Review - The Vicksburg

[Charles]

Originally Posted by xhris

Hey guys i have a small question. Can you over season your humi? The reason i ask is because i seasoned my vick using the "heat up distilled water" method, and got the humidity to 80%. I reheated the water every 12hrs for 2 days and then took the bowl out. The humidity then slowly fell to 75% but has stayed there for about a day. Should i just be patient?

Do you have any sticks in your humi? Add a box or two to the humi and see if the rh doesn't come down. Also, I quit using the humi device that came with the vick. When it gets lower than I like, I just put some distilled water in a glass bowl in the bottom of the humi for a day or so and that brings it right back.

Let us know how it works out.

Charles

[ShawnP]

Originally Posted by xhris

Hey guys i have a small question. Can you over season your humi? The reason i ask is because i seasoned my vick using the "heat up distilled water" method, and got the humidity to 80%. I reheated the water every 12hrs for 2 days and then took the bowl out. The humidity then slowly fell to 75% but has stayed there for about a day. Should i just be patient?

You should be patient, it takes a while. It may not go down untill you throw some sticks in there to balance it.

If you are concerned about adding cigars then open the lid for a hour and let it drop a bit

Let us know how it turns out.


Shawn

[carbonbased_al]

Originally Posted by ShawnP

You should be patient, it takes a while. It may not go down untill you throw some sticks in there to balance it.

If you are concerned about adding cigars then open the lid for a hour and let it drop a bit

Let us know how it turns out.


Shawn

very sage advice

[stogie_kanobie_one]

Yeah don't over worry. If I see mine dip a little high for a few days just open the lid ofr an hour or two. The two ounce containers are perfect for the vick, some use two some use more. I myself use approximaltely a total of four, the real case for the 2 ounce vs. the four is that you get to spread them around more to help keep things more balanced.

The emptier the Vick is due to it's size you will notice more fluctuations but the more full you keep it the more stable it will become. The good news is though that the beads really do take a lot of the guess work out of it.

The stock unit that comes with it.... PERFECT for holding beads. Just use a fish tank filter media bag. It is a nylon mesh. In one of my mods I have the nylon mesh and in the other I have a simple pair of nylons (the pet store was all out of bags) . The nylons don't seem to react as quick and the filter media bags just seem to be poifect.

Above all patience as the above have said. I've spent many a buck unnecessarily fussing over too high too low. In the end learn to feel safe within a range. A few days being a few points outside of your comfort zone won't wreck your cigars.

[ShawnP]

Originally Posted by carbonbased_al

very sage advice

Thank you, That means a lot coming from someone like you


Shawn

[erab]

So I broke down and bought a Vicks as my first humidor (anyone want to take bets on how long it takes me to outgrow it?).

Any advice from the many Vicks owners (outside of what's already been said in this thread) for this newbie, besides buying more beads than I think I'll need?

Very excited about my purchase... should be here tuesday or wednesday!

Also: I notice the Cedar trays sold by bargain humidors are on back order. Is it a problem to season the Vicks when I get it, and then later add new trays as they get in stock and my collection grows?

[xhris]

Hey erab!! Welcome to the jungle! and you're gonna love your humidor, ive had mine for a couple days and i can't go an hour without looking at it.

I think the beads should season any new trays you put in very well. You might have to charge them more often during this time though. BTW, im not speaking out of experience, just out of my understanding of the beads, other BOTLs will know more.

I just broke down and bought 1/2lb of beads myself. I don't think i'll ever need 1lb, but you guys can quote me on this when im slipping full speed down the slope and buying another humi

[homeless_texan]

Great post Stogie. I've had the Vicksburg for about 6 months, but until I read your post I never realized it's potential. Thanks again.

[orangehorse]

Mine arrived last Tuesday (Happy Birthday to me). I seasoned it to 78% before adding the sticks. Now it is steady at 73%. I'll be patient to wait for it to get to 70%. Overall, I love the humi. Now I'm in the process of filling the thing. Just won 4 auctions over at CB, so I have 65 additional sticks enroute.

[mostholycerebus]

I bought one of these about 3 months ago, and I am absolutely in love with it. Incredible storage and beauty for the price, and the hygrometer is awesome. The only thing I would like is 2-3 more of the lower level dividers, so I could divide up my bundles and totally fill the lower level.

Mine is currently 1/3 to 1/2 full. It currently holds rock steady at 65rh with one 4 ounce tube of 70rh beads. I feel that this large humidor would be perfect with two tubes, one in each lower tray, so the humidity is better dispersed. Filling the plastic humifer brick with beads is also a great idea, I think i'm just gonna use a nylon though (maybe grab some of the free ones at a shoe shop).

I did have one problem with this box though, the humifer. After about a month I noticed mold surrounding the humifer. I took it off, tossed the green brick, wiped everything down with alcohol, sun-dried the box and shelves, and set it all up again. No problems since.

Stogie: BTW, if you aren't using your lower area large dividers, I would be interested in buying them off you. PM or email me if you like.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by PitmanGeek

Mine arrived last Tuesday (Happy Birthday to me). I seasoned it to 78% before adding the sticks. Now it is steady at 73%. I'll be patient to wait for it to get to 70%. Overall, I love the humi. Now I'm in the process of filling the thing. Just won 4 auctions over at CB, so I have 65 additional sticks enroute.

I would bet that the rh will drop some when you add your additional winnings to your humi. Glad to see that you are happy with it.

[luckybandit]

My 120 count Pompeii humi is already overgrown. Should have listened to you guys before i made my purchase. This humi looks like the next step. The Pompeii with the glass top is a nice display humi, but this Vicksburg will work very well for long term aging. At a 300 count and i'm smoking about three or four cigars a week this should keep me off the devils sites for about a year!

[erab]

Well, the Vicks arrived today.... and there was some sticky sap on the trays and the inside lining -- not a lot, but there were spots.

Any advice on what I can do about this? Will a rag with some distilled water get the job done, or will I just end up having further problems in the future?

EDIT: Just found THIS thread after wrestling with the search engine (it doesn't like three letter word searchs). Anything that any previously sapped Vicksburg owners want to add to the advice in that thread? I'll probably give it a couple days to dry up, and then go at gently with some distilled water on a rag.