shilala MHbeads

[Zoomschwortz]

I checked the cooler before going to work and the RH is 64%.

If it is still at 64% when I get home in 4 hours, I will give the cooler 3 squirts of distilled water from a spray bottle and see if that brings it up to 65%.

So far they seem to be working great and it is impressive how fast they can change the RH%.

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by Zoomschwortz

I checked the cooler before going to work and the RH is 64%.

If it is still at 64% when I get home in 4 hours, I will give the cooler 3 squirts of distilled water from a spray bottle and see if that brings it up to 65%.

So far they seem to be working great and it is impressive how fast they can change the RH%.

When I got home this morning, the cooler was still at 64% so I gave it 3 squirts. One hour (8 AM) later the cooler was at 75%.

I just checked the cooler at 6:50 PM and it is now at 65%.

I'll keep an eye on it.

Ken

[shilala]

Wow, Ken.
I'm excited to see if they hang in there.
I've been playing with them in my wine coolers and am basically in awe of how fast they work and how well they work.
The short time they take to condition freaks me out, too.
I just can't shake that sick "this is too good to be true" feeling.
I'm currently finishing up a cooler full of MHbead sachets. I'm going to make some more in the next few days. I think I have the bag sealing problem ironed out. I'll know with this batch.
Thanks for all the input, it's priceless.

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by shilala

Wow, Ken.
I'm excited to see if they hang in there.
I've been playing with them in my wine coolers and am basically in awe of how fast they work and how well they work.
The short time they take to condition freaks me out, too.
I just can't shake that sick "this is too good to be true" feeling.
I'm currently finishing up a cooler full of MHbead sachets. I'm going to make some more in the next few days. I think I have the bag sealing problem ironed out. I'll know with this batch.
Thanks for all the input, it's priceless.

Scott,
I am having a hard time believing what I have been seeing and I also feel that this is too good to be true and it is still too early to know what the longer term results will be.

I hope you do get the bag sealing problem cured. I would love to have some packets the size of beer caps for my Cigar Caddys, but fear what would happen if these beads bags broke in the Caddy.

For those who haven't seen these beads, they are tiny and I have no doubt that if they got lose in a Caddy loaded with cigars, you would end up smoking some of these beads because they would get into the foot.

By the way, it has been about 13 1/2 hours since my last cooler check and the RH is now a 66%.

Of coarse it is still to early to know if everyone would have the same results, but I find the different results from adding a dish of water and 3 sprays from a water bottle interesting and still don't know what to make of it.

As you may recall, the 2 times I added a dish of water the RH went up to 72% and seemed to stop, but when I did the 3 sprays, it hit 75%.

In both cases it didn't take much time for the RH to drop back down to or near 65%.

Have a great day.
Ken

[Zoomschwortz]

Yesterday I had to empty half of my cooler to find the cigar I was looking for (seems they are always on the bottom) and this morning RH is still 66%.

Since this is a cooler, I am opening the lid 2-4 times a day to check RH. I can only think that the results will be better when I put these into the winecooler and I can read the hygrometer without opening the door.

So far, I love these tiny gems.

Question for Scott: have you ever experimented with coffee filters for containment?

I was thinking about opening up a round PG humidifier, glueing coffee filter over the plastic screen and then filling with MH beads.

Do you think that the filter would restrict the transfer of moisture or worse, be a source for mold?

Thanks
Ken

[Zoomschwortz]

To make this easier to follow, I'll put it on one page.

55% Starting humidity in cooler.
50% 1 hour after beads added/no water yet.
67% AM after adding bowl of water.
72% PM/ removed water
69% AM
65% PM/added bowl of water
72% AM/removed water
65% PM/ kept lid open until RH dropped to 62%
65% AM
64% PM/added cigars (10 min.) RH 55%/closed lid (12 min) RH 62%.
64% PM (7 hours later)
64% AM/gave 3 squirts of water/1 hour later RH 75%.
65% PM
66% AM/empty half cooler looking for cigar.
66% AM
66% PM
66% AM/03/18/08 today

It looks like we are holding 64%-66% when they are left alone.

