Just got my beads, how wet to start?

[rizzle]

How wet should they be to start out? Do I just spray them through the mesh bags?

Thanks

[bobarian]

I spray mine through the bag. About 60% should be good in Florida, then you have more dry to soak up Rh.

[rizzle]

So you're saying about 60% of the beads should be clear, correct? Heartfelt's instructions ain't the best in the world.

[SouthsideCigar]

Yes, 60% - 70% of the bead should be clear depending on where you are on how the external humitidy is.

Dave

[Wolfgang8810]

Im in florida too and bobarian is right. I spray mine about 50-60% and it keeps all four of my humidors at 69% RH. In satasota when i open my humidor the humidity goes up. the normal room RH is about 72%

[rizzle]

Cool. Thanks guys.

[joecipi]

I also have the beads and they seem to do a good job. I've been using them for about 8 months.
I do have one question:

Inside the bead tube I do notice a couple of discolored(very dark) beads. I hope this is not mold. Humidor is always 65-70% humidity. I have electric forced air heat so it is hard to keep anything humid in my house. None of my cigars have any mold on them that I can see. I hope this was just caused by some imperfect walmart distilled water and not mold.
Any ideas?

[bobarian]

The beads will discolor over time as they absorb oils from the cedar and smokes. But this does not impede their functionality, according to Dave at Heartfelt.

[Gryphs62]

I am not sure if Heartfelt beads are different, but my understanding is you should never directly spray beads. Soak a sponge and place in a dish near the beads. The beads will draw the water out of the sponge.

If water hits the beads a lot of heat is produced which may burn them or possibly wreck them.

This is what I have read and have been doing and it seems to be working great.

[CoopnGA]

Originally Posted by Gryphs62

I am not sure if Heartfelt beads are different, but my understanding is you should never directly spray beads. Soak a sponge and place in a dish near the beads. The beads will draw the water out of the sponge.

If water hits the beads a lot of heat is produced which may burn them or possibly wreck them.

This is what I have read and have been doing and it seems to be working great.

I've been spraying my HeartFelt beads directly with a small spray bottle now for three months. I know this isn't a very long time, but I havn't noticed any cracking or breaking of the beads. I've been wanting to try the sponge method....How long do you leave the sponge in the humi with your beads?

For middle GA area, I find that 75% clear works good for me. I usually recharge about once a month.

[Gryphs62]

I do not have heartfelt, but I recevied my beads about 2 weeks ago. I left the sponge in for 24hrs...small sponge...and have not had to do anything else...I have 5, 2.5 oz. bags in a 48qt. cooler.

[sjnovakovich]

I have a kitchen scale so I weighed out 11.25 ounces of the beads (that's about 70%). I spread them out in a single layer and sprayed them with distilled water, mixed them with the dry beads and put them into a mesh bag. It has worke out perfectly. My cab has been as a solid 70% for 10 days.