humiditiy question.

[WNCsmoker]

so ive had my humi for about 8 months or so and in the past month or so i kind of neglected it as i had some school things and other stuff anyways the humidity was low but i filled my hudification device (a sponge i ordered some beads) and the humidity came right back up and then i rearanged my dorm room and the only place to put the humi was on top of my microwave but i figured that on top of the microwave wouldnt be the best place so i put my humi in a desk drawer and the humidity droped pretty low. i have a humidifier in my room and keep it pretty cool and humid and was wondering if the interior of the drawer could affect the humidor that quickly? its out of the drawer now and im gonna let it rest for a few days and then check it. any suggestions on getting the humi back into shape would be great.

[trogdor | the burninator]

Originally Posted by WNCsmoker

so ive had my humi for about 8 months or so and in the past month or so i kind of neglected it as i had some school things and other stuff anyways the humidity was low but i filled my hudification device (a sponge i ordered some beads) and the humidity came right back up and then i rearanged my dorm room and the only place to put the humi was on top of my microwave but i figured that on top of the microwave wouldnt be the best place so i put my humi in a desk drawer and the humidity droped pretty low. i have a humidifier in my room and keep it pretty cool and humid and was wondering if the interior of the drawer could affect the humidor that quickly? its out of the drawer now and im gonna let it rest for a few days and then check it. any suggestions on getting the humi back into shape would be great.

hmm, i'm not totally convinced that the problem is your drawer. the problem is more likely that the humi just hasn't stabilized yet. a couple questions:

- how long did you neglect the humi?
- did you season the humi before re-stabilizing it at the desired humidity?
- what kind of humi is it? (tupperdor, coolerdor, spanish cedar, mahogany)
- when are your beads coming?
- do you have cigars in there?

[WNCsmoker]

Originally Posted by trogdor | the burninator

hmm, i'm not totally convinced that the problem is your drawer. the problem is more likely that the humi just hasn't stabilized yet. a couple questions:

- how long did you neglect the humi?
- did you season the humi before re-stabilizing it at the desired humidity?
- what kind of humi is it? (tupperdor, coolerdor, spanish cedar, mahogany)
- when are your beads coming?
- do you have cigars in there?

it was left for about 31/2 - 4 weeks
i didnt re season it
its a cedar lined desktop
beads should be in next week and its has about 20 -25 sticks in it but it holds 100. i have a seasoning pack that i threw in there to help get some humitidy in becuase i have nowhere else to put my sticks. any further suggestions?

[trogdor | the burninator]

i'd probably treat it like it was brand new. season the walls with distilled water and let it stabilize. i'm assuming you're just using the stock credo which comes with oasis foam, but have you charged it with PG or just distilled water?

the beads are gonna do away with a lot of your worries. when you've got a humi that hasn't been maintained, there's gonna be a bit of a "re-entry" phase where it'll take a couple days to a week for its RH to normalize once you've started charging the humidifer, again.

is your hygrometer digital?

Originally Posted by WNCsmoker

it was left for about 31/2 - 4 weeks
i didnt re season it
its a cedar lined desktop
beads should be in next week and its has about 20 -25 sticks in it but it holds 100. i have a seasoning pack that i threw in there to help get some humitidy in becuase i have nowhere else to put my sticks. any further suggestions?

[WNCsmoker]

the foam just has distilled and the hygro is digital but properly calibrated. i re calibrated first to make sure that it wasnt the hygrometer. any tips on what to do with the cigars when i start fresh with the humi?

[trogdor | the burninator]

Originally Posted by WNCsmoker

the foam just has distilled and the hygro is digital but properly calibrated. i re calibrated first to make sure that it wasnt the hygrometer. any tips on what to do with the cigars when i start fresh with the humi?

well, once upon a time, someone told me this, "RH to high add PG to low add H20". if your RH is low, i'd have thought it was a matter of not having enough distilled water in your hygro. not having any pg in there might affect it too.

by starting fresh, do you mean when your beads come in? beads are awesome, they'll probably stabilize within a day or so. i say check your humi every day or every other day and report back with what it's reading. i'm thinking it'll settle down eventually and if it doesn't, i think you need more water. but by that time, you're probably ready to switch to beads...in any case, this exercise will at least prep the humi for your cigars.

your cigars should be ok, as long as your RH isn't dipping too low. where's your RH right now?

[WNCsmoker]

my rh is at 50 i put some of my sticks in a ziplock bag with one of the humidity packs that boveda makes just to keep em ok while i re-season the humi. i kept a few of the sticks in the humi but moved as many as i could. thanks for the advice hopefully the box will settle in the next day or so.

[trogdor | the burninator]

Originally Posted by WNCsmoker

my rh is at 50 i put some of my sticks in a ziplock bag with one of the humidity packs that boveda makes just to keep em ok while i re-season the humi. i kept a few of the sticks in the humi but moved as many as i could. thanks for the advice hopefully the box will settle in the next day or so.

whoa, 50 is really low, man. i think you need some more distilled water

[RLembke]

Put a shot glass or two of distilled water in there. As long as the humidor has a good seal, standing water will always try to bring the interior of the humidor to 100%RH.

As far as the beads, I wouldn't completely agree that they are going to 'fix' your problem. The beads are only going to act as a buffer for your humidor and try to maintain the humidity. They aren't going to be a magic source of moisture. You need to get the whole humidor (wood, sticks, etc) close to the right amount of moisture content before the beads are going to do you much good.

[trogdor | the burninator]

Originally Posted by RLembke

Put a shot glass or two of distilled water in there. As long as the humidor has a good seal, standing water will always try to bring the interior of the humidor to 100%RH.

As far as the beads, I wouldn't completely agree that they are going to 'fix' your problem. The beads are only going to act as a buffer for your humidor and try to maintain the humidity. They aren't going to be a magic source of moisture. You need to get the whole humidor (wood, sticks, etc) close to the right amount of moisture content before the beads are going to do you much good.

that's a true statement, RLembke. i should've been more clear, i meant to say that the beads should help with his woes of varying RH AFTER the humidor has been properly seasoned. at least, that's what it did for me. shot glass idea is a good one, as well. better than over-saturating your foam.

[stogie_kanobie_one]

Buy an oversize plastic bag similar to what cigars are shipped to YOU in. You can temporarily place your cigars inside the plastic bag with some temporary humidification. This will allow you to properly season your desktop. If you have a local b&m you can just run to it and grab of their 70% temporary things. There are a ton of them, even the seasoning packets can be used but I'm assuming you'll use that in your humidor to re-season it. Also you could wait for the beads to arrive and use the beads in the baggie(s), then re season your desktop using the recommended method AND the seasoning packet.

[Scimmia]

Originally Posted by RLembke

Put a shot glass or two of distilled water in there. As long as the humidor has a good seal, standing water will always try to bring the interior of the humidor to 100%RH.

As far as the beads, I wouldn't completely agree that they are going to 'fix' your problem. The beads are only going to act as a buffer for your humidor and try to maintain the humidity. They aren't going to be a magic source of moisture. You need to get the whole humidor (wood, sticks, etc) close to the right amount of moisture content before the beads are going to do you much good.

I'll agree and disagree on this one (here we go again ))

The beads definately aren't a magic solution, but they do hold a considerable amount of water which will help bring everything into equilibrium. You may have to re-wet them a couple of times, but it can help. That said, you will be best off by far getting your humi seasoned properly.

[WNCsmoker]

the humidity in my humidor is back at 65% and holding. reseasoning the humi did wonders. let the humidity get to about 70% and then put the sticks back in and at 65% it is staying. thanks for all the advice on helping me out.