Curing Chamber from the box up My Build

[AmaxB]

i havent really put it to use yet.... i just yesterday did my first bottom pickings, but with the rain weve been having, everything i picked is going in there today.

i prefer to colour cure naturally, but this year i think it's all gonna be coloured, and dried slowlly in the kiln,

That little test I did turned out pretty good will be giving it to the guy next time he stops by. I took it out of the box yesterday and just hung it up in the basement. Have no idea what tobacco variety it is but it all colored up to the same light tan and is very even. I'll get a picture of it and post it here it was in my box a little better than a week.

 

[AmaxB]

This is a photo of the unknown green leaf I put in while running in kiln mode as a curiosity test.

 

[Knucklehead]

Big ol' veins in it. Have you smoked any?

 

[AmaxB]

Big ol' veins in it. Have you smoked any?

No I did not I gave it back to the guy this morning..
Post 465 is what it looked like at the start http://wholeleaftobaccollc.com/foru...uring-Chamber-from-the-box-up-My-Build/page47

 

[AmaxB]

Am getting anxious to harvest some leaf and get it in the chamber for Flue Cure another week maybe. Racks are made and blackened one yesterday I've got big bottles of gas for the torch am hoping it holds out to do the second rack.
I applied Linseed Oil with a rag to the part and heated until I could see the heat move through the metal as I moved the torch and applied more oil with the rag after thoroughly heating a section. I repeated this as I worked sections until I had a nice black finish.
Did it in the garage with a big fan blowing out the door to keep the smoke down. After the part had cooled I checked for oil residue and wiped it down with solvent. That rack turned out pretty good.

 

[AmaxB]

Decided to use a Wet Bulb / Dry Bulb Thermometer when I flue cure to check against the digital controls I have in place now. So I ordered 2 Tobacco thermometers to make one. The thermometers were about $4 each on E-bay here is what they look like..
.

I'll put this together today

 

[AmaxB]

Got the dry bulb / wet bulb gizmo made and put it in the chamber now I see what it has to say. I wonder how accurate my gizmo will be.

 

[johnlee1933]

Got the dry bulb / wet bulb gizmo made and put it in the chamber now I see what it has to say. I wonder how accurate my gizmo will be.

I looked at them on ebay. do the thermometers set in cloth or foam so you can generate a wet bulb? If not, how do you do it?

 

[AmaxB]

It has been in about 20 minutes and I am seeing 63% RH while my PID RH is showing 71%. How ever the PID has just a sensor while my gizmo has a small glass bottle filled with water. Will give more time to allow temperatures
to catch up and balance than check again to see how close they are. Fun stuff this is.

 

[AmaxB]

I looked at them on ebay. do the thermometers set in cloth or foam so you can generate a wet bulb? If not, how do you do it?

Hi John I bought just the thermometers in post # 520. Using wire mesh screen I made a backer of sorts fastened the thermometers to it. Than fastened an amber glass bottle beside and a bit below the thermometers. The bottle has one of those rubber tops on it for an eye dropper. The Eye dropper part went to the trash than cut a hole in the remaining robber part to run a boot lace through and fastened an end of it to the bulb on one of the thermometers for a wet bulb.
Seems to be working I am going to let the glass and water get to temperature before making a call on it. Maybe in about an hour from now I'll look at it again if good I'll post a picture so you can see what I did.
I did cheat a little..... the boot lace is like a tube. I ran a second solid lace through it so it is spongy and made sure it touched the bulb of the thermometer while the outer lace went over it.

 

[AmaxB]

I took a picture for you johnlee the left side of the thermometer is Fahrenheit the right side is Celsius
Dry is about 124 and wet about 109 so it is at 61% condensation is building on the bottle so it is not to temperature yet to get a good reading.

 

[leverhead]

This is my second season using a wet bulb thermometer, the temperature of the water in the reservoir doesn't matter. By the time it moves through the wick, it will be about as cool/warm as it will get. It will change as the heat cycles on and off. Good set up!

 

[johnlee1933]

I took a picture for you johnlee the left side of the thermometer is Fahrenheit the right side is Celsius
Dry is about 124 and wet about 109 so it is at 61% condensation is building on the bottle so it is not to temperature yet to get a good reading.

Thanks I see now. Nice job. I can do that.

 

[AmaxB]

This is my second season using a wet bulb thermometer, the temperature of the water in the reservoir doesn't matter. By the time it moves through the wick, it will be about as cool/warm as it will get. It will change as the heat cycles on and off. Good set up!

I disagree if you look at my boot lace you see it is puffy and round because it is stuffed and holding a good bit of water. In my thought it would take a little while for all to come to temperature after that it would no longer matter.

Thanks I see now. Nice job. I can do that.

Yep chunk of cake but for me figuring out the RH is a problem so I cheat! For all not so good with their math this will help you out - http://home.fuse.net/clymer/water/wet.html

 

[johnlee1933]

Yep chunk of cake but for me figuring out the RH is a problem so I cheat! For all not so good with their math this will help you out - http://home.fuse.net/clymer/water/wet.html

Yep, That's slick. I just down loaded a chart that I keep next to the thermometers. I have a pair of "school teaching" thermometers. They are not very accurate but cheap.

 

[workhorse_01]

That will work nice as long as there is good air movement across the wet bulb thermometer.

 

[AmaxB]

Going to recant on my disagreement with you Leverhead, I opened my door this morning to do my morning maintenance for the Tobacco in the chamber after recording my readings.

It seems the Wet Bulb thermometer is pretty damn sensitive in the course of maybe half a minute it dropped 6 degrees. While the Dry Bulb was much slower to fall.
Comparing my digital readings to that of the Wet Bulb and Dry Bulb Thermometers:
Dry Bulb Thermometer 130F
Digital Thermometer 132.8F
Wet Bulb / Dry Bulb RH 73%
Digital RH 79.6%
Given differences such as location etc. I'd say they are pretty close and you could use ether one to cure / kiln tobacco. Than after logging readings and checking against the tobacco finish.
So you have an idea of what readings you want to see when working the tobacco and produce awesome tobacco.
I say this because environments, tools, and tobacco vary.
Is just my take on it ~ an opinion.....

 

[AmaxB]

That will work nice as long as there is good air movement across the wet bulb thermometer.

Is hanging below my exhaust vent while the digital sensors are near the wall, I don't think tons of air movement are needed just a little because opening my door showed near immediate change on the wet bulb.

 

[workhorse_01]

I'll take a pic of what I have to use to get a true reading for my job. I'll show ya both old and new. but air movement has always been a controlling factor when taking true wet bulb measurements.

Is hanging below my exhaust vent while the digital sensors are near the wall, I don't think tons of air movement are needed just a little because opening my door showed near immediate change on the wet bulb.

 

[johnlee1933]

That will work nice as long as there is good air movement across the wet bulb thermometer.

YES! That is required.