Is my new humidor borked?

[PJD]

About a month ago I posted to these forums regarding humidity regulation problems, and it had looked like I was a little too overzealous in the seasoning process. I tossed the florists' foam for 70% beads and for a while, it looked like my RH issues had been solved. Evidently not...

I noticed that every day, my RH was slowly dropping. When it got to 65% (I have 70% beads), I squeezed some more distilled water into the bead case and about 2/3 of the beads turned clear. A few hours later, I pulled out the humidor and observed that a good number of the beads were clear but that there were also still some opaque white ones, too. Looked good.

Fast forward two days, and when I went to fetch tonight's burnt offering (Cohiba Red-dot), lo and behold, the RH was all the way back up to 74%. No matter what I do, I can't get a consistent RH level, even with a case packed with 4 ounces Heartfelt 70% beads in a 50CT humidor, slightly over half-full. I'm wondering if, during that initial period, I may have permanently borked my nice new humi?

[zeavran1]

Bad sign. Hate to say it but it may be time to give up and get a new one.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by PJD

About a month ago I posted to these forums regarding humidity regulation problems, and it had looked like I was a little too overzealous in the seasoning process. I tossed the florists' foam for 70% beads and for a while, it looked like my RH issues had been solved. Evidently not...

I noticed that every day, my RH was slowly dropping. When it got to 65% (I have 70% beads), I squeezed some more distilled water into the bead case and about 2/3 of the beads turned clear. A few hours later, I pulled out the humidor and observed that a good number of the beads were clear but that there were also still some opaque white ones, too. Looked good.

Fast forward two days, and when I went to fetch tonight's burnt offering (Cohiba Red-dot), lo and behold, the RH was all the way back up to 74%. No matter what I do, I can't get a consistent RH level, even with a case packed with 4 ounces Heartfelt 70% beads in a 50CT humidor, slightly over half-full. I'm wondering if, during that initial period, I may have permanently borked my nice new humi?

Put a dollar under the lid and close the lid on top of it. Go around the humi top doing this and see if it pulls out with no resistance. If it does, odds are the seal is not tight enough in that spot. Maybe a small piece of weather stripping around it will help but if not, check CBID to see if you can grab a quality humi at a fair price.

[bdw1984]

1) salt test your hygrometer
2) check the seal on the humi
3) you can also try to re-season the humi just make sure you have a good place to store the cigars you have in there

[GoodFella]

there is a few things going on.

1. your gauge
2. you open the humi to much
3. new cigars.
4 its still trying to stabilize


are u sure your humi seals good. one thing that will help with your beads is to keep a shot glass of distilled water in your humi. your beads will suck up the water as they need it. if u put a lot of water on the beads they will ware out faster. they can crack from sucking up h2o to quick.

[PJD]

Originally Posted by bdw1984

1) salt test your hygrometer
2) check the seal on the humi
3) you can also try to re-season the humi just make sure you have a good place to store the cigars you have in there

Should have said, did a check on both hygrometers (digital and analog) about 2 weeks ago. The digital was almost dead-on-balls accurate (hovering between 74 and 75 for 36 hours) and the analog was 4 points low, and is constantly 4 points below the digital at all readings.

As for the seal on the humi, I'm not sure what I should be looking for with the dollar-bill test. There's a lip on the lid of the humidor. If I put a bill inside the humidor so that it rests over the lip, of course there's going to be resistane, and it's constant pretty-well all the way around. If I put the bill between the body of the humi and the lid outside the lip, it should just pull right out with almost no tension. What's the right way to do this? When I open and close the humidor there's resistance as the lip parts from or engages the body and it seems like air's coming out.

[Egis]

It will stabilize in a week or so, It took 2 weeks for my humi to stabilize few years back! and if it makes nice wooosh sound then you close it, seal should be good!

[PJD]

Originally Posted by GoodFella

there is a few things going on.

1. your gauge
2. you open the humi to much
3. new cigars.
4 its still trying to stabilize


are u sure your humi seals good. one thing that will help with your beads is to keep a shot glass of distilled water in your humi. your beads will suck up the water as they need it. if u put a lot of water on the beads they will ware out faster. they can crack from sucking up h2o to quick.

See previous comment re the gauge, but the second one may be possible - I check the digital gauge inside the humidor 3 or 4 times a day for maybe 10 seconds maximum each time. Most of the cigars were put in between 3 and 4 weeks ago and I have 23 more coming this week (when that happens, the 15 or so less-expensive ones are going into a tupperdor and will be consumed within 3 weeks. The ones coming in will sit there and rest over the winter, with only a couple to be smoked between now and the end of the outdoor season.

