Thermoelectric wine cooler drying and curing - DIY

hostagecs said:
is the dehum wired backwards (unsure if the plate allows it) its that or you have a hole that the dehum is pulling outside humidity thru imo
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dont think so but will double check later on. no hole in this fridge since its actually the first one i used to build(ive done 2 rounds of drying/curing with the fridge) but just swapped out the dehumidifier to a slightly bigger one and i put the old dehumidifier unit in the new koolatron build. the new unit seems to only work with one wiring configuration that took me a few hours to figure out. def not savy enough with electrical wiring to know if its wired wrong and will try to post some pics tonight of the unit.
 
sm0k3gr33n said:
dont think so but will double check later on. no hole in this fridge since its actually the first one i used to build(ive done 2 rounds of drying/curing with the fridge) but just swapped out the dehumidifier to a slightly bigger one and i put the old dehumidifier unit in the new koolatron build. the new unit seems to only work with one wiring configuration that took me a few hours to figure out. def not savy enough with electrical wiring to know if its wired wrong and will try to post some pics tonight of the unit.
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sp most im not sure if all dehum use a TEC: A thermoelectric cooler (TEC), also known as a Peltier module, is a solid-state heat pump that uses the Peltier effect to transfer heat from one surface to another when a DC electrical current is applied. The device creates a temperature difference, with one side becoming cold and the other hot, allowing for precise temperature control in various applications like electronics cooling, medical equipment, and portable coolers.

They use volts DC as voltage is applied to the plate one side gets hot one side gets cold. most are not marked with what voltage or amperage they need to operate which sucks but there are ways to figure it out, like mine had no break down because the companies don't want you to see how easy they are to make, but they are very simple DC systems, they will either have a AC to DC convertor in the plug or inside the unit. if you post some pictures i can try to help you out.

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appreciate the breakdown and thanks for offering to take a look. i let it run nonstop and it only got down to 70rh while the new koolatron build with the old dehumidifier is sitting at 55f/38rh(both in same room). attached some pics hoping you(or anyone) can help make sense of this. the single red wire thats taped seems to be the culprit but I dont understand why. when i try a 2 to 1 connection for red like i did black, it breaks the circuit and i get no power. also tried diff combinations of wiring but the only way i got power was they way it is in the pics. prob something obvious but i am dumb when it comes to electrical work lol
 

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appreciate it bro, i think on mine the red power going into the plate changes to black when connecting to the second plate..but that doesnt really matter? when i connect that red wire thats loose/taped up to any other wire, thats when i get no power. does that mean the ground is actually the loose red wire on my model? heres what its connecting to:
 

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sm0k3gr33n said:
appreciate it bro, i think on mine the red power going into the plate changes to black when connecting to the second plate..but that doesnt really matter? when i connect that red wire thats loose/taped up to any other wire, thats when i get no power. does that mean the ground is actually the loose red wire on my model? heres what its connecting to:
Click to expand...
so with DC there is no ground, cars often run the negative to the frame. As the the color switching nah it doesn't matter, i want you to check something for me, verify the the plate wiring vs fan and lets see whats what. to check the dehum to see if its runningone of those plates will get cold one will get warm. once thats checked out you can than splice the fan red and the dehum red togeather and put the power in red to those like a Y and same with the black wiring. that way the dehum and the fan receive power1757016746312.png
 
ok finally got some time to dig into this more. i took mine apart to make sure nothing weird was going on and it looks like exactly the diagram you drew up. the problem is, when I connect the 2 reds like you have pictured, i get nothing still.IMG_20250905_132430 - Copy (2).jpg

IMG_20250905_132410 - Copy.jpg
IMG_20250905_140007 - Copy.jpg
is it possible the adapter i am connecting to doesnt somehow send enough to power both if connected inline? I think i have one more spare adapter i can sacrifice if needed.
 
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