The next question on my cheese horizon is which style will be first to benefit from the improved curing conditions. I'm really leaning towards trying the colby again. Eh, it's all good. Whichever I do will be better, I am now certain.

-Boofer-

[Cheese Head]

Boofer, great idea on laptop cooler for low cost fan, I never realized they were so simple inside .

My cheese cave fridge-freezer is forced air type and thus very low humidity as air is dehumidified and water goes in evaporation tray underneath fridge. Air comes into fridge via vents that are hard to put a cloth-wick over. Thus I'm using large plastic Tupperware type boxes with lids cracked. The problem with that is the boxes use up lots of room, so I can't house many fridges. Your computer fan trick could for me also. I don't have a lap top cooler but I do have a couple spare computer fans lying around. Are they also 5V, if so I just a 5 volt mini wall plug transformer, and then I need some sort of housing for the fan, any ideas?

Thx again for idea.

[DeejayDebi]

Good job Boofer.

My Mini Cave has them built in. The Haier NuCool fridges are all like that. No Freon! I just drape cheese cloth in the back and always have 80 to 90% humdity.

[Boofer]

Debi, you're lucky. I wish mine had been that easy.

CH, the original cost (several years ago) of this laptop cooler was under $20. Now you could probably find one for half that or for FREE after rebate. You could probably piece one together yourself, but why bother if a workable solution is so close at hand?

I Googled laptop coolers and found one for $11.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=laptop+coolers+deals&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=13821217417664115607&ei=t46lSsuxMIfYsgOsg8WMDw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=4#ps-sellers

-Boofer-

[DeejayDebi]

I actually bought this model for the fans with that in mind. Wish they came bigger but the biggest I saw was  1.7 cuft.

Well you did a great job kiddo it should work well for you. I wonder how many fans you would need for a full sized fridge? Old computer fans would work well to.

[T-Bird]

hey debi, how often do you have to remoisten the cheesecloth?  I have a small fridge that is a small wine cooler I might could do that with. And loose the plastic boxes in my other fridge. T-Bird

[DeejayDebi]

I might spray once a week if the cave is full of new cheese (more moisture given up by the cheeses) or every few days if the cheeses are a month old or older. I just go by the meter - when humidty starts to drop I spray the cheese cloths.

[memkuk]

I finally solved my low humidity problem, after unsuccessfully trying the computer fan approach, described in this thread: the humidity in my dedicated small refrigerator did not go much higher than 73% at a temperature of 12 Celsius, which was too low for my Camembert. The outside humidity (here in the tropics) is around 85%.
Yesterday I found this little gadget (see pic): it's an ionizer/humidifier, which fits nicely into the door tray of the fridge. No noise at all and the humidity now goes to 90%.
Price 1,500.= Thai Baht, about 45.= US$. Quite expensive maybe, but worthwhile in my case.
 

[Alex]

Very nice Eric,

That's my solution too. About 6 months ago I bought a second hand ionizer/humidifier, connected it through a timer which alternates the on/off periods because my instrument is suposed to be fitted to a larger room then the ageing fridge. Mostly recommended.

[Boofer]

Thanks for that photo, Eric. My humidity has been over 80% without the wetted cloth over the fans. The cheeses are providing enough moisture to get the job done. In fact, the moisture is so plentiful that I have to wipe it from the cave walls. Where is it coming from? All the cheeses in there are either vacuum-sealed or wax-sealed. 

-Boofer-

[memkuk]

Humidity control seems to be rather weird sometimes. Here in the tropics, during the rainy season, the ambient air humidity is 85 to 90%. Inside my fridge I didn't get more than 73%, even when putting water and wet cloth in it. I start to wonder if my hygrometer is giving me the correct values.

[Cheese Head]

Eric, I also don't trust my digital gauge, especailly at high readings so I've just ordered an analog one to check it.

If you have a radiant style then yes that would be strange but if you have a forced air fridge then the air is dehumidified normally with an evaporation tray underneath.

[riha]

Eric, how long do you keep the hygrometer in the fridge before taking a reading? Mine goes nuts when I take it to a different temperature (like out from my basement) and it takes a long time, like an hour, for it to get proper readings again.

[Boofer]

Well, my little cheapie Walmart hygrometer went on the fritz. The LCD display got all screwy. Apparently too much humidity. Go figure! 

I bought one at Bed, Bath, & Beyond today. Hopefully it will be better.

Really...when I go to turn the cheese wheels, the wax coatings and vacuum seals are moist. I guess I need to air the cave out periodically to bleed off some of the moisture.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

Here's the replacement hygrometer from Bed, Bath & Beyond. Unfortunately this one also has to go inside the cave and I have to open the door to read it. I'd like to get one that puts the thermometer/humidity sensors on a tether and the actual device remains outside the cave.

-Boofer-