Heartfelt beads turning yellow and smelly - this normal?

[Rev2010]

Today I took out my Heartfelt tubes to refill them as I haven't needed to add water to them for like 2 months now. I noticed they are turning a yellowish hue and after adding water to them I can now smell them, which I never noticed before. They have a sweet chemical smell to them. Is this yellowing and smell normal? They are only about a year or so old. I'm more concerned about the smell obviously, wondering if this might permeate my humidor.


Rev.

[madurolover]

The yellowing is normal. I have never noticed a smell. The reason for the yellowing is the beads absorbing the oils being emmited from the tobacco.

[Herf N Turf]

Mine are doing the same thing, Rev. I think it's normal. Mine have taken on the yellow tinge of aged celo and the overall aroma of my humi. The cedar in my humi is rather on the pungent side for spanish and my beads have been in there for over a year. I wiped off and let one tube sit out over night and dry and interestingly, most of the yellow tinge gave way to snowy white again. I really don't think the beads are making their own odor. To me it just seems like an amalgamation of aromas found in my humi. I'm worry free.

[blueeyedbum]

Originally Posted by madurolover

The yellowing is normal. I have never noticed a smell. The reason for the yellowing is the beads absorbing the oils being emmited from the tobacco.

Good point I've started to notice some yellowing and was wondering about this.

[Cigary]

Are you using "fresh" distilled water? Some time back while I was refreshing my humidifiers ( paradigm and others ) and put them into a tupperware and let them soak. I then took that same water that the humidifiers sat in and then sprayed my beads with them,,,not wanting to waste the distilled water. I actually put the used water back into the jug to use it later when I needed to refresh them in another month. I do not do that anymore as I only use fresh distilled water everytime I recharge. I noticed when I re used the distilled water there was a slight discoloration of the water and slight acrid smell that would only get worse when re used again. I have learned my lesson,,,,use fresh distilled water only.

[Rev2010]

Originally Posted by Cigary

Are you using "fresh" distilled water?

Nope, not fresh... not reused but not fresh. Since the water comes in a gallon there's a ton left over. I guess I'll try "rinsing" them with some fresh distilled and letting them dry before refilling them and putting them back in.


Rev.

[Baccy]

I had a very similar experience except it was during the seasoning process that it occurred. FWIW, it has not affected the performance of the beads.

[ChokeOnSmoke]

"Sweet" smelling bead are rotten beads. I talked to "Heartfelt" about this about a year ago when a batch of mine turned a horrible "rotten-sweet" smell. They said that this doesn't happen too often but can if the beads "sit" in excess water too long. There is no cure for this. I tried everything. I eventually tossed them. Luckily, only a relatively small amount of beads were in this particular container. The ones in my homemade canvas-mesh containers are still fine after many years and all the beads were from the same original batch.

[Rev2010]

Well, I managed to get rid of nearly all of the odor. I rinsed the tubes a few times in distilled water. I filled a pint glass with distilled and dunked one in at a time and swished them around and dunked them up and down vigoursly, changed the water and repeated. Now the smell appears to be gone, or at least down to the level they are when they are new.

I'm not sure what Heartfelt means by excess water. The tubes are a pain to fill any other way then dunking them into a glass of water which pretty much fills them up completely. But these were dry for like two months. The beads do have the same smell when new but it's so mild you really don't notice it. This was really pungent. But, they're fine now so I guess I'll have to "rinse" them once in a while. And maybe I'll have to avoid completely soaking them, though I still don't understand why that matters much as they start shedding their moisture once in the humi.


Rev.

[ChokeOnSmoke]

Well, I managed to get rid of nearly all of the odor. I rinsed the tubes a few times in distilled water. I filled a pint glass with distilled and dunked one in at a time and swished them around and dunked them up and down vigoursly, changed the water and repeated. Now the smell appears to be gone, or at least down to the level they are when they are new.

Glad that rinsing worked for you. I initially tried that but maybe I didn't try hard/long enough?

I'm not sure what Heartfelt means by excess water.
Rev.

If I recall, they said not to let the beads hang out in "standing" water.

[jaq6plus]

I have never had this problem but for what it's worth I do change the beads every six months in an effort to ensure freshness and cleanliness.

[Rev2010]

Originally Posted by ChokeOnSmoke

If I recall, they said not to let the beads hang out in "standing" water.

Ah ok, I've definitely never done that. The most I do is saturate all the beads.


Rev.

[Herf N Turf]

Originally Posted by ChokeOnSmoke

"Sweet" smelling bead are rotten beads. I talked to "Heartfelt" about this about a year ago when a batch of mine turned a horrible "rotten-sweet" smell. They said that this doesn't happen too often but can if the beads "sit" in excess water too long. There is no cure for this. I tried everything. I eventually tossed them. Luckily, only a relatively small amount of beads were in this particular container. The ones in my homemade canvas-mesh containers are still fine after many years and all the beads were from the same original batch.

This has nothing to do with the composition of the beads. They are nothing but silica and salt. Neither can turn acrid unless contaminated by a purulent (bacterial) source. This has only to do with the water you're using to charge them. Avoid using cottons, or plastics. Cotton is a breeding ground for bacteria. Plastic has no repellant agents. If it's not sterile when you put your beads in it, dont use it. Nylon mesh, or a glass (petrie dish) is best. Nylon is basically plastic, so make sure it's clean. If youre using your wife's panty hose, be sure theyre as sterile as you can get them.

The worst thing you can do to beads is saturate them. They arent designed for that. In fact, if you dunk, or douse them, they will crack/split. They are designed to be either lightly misted, or better yet, passively (ambiently) charged with clean, DW. Any other method can ruin them. DW, sitting around for a while, shouldnt be a problem. White plastic jugs are in no way perfect storage media, but a reasonable shelf-life is expected. Just dont get greedy about recycling $1/gal water and you shouldnt have an issue.

[ChokeOnSmoke]

Originally Posted by Herf N Turf

This has only to do with the water you're using to charge them.

Just dont get greedy about recycling $1/gal water and you shouldnt have an issue.

I'm my case, there's no way it was the water source itself. It was the container. I have a handful of different bead storage devices and recharge them all at the same time. Only the beads in this particular container turned bad. I imagine it was a contaminant already in this container. Specifically, it was a small old "puck-like" humidifier that once contained the green foam. Perhaps I didn't clean it out well enough.

[dinoa2]

side track question__ I am using a tube of dried beads (totally white) to try to get some excess moisture out of a container to get it down to 65 like the beads.

how long should it take to go from 70 to 65? just letting the tube sit there to absorb??