Humidifier element oversaturated?

[PJD]

Hi all,
Brand new to both this forum and good cigars. I just bought a nice CigarStar 60ct humidor and I think I may have over-humidified the foam insert when charged it (I soaked it for about 10 seconds in distilled water and shook the excess off). My cigars have been very hard to keep lit and I was told they were too moist.

I calibrated both my digital and analogue hygrometers with a 1-step calibration pack and sure enough, within a few hours of putting the humidifier element into the humidor, the RH shoots up to well over 75%, pushing 79 at first. I've even let the element sit out in my cool/dry air conditioned office for several days and it's still doing this.

Have I somehow damaged or wrecked the element, and if not, how can I get it to absorb the excess humidity? I'm shooting for 68-70%. Is is possible to dry out the foam material and start again from scratch? If yes, how much distilled water should I be using? Obviously, "saturated" is the wrong answer!

The humidor is now about 80% full, including some very special ones I got on vacation last week whilst up in Montreal, and I need to make sure they don't get ruined by either the excess humidity or by the rapid changes to the RH that I'm experiencing.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated, and thanks in advance.

[ToJo]

I think you may be better off ditching the foam and buying some heartfelt beads or similar tech.

[Cigary]

I agree with beads,,,no maintenance solution with the added bonus of no worries. Take a blow dryer to the foam if you think it's too saturated with distilled water.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by PJD

Hi all,
Brand new to both this forum and good cigars. I just bought a nice CigarStar 60ct humidor and I think I may have over-humidified the foam insert when charged it (I soaked it for about 10 seconds in distilled water and shook the excess off). My cigars have been very hard to keep lit and I was told they were too moist.

I calibrated both my digital and analogue hygrometers with a 1-step calibration pack and sure enough, within a few hours of putting the humidifier element into the humidor, the RH shoots up to well over 75%, pushing 79 at first. I've even let the element sit out in my cool/dry air conditioned office for several days and it's still doing this.

Have I somehow damaged or wrecked the element, and if not, how can I get it to absorb the excess humidity? I'm shooting for 68-70%. Is is possible to dry out the foam material and start again from scratch? If yes, how much distilled water should I be using? Obviously, "saturated" is the wrong answer!

The humidor is now about 80% full, including some very special ones I got on vacation last week whilst up in Montreal, and I need to make sure they don't get ruined by either the excess humidity or by the rapid changes to the RH that I'm experiencing.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated, and thanks in advance.

1: Post an intro in the new members area, let people know who you are.
2: Try leaving the lid open on your humi for a day or so to see if it lowers the RH.
3: WELCOME FROM A FELLOW NEW JERSEYAN!! NICE TO SEE YOU HERE!

[Sigarz]

yep beads are the best way to go but also what is the temperature at which you conducting all of this calibrations and seasoning? case in point... I recently re-calibrated my hygros I put them all in a ziplock back with 2 69% humidipaks left them for 3 days then checked. now when the temperature was 77F or so the hygros read a little low like 67-68% when they were at 70F they read 69 - 70% and when they were at 65 they were reading 75%. this is because at various temperatures the air can hold varying amounts of moisture, changing the relative humidity.

oh and welcome!

[PJD]

Originally Posted by Cigary

I agree with beads,,,no maintenance solution with the added bonus of no worries. Take a blow dryer to the foam if you think it's too saturated with distilled water.

Interesting. How could I go about converting my humidor's plastic humidifier to accept beads, how many should I use and probably a few more questions I haven't even thought of yet. My head's still trying to absorb all this new info!

Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll try to dry out the foam (it feels very damp, still, even after 3 days in a cool-ish room with about 45% humidity first in any event. My analog gauge is still in the test bag until tomorrow and the humidor is wrapped in plastic cling film to keep it from drying out while the meter's out of the lid, therefore I'm not going to mess with it much tonight. Just trying to figure out a plan of action <grin>.

[PJD]

Originally Posted by Sigarz

yep beads are the best way to go but also what is the temperature at which you conducting all of this calibrations and seasoning? case in point... I recently re-calibrated my hygros I put them all in a ziplock back with 2 69% humidipaks left them for 3 days then checked. now when the temperature was 77F or so the hygros read a little low like 67-68% when they were at 70F they read 69 - 70% and when they were at 65 they were reading 75%. this is because at various temperatures the air can hold varying amounts of moisture, changing the relative humidity.

oh and welcome!

