Beads question

[dalerobk]

So I finally got some beads last week for my humidor, since my humidor was constantly at 75% RH, which was obviously higher than I wanted. I got the Puck (100 count at 65% RH) from Cigarmony.com. I put the Puck in the bottom center of my humidor with the lid off (with the beads fully exposed to the air). Here's the thing, my humidor is now staying at a constant RH of 60. But when I put the hygrometer right next to the Puck, it reads exactly 65%. So it seems that right next to the Puck the RH is 65 (like it's suppose to be), but the rest of my humidor is at 60% RH. I retested my hygrometer yesterday (salt test), and it read exactly 75%, so I'm fairly confident it's accurate. Anyone else have problems like this? Suggestions? Honestly, I'm not that concerned about it, because I'd much rather have my cigars at 60% than 75%. I'm just wondering if maybe I should get the 70% beads so that my humidor stays at 65%.

[Zoomschwortz]

Did you add any distilled water to the beads?

About 75% of them S/B clear.

[dalerobk]

Originally Posted by Zoomschwortz

Did you add any distilled water to the beads?

About 75% of them S/B clear.

Yes. I used 4 teaspoons of distilled water as the instructions stated. And then a couple of days ago, I added even more distilled water. If anything there's too much water in them since they're probably closer to 80% clear. But the humidity is still at 60 (yet 65% immediately next to the Puck). Do you think it would make any difference if the Puck is at the bottom of the humidor or on my tray? In other words, would the humidity be more likely to drop down or filter up? It doesn't seem like it should make much difference at all, but I'd appreciate the thoughts from you more experienced people.

[NCRadioMan]

Humid air is heavier, I think. I would try the Puck in the tray and test the rh readings again in the top and bottom.


NCRM

[Zoomschwortz]

How long has the Puck been in the Humi?

How often do you open the Humi?

It is strange that the Humi is 75% without the Puck and then drops to 60% with the Puck.

I use a pound of 65% in my Humi and a pound in my coolerdor. It took about a week for the coolerdor to settle in a a constant 65% and about two weeks for the Humi to settle in at 64%-66%.

As far as the 60% goes, I am thinking about putting 60% beads in my Humi because I have noticed that my cigars seem to smoke better if I dry box them a couple days before smoking.

As far as placement, I keep my beads on the bottom and ran 3 hygrometers (top, middle and bottom) for a few weeks and didn't notice much of a difference. They read the same most of the time and were never more than 1% difference.

[Stogiefanatic182]

I had a similar issue with my humi and beads about a week ago. I had half pound of 65rh beads in the center of my 100 count humi. I had the digital on the shelf all the way to the right side and it had a reading of only 61rh. I moved the digital to the middle of the tray and now the reading is a dead on 65%.

[opus]

How big is your humi? Air circulation helps if you have room for a fan.

[Viper139]

Gie them some time to even out the box. The rh will vary throughout the box but that variation will be less with time. When the interior wood as well as the cigars themselves get to the proper rh your balance will improve.

[dalerobk]

OK, I'll give them some time. I've had them for a week now. Either way I'm not too concerned about it. 60% RH is still better than the previous RH of 75%--at least as far as I'm concerned. By the way, I moved the Puck to the tray and the humidity at the bottom of my humidor went up to 63%. Thanks for the responses. I'll leave it sit for awhile.