The big test comes when my next 2 orders come in and we see how well they do at bringing up the RH.

Take care.
Ken

[shilala]

They seem to be doing really well.
I'm amping mine up to 65% in my wine coolers. They're moving up nice and easy.
It's going to take a good amount of time for all the stuff to equalize.
Here's a neat thing...
My left cooler is mostly open trays and cigars on shelves. No boxes.
That cooler is far more stable. The cigars seem to equalize almost as quickly as the beads. Mind you, that's just an impression because I haven't been keeping tracks of numbers.
The right cooler is full of boxes. The rh will go up very quickly then it falls slowly until it eventually stops.
That's very useful information, and it makes good sense.

On the coffee filter...
You'd think a coffee filter would be good, but it's actually not a good choice to pass air.
A sheer fabric would be good.
Maybe use a plastic snuff can? Cut away most of the center of the lid, stretch a pantyhose over the bottom of the can (full of beads) then snap on the lid and trim the pantyhose. You could go so far as hot glueing the seam so it's permanent.
That's work slick.
You could use the same approach with the round humidifier dealio.
You may have to nib around figureing how far to stretch the hose. You want it stretched to it's limit, but not so far that beads will fall out.

I have been making noodles out of the HCM (mh) beads. I have a bunch of them finished.
They are much more difficult to condition than HCS (rh) beads. They tend to run away from me. I ordered a Hydra from Rob at Taboo. I'm going to use that to "finish" the HCM beads. That way I can get them close to finished very fast, then fine tune them with the hydra.
I've halfass determined how much water HCS beads hold per volume and how much HCM beads hold. HCS holds about 22% of their own weight and HCM holds about 28%.
Here's the thing though...
In order to find out for sure, I have to cook a batch of all three beads, Kitty Litter, HCS and HCM. Then I have to rush them to the cooler and condition them with the hydra.
Reason being as soon as the HCM beads hit the air they suck up a huge amount of water cause they're that insane. If they hit the air for any length of time they'll suck up enough water to skew the results.
I'll do that test shortly because it's a pretty important number.
Mr. Wizard out.

[shilala]

I should also say thank you again.
Thank You Ken!!!
All the input you've gathered is invaluable. It's impossible for me to see everything that's going on with the HCM beads. It's amazing how fast they work and it blows my mind.
I'm going to try to enlist a few more guys to try these things out in the very near future.
That'll help, too.
If you're wondering why the HCS and HCM stuff all of a sudden, it's cause Mark at Cigarmony has beads named RH beads. I can't infringe on his name, it isn't fair.
I'm going to use those terms from here on out.

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by shilala

I have been making noodles out of the HCM (mh) beads. I have a bunch of them finished.
They are much more difficult to condition than HCS (rh) beads. They tend to run away from me. I ordered a Hydra from Rob at Taboo. I'm going to use that to "finish" the HCM beads. That way I can get them close to finished very fast, then fine tune them with the hydra.

What ever you did to my beads appears to be working quite well.

The Hydra should make it easier for you or it may be working overtime trying to keep up with these tiny little moisture suckers.

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity of taking these for a test drive.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Zoomschwortz

What ever you did to my beads appears to be working quite well.

The Hydra should make it easier for you or it may be working overtime trying to keep up with these tiny little moisture suckers.

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity of taking these for a test drive.

You're welcome, brother. It's fun, ain't it?
I'm figuring on using the hydra for just the tail end fine tuning.
Once I know exactly how much water the HCM beads hold per volume, I can weigh how much I put in the cooler, then weigh the water, put it in a bowl and place my fan on top of the bowl blowing down in.
Once that water is gone I can put the hydra in to fine tune the beads.
I even thought of how to make a cool permanent fan/bowl/evaporating thingie to power evaporate that first volume of water.
It'll be cool.

