Re-Upped my Cigar Oasis (picture intensive)

[s15driftking]

Well, thanks to Hazman i am now using active hydration.
Then, thanks to SeanGAR i am now cooking with gas. He let me know about some hydration crystals that i could find at a local craft store.
Here's the Idea:
People claim that unwanted fungle infections can occur to the original cigar oasis' foam core. So i figured that i needed to switch to something that had less of a risk of mold, and would work equally as well.
The best part is... I NEVER have to buy another oasis cartridge. I will simply buy 2 bucks worth of hydro crystals and put them in this now emptied cartridge.
[SIZE="5"]This is the last cartridge you'll ever have to buy!![/SIZE]

Anyhow, i wanted to take you through the process that i blindly kinda "made up".

We start off with the two packages.
The "Cracked ice" was 5.99 and it makes 2.5 gallons. The Water jewels were 99 cents and are for 1 gallon... so i bet the 99 cents jobber will last 1-2 years. BOOM.


OK, now, how we started off. I took Seans advice and broke up all the material in the old cartridge.. and ran water through it to expell the broken chunks. 25 minutes later, worked like a charm.




Here are the two poking/crushing utensils..



And here is a piece of the floral foam. i didnt see any mold. But, i wanted to make sure that it never happens!


Here are the water jewels. they are perfectly round, not chipped or rugged.




And, i used a microwaved spray bottle of water to wet them. I started off misting them, but just ended up soaking them, they ate the water up nicely. I think it took about 2 hours to get them to "juicy".



Here we have the 5.99 cracked ice, i decided to use this set in the end for my oasis. Note - i used 1/2 a tablespoon of beads in each case. they all ended up puffing up to about 20x the original size.

i started out with a sauce cup... but that was dumb, it outgrew the cup within 20 mins.

[s15driftking]

Here they are.. side bu side, about 10 mins into thw whole thing... about 2-3 times their original size.



a little further in....



approaching 40 mins... note, they are only about 5-6 times the original size.. but you will see that they RAMP UP considerably in 16 minutes.




1.5 hours in.... fully sized... they didnt grow any further in the next hour....




5.99 ice





Jewels






Side by side...



The Jewel... before.. .and after.

[s15driftking]

2.5 hours... Ready to go in the oasis. I put them in via a funnel i made from the handle of a gallon bottle.





All Done...




I'm bagging these up.




So yeah, i'm overall happy... i hope i did it correctly. ITs nice to know that it's only going to cost me a couple bucks a year to keep it up.

A word of caution... make sure to clean the cartridge thoroughly, make sure to clean it with hot soapy water.

Give the crystals (whichever ones you use) a couple of hours to fully puff out. you dont want to over fill the cartridge. Also, i know this...The round ones reqire a half tablespoon MAX! The cracked ice could use a "dash" more..

[zitro_joe]

I was just wondering what to do with the two I just recieved. One is the one you have and the the other is the XL. I might have to stop over a Hobby Lobby tomorrow.

[s15driftking]

booyah, good pickups joe!!

[chippewastud79]

Hope that works well in your cabinet

Originally Posted by s15driftking

booyah, good pickups joe!!

Booyah? Might want to find a new catch phrase

[s15driftking]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Hope that works well in your cabinet

my desktop?

[chippewastud79]

Originally Posted by s15driftking

my desktop?

Thats going to be overkill in something as small as a desktop, should have just got some RH Beads and called it a day

[tzaddi]

You certainly don't lack any enthusiasm and from the looks of it you had a great time doing the "re-up" and documenting it, I think that is the most important part. Some say, idle hands are the devil's workshop and you my boy are a little bit closer to heaven.

[zitro_joe]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Thats going to be overkill in something as small as a desktop, should have just got some RH Beads and called it a day

Really one is going in my desktop and the other in one of the vinos. Why do you think it is over kill, one is able to regulate rh% on the COs,right?

[s15driftking]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Thats going to be overkill in something as small as a desktop, should have just got some RH Beads and called it a day

I started off with Heartfelt beads... no dice, 61-62% max.... had to go active!

[chippewastud79]

Originally Posted by s15driftking

I started off with Heartfelt beads... no dice, 61-62% max.... had to go active!

Have you checked your seal?

[s15driftking]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Have you checked your seal?

2nd to last post

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthr...=202259&page=2

[chippewastud79]

In your thread you said they were holding at 62-63%. What was wrong with that? Sounds like you are getting a little too paranoid, but they are your smokes, you will figure out that less is more sooner or later

[GrtndpwrflOZ]

HUH