[PJD]

Originally Posted by Egis

It will stabilize in a week or so, It took 2 weeks for my humi to stabilize few years back! and if it makes nice wooosh sound then you close it, seal should be good!

Yes, it has a high "whoosh" quotient. Just looked at the beads, incidentally - even after charging ~75% of them with distilled water a few days ago, when I checked just now, they were virtually all clear. Guess there was still too much moisture in the box, even after all this time!

[scottw]

Originally Posted by PJD

Should have said, did a check on both hygrometers (digital and analog) about 2 weeks ago. The digital was almost dead-on-balls accurate (hovering between 74 and 75 for 36 hours) and the analog was 4 points low, and is constantly 4 points below the digital at all readings.

As for the seal on the humi, I'm not sure what I should be looking for with the dollar-bill test. There's a lip on the lid of the humidor. If I put a bill inside the humidor so that it rests over the lip, of course there's going to be resistane, and it's constant pretty-well all the way around. If I put the bill between the body of the humi and the lid outside the lip, it should just pull right out with almost no tension. What's the right way to do this? When I open and close the humidor there's resistance as the lip parts from or engages the body and it seems like air's coming out.

If it has the lip on it then you are right, there will be resistance. If it is less in some spots, I would say that it could be indicative of a leak. I don't know the best way to test it unless you can figure out a way to pressure test the humi and that is a job for Mr. Wizard, not me.

[GJProductions]

dang that sounds rough, i just bought a humidor and i hope mine doesnt do that

[Bigtotoro]

I would recommend not looking at or fussing with it for a week or so. Don't touch it and see if it stabilizes.

[PJD]

Originally Posted by Bigtotoro

I would recommend not looking at or fussing with it for a week or so. Don't touch it and see if it stabilizes.
Filmed in Anamorphic Duovision. Rated RRRaah.

Sounds like a plan for now, or at least until I get the new sticks hopefully this week.

The big question, is that anamorphic squeeze garden-variety 2.35:1 or real 'scope at 2.66!

[e-man]

Originally Posted by zeavran1

Bad sign. Hate to say it but it may be time to give up and get a new one.

If it's not moldy or warped, then there is not reason to get rid of this unit.

DON"T FREAK OUT!!!! You are probably just changing the rH of the small airspace in the humidor. Chances are, your sticks are not changing rH that fast. The air can change rH much faster than the mass of sticks can. Especially, if they are in cellophane.


FIRST - pull your cigars and put them in a gallon ziplock bag (or several). Put a CALIBRATED hygrometer in the bag. After a few hours, check the rH of the cigars.

If your cigars are low, then it doesn't matter if your humidor reads high. Your humidor just needs extra time to stabilize. Put everything back in and re-check in a few days.

If your sticks are indeed at 74%, then remove your beads, and place the sticks back in the humidor. Open the lid frequently to check on them and release excess moisture. When humidity starts to drop down to a good rH, place your beads back in.


It is easy to over saturate the beads. Even if you still see some white ones, others may be completely soaked. ..especially at the bottom. I always flip and shake my beads when I fill them to make sure the water is spread evenly.

Another big factor that people overlook is temperature. If your temp isn't stable, then your rH will be all over the board. Temp swings = rH swings.

[ssutton219]

Originally Posted by e-man

If it's not moldy or warped, then there is not reason to get rid of this unit.

DON"T FREAK OUT!!!! You are probably just changing the rH of the small airspace in the humidor. Chances are, your sticks are not changing rH that fast. The air can change rH much faster than the mass of sticks can. Especially, if they are in cellophane.


FIRST - pull your cigars and put them in a gallon ziplock bag (or several). Put a CALIBRATED hygrometer in the bag. After a few hours, check the rH of the cigars.

If your cigars are low, then it doesn't matter if your humidor reads high. Your humidor just needs extra time to stabilize. Put everything back in and re-check in a few days.

If your sticks are indeed at 74%, then remove your beads, and place the sticks back in the humidor. Open the lid frequently to check on them and release excess moisture. When humidity starts to drop down to a good rH, place your beads back in.


It is easy to over saturate the beads. Even if you still see some white ones, others may be completely soaked. ..especially at the bottom. I always flip and shake my beads when I fill them to make sure the water is spread evenly.

Another big factor that people overlook is temperature. If your temp isn't stable, then your rH will be all over the board. Temp swings = rH swings.

Sounds pretty like a good map for getting this worked out...its suppose to be a relaxing hobby..just slow down and relax..




Shawn