Thanks for the welcome! I'm an ex-pat Canadian living down here now (hence the Leafs logo - what no Habs

As to temps, the humidor stays in my home-office which has central air installed and kept usually between 70 and 77 or so during the summer and a little cooler in the winter but not horribly so (maybe 67-70).

I don't understand why RH should change with temperature, though. Yes, warmer air holds more water vapor than cooler air, however the "R" in RH is relative, meaning that (to my mind) regardless of the temperature, the air is ideally 70% saturated. In other words, there's more actual moisture in air that's 75*/70% than there would be at, say 65*/70%, but the key for cigar-storage purposes, as I understand it, is that the actual percentage is more important. Am I missing something?

In any event, as soon as I can figure out the whole bead thing, I think that's how I'll go. My humidor is a conventional desktop model, no glass but the analog hygrometer is fitted to a hole in the top lid. There are wooden brackets specifically made to hold the supplied foam humidifier on the underside of the lid, so I'm not too sure how to convert this to beads.

Thanks again!

[Cigary]

Originally Posted by PJD

Interesting. How could I go about converting my humidor's plastic humidifier to accept beads, how many should I use and probably a few more questions I haven't even thought of yet. My head's still trying to absorb all this new info!

Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll try to dry out the foam (it feels very damp, still, even after 3 days in a cool-ish room with about 45% humidity first in any event. My analog gauge is still in the test bag until tomorrow and the humidor is wrapped in plastic cling film to keep it from drying out while the meter's out of the lid, therefore I'm not going to mess with it much tonight. Just trying to figure out a plan of action <grin>.

You dont need to put beads into the plastic humidity device. You can put them in a nylon bag or buy one of them and put your beads into the bag,,,mist them with a spray until they are about 80% wet and put them in your humi. Depending on how many cigars you have there is a safe ratio of beads that will take care of your cigars. Im sure that buying a half pound of beads will take care of you now and for what you will be buying in the future. If you will take your blow dryer and use a low to medium speed or heat that will help dry out your sponge.

[tmanqz]

Originally Posted by PJD

Hi all,
Brand new to both this forum and good cigars. I just bought a nice CigarStar 60ct humidor and I think I may have over-humidified the foam insert when charged it (I soaked it for about 10 seconds in distilled water and shook the excess off). My cigars have been very hard to keep lit and I was told they were too moist.

I calibrated both my digital and analogue hygrometers with a 1-step calibration pack and sure enough, within a few hours of putting the humidifier element into the humidor, the RH shoots up to well over 75%, pushing 79 at first. I've even let the element sit out in my cool/dry air conditioned office for several days and it's still doing this.

Have I somehow damaged or wrecked the element, and if not, how can I get it to absorb the excess humidity? I'm shooting for 68-70%. Is is possible to dry out the foam material and start again from scratch? If yes, how much distilled water should I be using? Obviously, "saturated" is the wrong answer!

The humidor is now about 80% full, including some very special ones I got on vacation last week whilst up in Montreal, and I need to make sure they don't get ruined by either the excess humidity or by the rapid changes to the RH that I'm experiencing.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated, and thanks in advance.

You state NEW 60ct humidor,correct.
Have you seasoned it yet?

The humidifying device is not the problem, I soak mine all the time they work fine.
If your humidor is new and not seasoned it will take time for your rh level
to settle around 70%. Patiance.
In the mean time leave your humidor open for a few hours to dry out a little.
Put your cigars in a air tight container, put your humidfying device in the humidor, close the lid and leave it shut for a few days.
Then re-check. I 've heard it take as long as month in some cases for a humidor to get seasoned properly.
If your rh doesnt come down and because you already have cigars and no place to put them, beads might be your best choice, however, putting them in a humidor that isnt season may not help.
Maybe a air tight container until your humidor stabalizes is the best thing to do.
Also analog hygrometers are not reliable, have had nothing but bad experiances, get a good digital the small investement is worth every penny.

[PJD]

Originally Posted by tmanqz

You state NEW 60ct humidor,correct.
Have you seasoned it yet?

The humidifying device is not the problem, I soak mine all the time they work fine.
If your humidor is new and not seasoned it will take time for your rh level
to settle around 70%. Patiance.
In the mean time leave your humidor open for a few hours to dry out a little.

It's actually about 3 weeks old now. When I got it I followed the procedures that everyone seems to state: wipe down with distilled water, leave a small container of distilled in the humidor overnight or maybe 2 days (I did two days), then saturate the foam humidifier, install it and let it sit for a couple of days. If the humidity level is constant you're good to go.

