Humidor check, bead tube on order- check, preparation for....

[BADS197]

I got my humi today in the mail at work. I ordered some beads for it this morning but want to get a jump start on preparing it.

I picked up a Cigar Humidifier by Madelaine INC. and a bottle of fluid for it from the local shop.

When I get home, I assume I can stick the liquid in the humidifier device and drop it in the box till I get my cigars and then drop em in..

I should get my first box that I ordered tomorrow or friday.. is that a sufficient way to get it started till my beads come in..

empty.. it should be able to humidify enough.

The disc/beads are 70% that i picked up today. The ones I ordered are 65%.

thanks
jake

[piperman]

Just stick a shot glass with distilled water in and close the top and wait and wait it will be ready in about four days. dont stick in your cigars until you reach the RH you are looking for.

[Gone Dave]

[gary106334]

Rather than a shot glass use as large a container as you can to put in the bottom of the humidor. The more surface area exposed to the air the faster it will evaporate and the faster your humidor will absorb the moisture.

[BADS197]

I stuck the two devices that come with it, inside and filled them with the solution, then dropped in the one I bought (that was prefilled) last night.

I checked this morning and the relative humidity was aound 70 this morning so I'll check it when I get home this afternoon and if it's good to go then I'll stock it up. This was according to the analog gauge.

The only thing that bothers me is the temps in my apartment. The room was in the 80's when I got home. I currently store my stogies in a sealed jar with no humidification device and they seem to be fine so I'm hoping that even with the heat, that they will be ok. The humi should be cooler inside but I wont know till the temp/humi gauge gets here next week.

[mrreindeer]

Hey there Jake - I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but you know where I stand on that analog hygro. I wouldn't trust the readout. I've got two myself and they're always like 20% off at a minimum. I even salt tested them to check and they were never right. That's why I moved to a digital. Hey, I had to deal with the analogs for the first few months I had the humidor so don't worry too much about it. Just have the digital hygro on you shopping/wish list.

The way I 'seasoned' my first & 2nd humidor, I soaked a clean, new sponge with distilled WATER instead of the shot glass approach, wiped down the interior & let it sit for a day or two. I've heard the shot glass approach is fine too. I just felt like I wanted the water to get into the wood and I thought the sponge was a better way. You can even leave the sponge in the humidor overnight the first night - but make sure you put it on a piece of plastic wrap or a ziploc bag to separate it from the wood.

From what I recall of your humidor, you've got drawers and a main compartment. I'm sure the drawers have ventilation strips to allow air from the main compartment to enter but the sponge might be the best way to get proper humidity into those drawers right off the bat versus a shot glass with distilled water.

If the cigars in the jar haven't been humidified, I wouldn't worry about them too much. They can wait another two days or so. Or you can put the humidifier you just bought in the jar if it fits. Otherwise, yeah you could just throw the 70% stuff & the humidifier in as your seasoning, it's really up to you. You may as well wait to add the humidifier & 70% solution until after seasoning with distilled water & when you throw the cigars in.

[BADS197]

I have a digital and beads on the way.

Last night I just tossed the stuff in to give it a head start on "seasoning" and then when my cigars come in I'll toss em in along with the beads.

I suspect all will be here around the same time which is tomorrow.

This gives the humi another full day to soak up the stuff from the 3 humidier devices that I stuck in last night.

I hope that works kinda the same way.