small chocolate climate control display for Fair events?

Hi everyone-

I hope someone can point me in the right direction here. We have a few opportunities to sell at local Craft markets and fairs. We need a small table top/display case. Portable is the key. 120V AC None of the big dealers know what I'm asking for. I know I have seen them before- does anyone know where we could get something like this?

Thanks-

Roy

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on March 17, 2012 at 6:30pm

Haha thanks Clay took the words right out of my... fingers?

As far as costs the cabinet, LED lighting, power supply and trays, custom made here in Guatemala, came out to ~$800. The cooler I got for like $39 on a liquidation sale online.

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Permalink Reply by Roy Greenhalgh on March 17, 2012 at 8:16pm

Wow Cheebs! That is Sweet! um...no pun intended here... I'll take a look and see if we can MacGyver something. Being able to customize is an advantage...

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Roy Greenhalgh on March 18, 2012 at 7:07am

Love the trays too! What company did you use for them- or was that part of your package?

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on March 19, 2012 at 6:50pm

Roy, the trays are also custom-made. Any decent plexiglas shop should be able to duplicate those no problem. I also found these online, but boy are they pricey!

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Permalink Reply by antonino allegra on March 18, 2012 at 12:57pm

Thanks a lot for the info ,Clay!

i'm already doing a design and i have pulled out my swiss knife to build one!!!

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Permalink Reply by Roy Greenhalgh on March 19, 2012 at 10:10pm

Yeah...I just got a quote for the thermoelectric cooler unit from the link... Ouch. AAC-120-4XT thermoelectric air conditioner is $850.00 They flat out say it won't work...they swear up and down a refrigerant based solution is required. I'm starting to hash out just what they suggest to use. I'll post what they say when I get it.

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on March 20, 2012 at 1:18am

Oh don't bother with EIC their products are way too expensive. And, they're wrong, the TE AC does work, I actually have a 1000 btu unit in a larger display case (4 tier, 4 foot wide) but that one was $1700 -- ouch! Still cheaper than the $4k plus display cases available.

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Permalink Reply by Roy Greenhalgh on March 20, 2012 at 7:19am

True. Funny how there are so many HEATING small display cases but none of what we need out there. Did you get the TE AC unit from a company or from ebay searches? Any advice on what to search on or where to go?

Thanks again for all the advice so far :)

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Permalink Reply by Clay Gordon on March 20, 2012 at 4:37pm

Roy -

Cheebs talks about cannibalizing a used portable thermoelectric cooler he found.

Here's a new one on Amazon that could be sacrificed.

Brands to look for include Coleman, Engel, Koolatron - you can probably cannibalize any of those for the cooling electronics needed. Not all units are thermoelectric, however, and I can't vouch for any specific model or manufacturer. Just that there are ways to get the TE electronics pretty inexpensively.

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Permalink Reply by cheebs on March 20, 2012 at 8:05pm

I've been toying with the idea of cannibalizing a small wine cooler for the TE guts. Something like a Vinotemp or Cuisinart in the 20-30 bottle range. Why? Because of the thermostatic control. Most come with a very nice digital temperature controller with a probe. I've often seen damaged units on sale cheap at the local warehouse store.

From personal experience I know the Cuisinart can hold 50F even when filled with bottles -- or chocolate LOL, as that was my very first chocolate cooler.

This would make the display's temperature adjustable. In my case the TE cooler just runs full-tilt all the time and sometimes can get a little too cold, especially if the display is left filled overnight with the lights turned off.

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Permalink Reply by Clay Gordon on March 20, 2012 at 8:10pm

Carlos -

Did you see these? Twine. it wouldn't take much to use the built-in temperature sensor to build an on-off switch to keep the temp regulated within very narrow limits, especially when the units are DC powered.

:: Clay

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Permalink Reply by Roy Greenhalgh on March 20, 2012 at 9:31pm

LOL Well at least I know I'm thinking in the right line here- I just spent a few days looking into various Coleman and Koolatron coolers and a few cheap wine coolers. Even took a trip today to the local Restaurant Supply shop to check their "Room of broken Dreams" (Used items from Failed Restaurants and shops)

I was toying with the idea of just buying a Koolatron just to see what I have to work with but for about $20USD more I could get one of the wine coolers Cheebs mentioned. I have a lighting contact that can give a nice discount on some LED lighting and light diffusers. So it's just a waiting game for the paycheck to hit before I start. Oh and I need a local Plexi worker. Ugh. I should write this down.

I wish someone would make a Youtube Vid on this. :)