Heartfelt beads not working for me

[Mark C]

That does sound a bit puzzling. Easy answers are to blame the house humidity, leaky humidor, poorly seasoned humidor, etc.

I don't think any of those are the case since you saw a higher reading with the other humidity source than with the beads.

However I'm thinking your hygrometer may be out of whack. 62-65% sounds a little low for your old humidity source. The 'just as add water' humidifiers are supposed to be closer to 70%. If you're hygrometer is running ~6 pts low, everything starts to make sense.

On the other hand, it may be that your humidor does in fact leak, but the 'old' humidifier did a better job keeping up with the leaks (i.e. faster response).

Try taping your humidor shut for a few days and see if anything changes.

[TOB9595]

Beads have a learning curve.
As MONTECRISTO#2 said...

If your beads are 100% clear, you might want to dry some out. Also, depending on what your old humidifier was using, it might not be a good idea to have it in there with the beads.

I have found my beads to perform to my liking when there is ~ 50/50 dry and wet beads.

I would remove the beads and get the humi stable for a few days...Then the humi is rock solid and proven to hold well.

During the time I am proving the humi I will be having the beads in a small enclosed container. AFTER I have wet them to my satisfaction.

I dip the beads in distilled water...some say this may crack the beads..I've not had this happen to me.

When humi is stable..Put the beads in..
Beads will add or remove water from air and work well.

Remove the other type of humidity adder if desired. A floral puck? Dish of water?

Let the beads work for a few days without ME TOUCHING!!!

Tom

[ucla695]

There are some great suggestions here. I suggest investing in a digital hygrometer. They are relatively inexpensive and tend to be more precise than their analog counterparts.