50's fridge = humidor?

[expatpipe]

Ok, I've finally got myself a 1950's fridge. Well it's a freezer but I've always wanted one! It's like having a classic car right inside your home, lol. When I shut the door it feels like I'm shutting the door to a 53 Caddy. I love the curved style. On to my point, it does need a new start relay to the compressor. I'm going to do my best at getting it in working order but if that proves futile, what about turning it into a tobacco humidor? It's clean, seals tight has shelves and is just really awsome inside and out. Is it possible to turn an old fridge into a humidor?

 

[punkpiper]

I would say so yes. Its a case of getting out all the stuff that makes it a fridge and installing a thermostat and humidifier.

 

[cortezattic]

I think it was Pease, Szabady, or the like, who mentioned that pipe tobacco should be

kept under temperature and humidity conditions that you, personally, would find

comfortable. No refrigeration or humidification outside that boundary is needed.

As a storage "cabinet", a campy old fridge sounds like a neat (if bulky) idea;

but I would worry about the foul odor that can develop in used, unpowered fridges.
Check out Bob Tate's article, Pipe Tobacco Storage, for general principles.

 

[lonestar]

Thats an awesome idea man !

I cant say how to go about doing it, but I would start by figuring out how to line it with Spanish Cedar.

Maybe just build a box the exact size to fit inside the fridge.

If you could keep the fans running to circulate the air would probably be great too.

 

[expatpipe]

First, I'm going to try and get er running again, if not.. the ceder lined idea sounds perfect!

 

[jankomatic]

Wow, it looks almost brand new. If you were going to use it for pipe tobacco, I would just leave it as is. For cigars you would need a good electronic humidity control device at the very least.

 

[smokindawg]

Working as a fridge it wouldn't be good for a humidor......... but with a bit of mod it would work great. If you want to line it, luan plywood in 1/4" would work great and is very reasonably priced. I've been told that it holds humidity just like Spanish cedar and is a lot cheaper.
I made a cigar humidifier from a thermoelectric wine cooler. I took out the metal racks (which slide in and out) with drawers I made from the luan and it works fantastic. Keeps the cigars at an ideal temp (below 70 to keep tobacco beetles from hatching) and holds the humitiy in the 65-70 range with hardly any work at all. I took a plastic coffee can and cut it off about 2" deep. I then poured about 1lb of the beads in it and rarely even have to add any moisture to them at all. It doesn't have a compressor like a lot of them and uses hardly any power at all.

 

[collin]

If you get her runnin' again, you might get tempted to fill it with beer! :mrgreen:
I've got a workin' old fridge out in the garage that's been kept full of beer since the 1980's. I wouldn't trade it for a humidor the size of a walk-in-closet!
But,...it does sound like a pretty cool idea. :mrgreen:

 

[expatpipe]

First I'm going to try and fix it to work as a fridge/freezer for what it's suppose to do. I'll install a modern start relay and see if that solves it. If not, I gotta do something with it. If I can not fix it myself, it is probably too expensive to call in a repair man. They wont touch freon anymore and would want to convert the whole thing to a modern system..
Ice cold beer :D

 

[srharel]

I would paint it red too Tres Chic!