Beads charge duration

[dabryan]

So I did the math a while back, and determined 1lb of beads would be sufficient for my 120qt coolidor.

They are 65% beads, and for some reason I am having to charge them every 2 weeks. Is this right? I only open the coolidor maybe once a day.

Sorry to ask yet another bead/humi question. Thanks in advance. dan

[icehog3]

Beads seem to need more recharging in the summer months, so this is not really unusual.

[Silound]

Originally Posted by dabryan

So I did the math a while back, and determined 1lb of beads would be sufficient for my 120qt coolidor.

They are 65% beads, and for some reason I am having to charge them every 2 weeks. Is this right? I only open the coolidor maybe once a day.

Sorry to ask yet another bead/humi question. Thanks in advance. dan

Two weeks is far better than I'm getting. I recharge the ones in my fridge every week at least (it's become almost ritualistic).

[drawfour]

Originally Posted by dabryan

So I did the math a while back, and determined 1lb of beads would be sufficient for my 120qt coolidor.

They are 65% beads, and for some reason I am having to charge them every 2 weeks. Is this right? I only open the coolidor maybe once a day.

Sorry to ask yet another bead/humi question. Thanks in advance. dan

Are they spread out in mutliple small bags/containers, or all lumped into the same container? If they're in a single container, the beads should be spread kinda thin (thickness of an inch or less). If the beads get too thick, the ones in the middle won't really be able to do their job.

You could always add more beads if you don't like the recharging interval. But for 120 quarts, 1 pound should be plenty. (150 quarts is a full pound of beads.)

[montecristo#2]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Beads seem to need more recharging in the summer months, so this is not really unusual.

I always thought they needed more recharging during the winter months. Who knows, I obviously have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to beads.

All I do know, during the winter I had to recharge my beads about once every six weeks, now I have to do it weekly to maintain the RH at 65%.

Kind of a pain, but I finally setup a system where I can just add some water and not have to worry about excess water dripping in my humidor.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by montecristo#2

I always thought they needed more recharging during the winter months. Who knows, I obviously have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to beads.

All I do know, during the winter I had to recharge my beads about once every six weeks, now I have to do it weekly to maintain the RH at 65%.

Kind of a pain, but I finally setup a system where I can just add some water and not have to worry about excess water dripping in my humidor.

Chit Aaron, maybe you are right and I had it mixed up...I think you are. I haven't had to use the beads since switching to the Aristocrat in April.

I am such a douche bag!

[montecristo#2]

Originally Posted by icehog3

Chit Aaron, maybe you are right and I had it mixed up...I think you are. I haven't had to use the beads since switching to the Aristocrat in April.

I am such a douche bag!

Not so fast, I might be the douche bag?

I honestly don't know the answer to that question. I thought people were complaining about having to recharge their beads more frequently during the winter, which I thought was strange since mine were performing just fine.

You would think the air is indeed more dry during the summer, but it probably depends on where you live. Some places, the summer is very humid and in other places it is very dry. It probably works the same for the winter, but honestly I have no clue. Clearly I didn't get a degree in meteorology!

But again, what do I know. During the winter the RH in SF was ~60%, recently it has been ~58%. That can't possibly explain why I have to recharge my beads more frequently.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by montecristo#2

Not so fast, I might be the douche bag?

I honestly don't know the answer to that question. I thought people were complaining about having to recharge their beads more frequently during the winter, which I thought was strange since mine were performing just fine.

You would think the air is indeed more dry during the summer, but it probably depends on where you live. Some places, the summer is very humid and in other places it is very dry. It probably works the same for the winter, but honestly I have no clue. Clearly I didn't get a degree in meteorology!

But again, what do I know. During the winter the RH in SF was ~60%, recently it has been ~58%. That can't possibly explain why I have to recharge my beads more frequently.

I think you are right....the air inside here is drier in the winter because of the forced air furnace....so I am the douche bag!! It is settled!!

[Seanohue]

Actually, I think the correlation between more recharging in the summer is that we (or at least I do) smoke a lot more in the summer than the winter and thus more opening and closing allows more humidity to escape and of course, more recharging is need. Just a thought

[drawfour]

During the winter, the forced air heater dries out the air as it pumps it around. During the summer, the air conditioner takes moisture out of the air to cool it (like a fridge -- I think). So I would say that both summers and winters are more dry inside than the spring and fall, where heat/AC are less likely, but the rain is still coming down.

But what do I know? Next to nothing...

[RPB67]

I have a cooler in my office and I haven't recharged those beads in almost 2 months.

They still read a perfect 66-67% humidity. Just charge them when they need to be charged.

[Commander Quan]

Is your humidity actually dropping or are you just going by the color of the beads? For some reason my beads never stay clear for long and I'd say right now less than 25 percent of them are clear the rest are white, but it's holding perfect humidity. I haven't had to charge them in a couple months

[madurolover]

Originally Posted by Commander Quan

Is your humidity actually dropping or are you just going by the color of the beads? For some reason my beads never stay clear for long and I'd say right now less than 25 percent of them are clear the rest are white, but it's holding perfect humidity. I haven't had to charge them in a couple months

[dabryan]

Originally Posted by drawfour

Are they spread out in mutliple small bags/containers, or all lumped into the same container? If they're in a single container, the beads should be spread kinda thin (thickness of an inch or less). If the beads get too thick, the ones in the middle won't really be able to do their job.

You could always add more beads if you don't like the recharging interval. But for 120 quarts, 1 pound should be plenty. (150 quarts is a full pound of beads.)

They are split into 4 4oz panty hose bags. They are no more than .75" thick in the bags. I might look into more beads, thanks!

Originally Posted by Commander Quan

Is your humidity actually dropping or are you just going by the color of the beads? For some reason my beads never stay clear for long and I'd say right now less than 25 percent of them are clear the rest are white, but it's holding perfect humidity. I haven't had to charge them in a couple months

I have digi hygro from walmart that has been salt tested. It stays spot on 65% for about a week and a half, but after that slowly starts its decent. Around 2 weeks its at 60% and I go ahead and recharge it.

The beads are almost all opaque by the time I recharge, but I don't go by that, I go by my somewhat accurate digi hygro.

I have my beads hanging on the side walls of the cooler, and the hygro is stuck to the lid of the cooler.

[wharfrathoss]

if the cedar boxes in your cooler haven't acclimated yet, they could be sucking up the moisture-i have the opposite problem here, instead of adding water, i have to dry mine out occasionally