noticed a very small vibration in my unit when motor is running,not anything major,but how is this affecting my wine?D'ont have a great collection,but I have many bottles that I would like to hold on to for 3- 5 years.Any suggestions ? THANKS

I think it is having very little affect on your wine now, but you should look into servicing it or replacing it in the future, as the problem may worsen over time.

You should mention the make and model. Perhaps others can share a similar experience and give you more specific advice to your unit if they have the same one.

thanks Hunter,its a magic chef/ model no. mcwc50dbt. Home Depot special,just recently bought so I'm planning on taking it back and getting a new one.Was just wondering how this problem would affect wine.

Well depending on how great the vibration is, it can very well spoil your wines. The vibration actually quickens the aging process and if only it has been so for a short time your wines might taste closed and flat as if you've taken it on a bumpy ride in a 4wheeler.

I believe they call it as "the wine is in shock!"

Bumping. And apologies in advance, so don't jump on me for the topic, if tired.

Those disclaimers in place, how great a vibration is of concern? I just picked up a 120 bottle unit and whenever the compressor flips on there is an audible knocking, but if I put my hand on the unit I can just barely feel a vibration, and I do not see any ripples or evidence in the wines themselves. Am I ridiculous to be concerned?

Yes, I think it's overblown. Unless the bottles are vibrating constantly and over a long period of time, I don't think anyone can really notice any negative impact on a wine. But I have a passive cellar, so what do I know.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleD:
Yes, I think it's overblown. Unless the bottles are vibrating constantly and over a long period of time, I don't think anyone can really notice any negative impact on a wine. But I have a passive cellar, so what do I know.

Exactly my thought.

That being said, I've had a bad experience with one of my compressors that started producing vibrations: one of the fans soon after stopped working and I was lucky enough to notice the high temperature in the cellar before there was too much damage... always be cautious of unusual noise or vibrations coming from your unit.

I have one of those magic chef home depot specials myself that did the exact same thing.

I pulled the compressor cover off and saw that that the problem was the compressor bumping against a metal support.

Threw a couple of rubber washers in between the compressor and the support and took care of the problem.

2 years later and still no problems.

-Tom