My Digital Hygrometer and Me

[fl0at]

I recently upgraded my desktop with a Humidi-Puck and a digital hygrometer courtasy of Mark at cigarmony.com.

I decided to do a calibration check of my digital hygrometer and used the tried and true salt method, leaving it alone for 12+ hours. The hygrometer immediately registered 75 RH but over time it upped to 79 RH. No big deal.

However, when I put it in my humi with the 70 RH Humidi-Puck, it registered at exactly 70 RH, where it has stayed for the last 12 hours. This leads me to believe 1. I need to rewet my Humidi-Puck to make up for the lost 4 RH or, my salt test was inaccurate.

What do you all feel.. do you think the Humidi-Puck is more accurate at 70 RH, and thus my salt test was off.. or is it that I need to spray a little more distilled water on the Humidi-Puck to offset the 4 RH from the salt test?

Any advise is much appreciated, as usual!

Thanks,

Kelso

[doctorcue]

I know that a lot of people swear by the salt test, but I personally believe in the Boveda calibration kit. I think that is the easiest test with least chance of error by us (or bad salt, rusty bottle cap, alien intervention, etc). The puck is pretty fool proof.

Do a search for Boveda One Step Calibration kit. Should find it lots of places.

HTH

[White97Jimmy]

How wet did you get the salt?

[illuminatus]

I'd trust the puck.. just my $.02... I calibrated both of my hygros off of my beads..

[Teninx]

Keep in mind that the NIST standard for digital hygrometers is +/-3%. Instruments that can hold to this calibration are larger and more expensive than the small units we use in our humidors, and as such aren't particularly well-suited for home use.

[whiteboard]

I would do the salt test again to see if you can repeat the results. Don't get the salt too wet. Think damp packed sand as opposed to slush. Seal it in a small tupperware container with the hygro facing one of the walls where you can see it. Then put the tupperware inside of a sealed ziplock bag with all the air squeezed out just to be certain of a seal. Give it a full 24 hours and do not open the bag or the tupperware at any time during the test.

If you get 79 again with the salt test and then a steady 70 again with the puck, then something could be off with the puck. I suppose it ispossible that you got a 65 puck instead of a 70. If it is 65, then all is likely well as your salt test indicated your hygro was +4.

[joshua]

I think a more accurate test is getting a calibration packet from boveda. I think most of these digital hygros are tested before they leave the factory, and they are pretty accurate.

Salt test is probably better suited for analog hygrometers, but even then there is room for error because you have to get the salt/water mixture just right to say its spot on.

Me personally, I don't even bother testing digital hygros anymore cause if it was way off I would notice by the saturation of the beads or the cigars in general.

[fl0at]

I re-tested with my old analog, got 80, changed the calibration to match 75, put it in my humidor and now it too reads 70 RH.

I only put a few drops in the salt.. there wasn't anything runny about it, so I know I didn't use too much water.

I'm going to retest it, anyways...

Thanks all,

Kelso

[whiteboard]

Originally Posted by joshua

I think most of these digital hygros are tested before they leave the factory, and they are pretty accurate.

They are largely more accurate than analog, but I have seen digitals off by as much as 6 points and have only had one dead on out of the dozen or so I've owned. I usually find mine are off +- 2.

[n2advnture]

If your hygrometer jumped from 75 to 79% during the salt test, I'd retest. The Westerns I use (6) have never been off more than 1 or 2%.

It may be that your humidor was over humidified and the Humidi-Puck did its job and brought the RH down to 70% where it was supposed to be.

Keep up informed bro

~Mark

ps - Thanks again for the support, I greatly appreciate it!

[fl0at]

Hey Mark, no worries mate, she'll be right.

I'm retesting, I think It was overhumidified like Mark said and the Humidi-Puck is bringing it down to fix the problem.

I have no doubt in my mind that the Humidi-Puck is keeping it at 70 RH, because both the Digital and the Analog matched up, which is a pretty rare feat methinks.

I'm going to monitor it for the next few days. I'm running another salt test on my digital right now, and it's at 89 RH, but it's only been in the tupperware inside the ziplock for an hour now. I'm going to give it about 23 more.

Quick question, though, distilled water or tap water in the salt? I assume of course distilled, but.. ya never know.

[n2advnture]

The only reason for using distilled water in humidifiers is that impurities in tap water will clog the pours of the humidifier, rendering the device useless after a period of time.

Keep us updated bro!

~Mark

[fl0at]

Yea, I didn't figure it made much of a difference in the salt test.. I used distilled anyways, but distilled doesn't leave behind the minerals that tap does, but salt is a mineral, so I figured it didn't matter.

Yesterday's test was with tap water, today's is with distilled.

It's come down 4 points in the last 20 minutes.. Go go calibration.

Thanks for the help, you all will know as soon as I do,

Kelso

[fl0at]

It's been 24 hours, and I'm at 81. I'm going to put it in the humidor and see what happens..

I almost want to bet it sits at 70 RH.. which means the salt test just doesn't work for me...

Kelso

[aphexacid]

Get a boveda tester. Its like 4 bucks. It will let you rest easy.