Well, I did that but was relying on the analog only, which was reading about 73% or so constantly, so I figured "great" and put in the cigars. Well, not so great, because from what I'm seeing now, the analog is about 4-1/2 points low. I bought a good digital (Caliber III) and checked its calibration, which was almost right on (fluctuating every hour between 74 and 75% in the test bag).

The way I understand it, the foam is supposed to dispense moisture when the RH is below about 70% and absorb moisture when it's too high...but since I saturated the foam, it can't absorb the extra moisture in the air.

What has been working the past couple of weeks has been to put in the humidifier for an overnight. The RH shoots up into the high-70s, but then I pull it out and let it slowly drop to about 65% over the next few days, then repeat the process. Hopefully either by getting beads in place or drying out the foam I'll be able to leave things be for a few weeks and let my cigars stay nice and fresh without my constant attention.

[tmanqz]

Not sure thats the way it works(foam).
The foam I believe provides a constant source of moisture, while your spanish cedar works as a regulator so to speak.
Once the wood has been seasoned it regulates a constant rh around 70%.
I believe the beads work as a regulator, but foam Im not sure about. Maybe beads might be the answer to your issue.

[nwsalmon]

From what I've been told all of the systems that are used (beads or electronic) will humidify, not de-humidify.

I had the same issue with my electronic Cigar Oasis and that's exactly what the folks at Cigar Oasis told me.

Solution? I'm not sure. I just kept setting my Oasis lower and eventually it settled at 70% RH.

[Herf N Turf]

Originally Posted by PJD

It's actually about 3 weeks old now. When I got it I followed the procedures that everyone seems to state: wipe down with distilled water, leave a small container of distilled in the humidor overnight or maybe 2 days (I did two days), then saturate the foam humidifier, install it and let it sit for a couple of days. If the humidity level is constant you're good to go.

Ahaaaaa! Now the case is cracked! You over saturated the entire humidor. Read this. You should never wipe down a new humidor. All you do is introduce too much moisture too quickly and risk warping the wood and ruining your seal forever. All seasoning should be done passively.

You oversaturated your wood and then intruduced a saturated humidifier in on top of that. It's no wonder your RH is sky high and that's where it's gonna stay until you remove some of that moisture. Personally, I would buy a half pound of HF 65% beads and stick them all in there for a few days. There's enough moisture in that box to charge the beads and assumining a good seal, you probably wont have to recharge them for a couple months.

Now, to the cigars. Your cigars are also overly moist. A day or two of drying, or putting them in another container wont do squat. You need to -slowly- reduce them back to 65%. This will take at least three weeks. Personally, I would let them sit a month or more.

Good luck and sorry for your difficulty.

[PJD]

Hi guys,
An update. I contacted the good folks at Heartfield and based on what I described, they recommended 4 ounces of 70% beads. They arrived 4 days later. I squirted distilled in the case and about 2/3 of the beads turned clear. In just a couple of days the RH is holding steady at 70% give or take a point and the 'gars and I are both as happy as can be.

Incidentally, when I fist put distilled water in the squirt bottle and moistened the clear front to the case the water just seemed to collect and not go through to the actual beads. I carefully cracked open the case along one long seem and squirted a little water inside, but now I can't seem to get the case properly sealed up again. Is there a trick to this somehow?

Also, everything I've read says that 70% is ideal yet many here are claiming 65%. Not sure what to believe.

[apevia]

Originally Posted by PJD

Hi guys,
An update. I contacted the good folks at Heartfield and based on what I described, they recommended 4 ounces of 70% beads. They arrived 4 days later. I squirted distilled in the case and about 2/3 of the beads turned clear. In just a couple of days the RH is holding steady at 70% give or take a point and the 'gars and I are both as happy as can be.

Incidentally, when I fist put distilled water in the squirt bottle and moistened the clear front to the case the water just seemed to collect and not go through to the actual beads. I carefully cracked open the case along one long seem and squirted a little water inside, but now I can't seem to get the case properly sealed up again. Is there a trick to this somehow?

Also, everything I've read says that 70% is ideal yet many here are claiming 65%. Not sure what to believe.

Glad to hear everything is going well. 65% or 70% is just personal preference. I keep mine at 70% but have heard of many keeping theirs at 65%. Do you have a picture that shows your problem? That would help. Otherwise you can always email heartfelt and see what suggestions they have to offer.