Beads not working

[nein]

Hello,

For the past four months or so I have been engaged in a loose/loose battle with my beads that I ordered from cigarmony.com (Which I have no problem with and will continue to do business with). They are 70% beads in a 100ct and 50ct size. So technically I have enough beads to tackle a 150ct humidor which is what I have.

The seal is fine and the humidor is properly seasoned. However my problem is I have never been able to keep my beads working for me at anything close to 70%. My hygrometer is perfectly calibrated, but for good measures I placed two digital hygrometers (both calibrated) into the humidor to perform my test.

Unfortunaltey my findings were exactly what I had though, my beads are just simply not working, I am using distilled water and activating 50% of them ensuring the other 50% are left dry. However my rh level stays steady at 60-62%. The funny thing is the best luck if had with a steady rh is with the foam sponge I got when I bought the humidor, which keeps it around 67-70%.

However now I am looking at further options considering I have tried the beads over and over and have not gotten the desired results. I am looking at ordering a cigar oasis xl plus for my 150ct, now what I would like to know is if this is an appropriate idea for my 150ct or is it simply just too much? I have about 30 cigars in my humidor right now which could be effective the humidity effects with the beads but at this point I don't know anymore.

I apologize for the amount of reading that will be done for this post however I wanted to ensure I could answer all basic questions and troubleshooting so you folks did not have to ask me. Therefore my question is: Has anyone else ever encountered these issues with beads and if so how did you counter them? Also would getting a cigar oasis xl plus be an efficient idea for my current humidor.

I do plan on stocking up with about 25 more cigars in the next week or so as well.

[Bleedingshrimp]

I can't imagine how beads could just not work. You said you sprayed 50% of them....I usually spray around 75% of mine, I think even Heartfelt and Cigarmony recommend at least 60% saturated/clear. Maybe try that and see what happens is my suggestion.

[sonick]

What is the square footage and bead content in ounces for each humidor ?

Also, what is your ambient RH (outside of the humidor) ?

[Racer3]

I am having the same problem. My RH stayes at 58% to 60%. It has been like that since the winter started and the heat in the house is on. The RH in the house is at around 35% and the temp in the house is always 58 to 65 degrees. Once the temps go up in the spring I know the humi will be fine, I bet yours will be also. I went crazy the first year it happened to me but now I am fine with it, especially since my gars smoke fine.

[SingleMaltScott]

In the winter time, when the air in our homes is MUCH drier and colder, keeping your humidity up is always an issue. Even the guys with the B&M walk ins struggle with keeping the humidity up.

I had to add more beads, with a higher saturation to my humi as soon as the weather got cold, and my humi got a little more high maintenance. This is perfectly normal.

Point in case, about a week ago, we had a warm shot....was raining and was over 70 degrees out. Opened the humi to go have a smoke out on the porch and the humidity was 74%. Took out the extra tube and bang, right back where I want it.

Friday it got cold again, it snowed and iced, and yucked all day. Heat went on in the house, had to put the other tube back in.

Try saturating more than 60% of your beads, I think that might be your answer.

[Even Steven]

You could always have 75% of the beads wet instead of 50%, for some 62% is the optimal RH, add a little more water, just dont soak them.

Be sure that you properly seasoned your humi, try not to check on it often, add a little more water, let it go, check it in a day or two then go from there.
I think you should wait a little longer and work some things out before you step up to buy a oasis.

I've read that it's harder to keep a steady RH with less cigars as opposed to a 150ct humi full of cigars, I'm guessing because not only does the cedar in the humi retain moisture but the cigars them selves help to bring back the humi back to stability if the RH should drop a few %.


And yes, the others are right about winter, the air is drier.

[schnell987]

Although I have never used beads, others' posts make sense (to add more distilled water to the beads during the very dry winter months).

In my house, the RH drops to below 20% during the winter and I had no luck with the Boveda packs or Drymistat tubes. I then switched to the Cigar Oasis XL and have been VERY happy with it.

I would suggest using more H2O in your beads and if that is not enough, going with the CO XL...the XL plus probably would be too much for your desktop humi.

Hope that helps.

Kevin

[Simplified]

Originally Posted by Racer3

I am having the same problem. My RH stayes at 58% to 60%. It has been like that since the winter started and the heat in the house is on. The RH in the house is at around 35% and the temp in the house is always 58 to 65 degrees. Once the temps go up in the spring I know the humi will be fine, I bet yours will be also. I went crazy the first year it happened to me but now I am fine with it, especially since my gars smoke fine.

[discdog]

Welcome to winter. It's not the beads, it is the heat in your house. If you are like most of us, you run a furnace in the winter. The most common type of furnace is forced air, which produces the dryest type of heat. Have you ever noticed when waking up in the morning your throat or sinuses being dry? Your house is trying to find moisture, wherever it can. Be it you or your nice little box with the humidification device in it. Take a glass of water and sit it somewhere in the vacinity of your humidor, watch it for a day or two and see what happens. Now, imagine your beads which will give off their humidity at an even easier rate. You may have to recharge beads every other day to keep up. I'd charge them 90/100% in the winter and just keep some that aren't charged on hand for the couple of days when your furnace doesn't kick on.
Also, you may want to add some more cigars to the humidor. I have found that when my boxes were less than 60% capacity, I had trouble maintaining the RH inside my humidors. If you don't have enough cigars, try putting some cedar blocks in to take up some of the room. Remember, if you have nothing but air inside the box, it will give up its humidity faster than a solid object.

[luckybandit]

great post! always learning from you botl's
thanks

[wharfrathoss]

try a few things b4 getting the c.o. (which is overkill for a desktop IMHO)
1) wet the beads more
2) add more beads during winter
3) add more cigars (easier to stabilize)
hope this helps

[nein]

Excellent,

Thanks for the replies so far. I will give it another try but with a higher saturated amount of beads. As well I will look into getting more cigars as well! I can't find a better excuse.

[Headcrash]

Give it another shot as I know first hand how dry it is here in Calgary. I struggle too but the weather is starting to change....kinda and it will get better I hope.

Once it is a little nicer out we should get a Calgary HERF going too!

[Boston_Dude05]

Agree with the other posts. Also, don't be afraid to use more beads than you need. I find that this helps also.

[donp]

This winter I have been wetting my beads a lot more often. It seems every time I check on em they are a pure white color. I have several humis, and the main ones I keep in my bedroom upstairs. The rooms get very warm as the heat rises; I use gas heat in my home. My readings are correct, its just that I seem to be wetting them an awful lot. But I am vigilant and don't mind doing more frequent humi maintenance.