Problem with mini cellars

[Glass_A_Day]

Alright all, question about my mini cellars. I have a passive cellar that maintains 50-55 4-5 months out of the year in which I keep all my daily 8-20 dollar bottles. Generally about 10 cases or so. Recently a light bulb lit above my head and I thought, why not move my two mini cellars that I store the big buck wines into the passive cellar. There is plenty of room, my wine is all together, and best of all the mini's won't have to run for 4-5 months cutting down on electricity. Well tonight, about two weeks after the move I go into one mini for a good bottle. Here is the issue. Covering the inside of the door there is moisture. A lot of moisture. Same on cooler two. Now on to the solution. ANy ideas? I was thinking of trying unplugging both and just leaving the doors open. Temp is perfect. I don't feel comfortable with that kind of mositure building up. COudl lead to moldy corks. Any thoughts woudl be great.

[Kcwhippet]

Sounds like good humidity to me. I've had lots of bottles over the years with moldy, gross, coyote ugly corks from humidity. I can count the number of bad wines from that apparent condition on my thumbs. Were it me, I wouldn't sweat it.

[winoweenie]

KC is rite on. If mouldy corks were a problem you'd never drink and old Bordeaux. WW

[Innkeeper]

Would prefer moldy corks to the dust that collects on my ten year old passivly maintained bottles.

[Glass_A_Day]

Thanks guys. Just got nervous with the wet door and the moldy smell in cooler one. Will forget the worries. Still curious why this only started when putting the mini's in the passive. Maybe because it was colder outside than inside like windows on a home on a cold morning.<p>[This message has been edited by Glass_A_Day (edited 01-27-2006).]

[Kcwhippet]

Could be, GAD. Actually, the biggest problem you may encounter with high humidity and mold over the long term is the labels get all yucky.

[hotwine]

Get a Radio Shack gizmo so you can measure the environment..... model 63-1013 temp/humidity gauge, maybe $20-25, battery-powered, the size of a squashed pack of cigs. <P>In my experience, RH of 90% produces a snowfall of unstuck labels. If your cellar has an RH less than that, your only problem will be mold IMO.

[dananne]

Agree with the above with only one small thing -- one thing to watch for will be the seal aound the door of the units. They can become warped when condensation is an issue and then not seal correctly. If this happens, you can use a hairdryer to heat up the rubber seal and then begin pulling it outward until it returns to shape so that it will seal correctly. In the enrironment, you're not going to ruin the wine, but the units may run more often if the doors aren't sealing correctly.