[Zoomschwortz]

55% Starting humidity in cooler.
50% 1 hour after beads added/no water yet.
67% AM after adding bowl of water.
72% PM/ removed water
69% AM
65% PM/added bowl of water
72% AM/removed water
65% PM/ kept lid open until RH dropped to 62%
65% AM
64% PM/added cigars (10 min.) RH 55%/closed lid (12 min) RH 62%.
64% PM (7 hours later)
64% AM/gave 3 squirts of water/1 hour later RH 75%.
65% PM
66% AM/empty half cooler looking for cigar.
66% AM
66% PM
66% AM/03/18/08 today
66% PM 03/18/08
66% AM 03/19/08 Cab of RP OWR came yesterday, will add to cooler tonight since I got home to late last night (I do love to Herf)

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Zoomschwortz

55% Starting humidity in cooler.
50% 1 hour after beads added/no water yet.
67% AM after adding bowl of water.
72% PM/ removed water
69% AM
65% PM/added bowl of water
72% AM/removed water
65% PM/ kept lid open until RH dropped to 62%
65% AM
64% PM/added cigars (10 min.) RH 55%/closed lid (12 min) RH 62%.
64% PM (7 hours later)
64% AM/gave 3 squirts of water/1 hour later RH 75%.
65% PM
66% AM/empty half cooler looking for cigar.
66% AM
66% PM
66% AM/03/18/08 today
66% PM 03/18/08
66% AM 03/19/08 Cab of RP OWR came yesterday, will add to cooler tonight since I got home to late last night (I do love to Herf)

I'm curious to see what those boxes do.
I wonder what kind of RH%age the cigars are that jump off the UPS truck. Sometime when I order a couple boxes I'd like to dump all of the cigars in a bag and see how they were taken care of.
It'd be cool to check the box before shipping at the dealer and after they arrive just to see how much juice they lose in transit.
It'd be neat to know how fast cigars lose moisture and how fast do they regain it, too. It'd be a cool test, easy to do, too.
These are the sort of ridiculous things that I think that keep me busy.

[Zoomschwortz]

55% Starting humidity in cooler.
50% 1 hour after beads added/no water yet.
67% AM after adding bowl of water.
72% PM/ removed water
69% AM
65% PM/added bowl of water
72% AM/removed water
65% PM/ kept lid open until RH dropped to 62%
65% AM
64% PM/added cigars (10 min.) RH 55%/closed lid (12 min) RH 62%.
64% PM (7 hours later)
64% AM/gave 3 squirts of water/1 hour later RH 75%.
65% PM
66% AM/empty half cooler looking for cigar.
66% AM
66% PM
66% AM/03/18/08 today
66% PM 03/18/08

66% AM 03/19/08 Cab of RP OWR came yesterday, will add to cooler tonight since I got home to late last night (I do love to Herf)
65% 4:45 PM 03/19/08 re-arranged the cooler and added a 50 count cedar box of RP OWR. RH at time of closing cooler 55%
63% 5:15 PM 03/19/08 Up 8% in 30 minutes. I'll check it again in the morning.

[Zoomschwortz]

[QUOTE=Zoomschwortz;1530551]55% Starting humidity in cooler.
50% 1 hour after beads added/no water yet.
67% AM after adding bowl of water.
72% PM/ removed water
69% AM
65% PM/added bowl of water
72% AM/removed water
65% PM/ kept lid open until RH dropped to 62%
65% AM
64% PM/added cigars (10 min.) RH 55%/closed lid (12 min) RH 62%.
64% PM (7 hours later)
64% AM/gave 3 squirts of water/1 hour later RH 75%.
65% PM
66% AM 03/17/08/empty half cooler looking for cigar.
66% AM 03/17/08
66% PM 03/17/08
66% AM/03/18/08
66% PM 03/18/08

66% AM 03/19/08 Cab of RP OWR came yesterday, will add to cooler tonight since I got home to late last night (I do love to Herf)
65% 4:45 PM 03/19/08 re-arranged the cooler and added a 50 count cedar box of RP OWR. RH at time of closing cooler 55%
63% 5:15 PM 03/19/08 Up 8% in 30 minutes. I'll check it again in the morning.

63% AM 03/20/08 If it is still @63% tonight, I'm not sure if I should leave it or give 1 squirt with the spray bottle.

[Zoomschwortz]

[QUOTE=Zoomschwortz;1531600][QUOTE=Zoomschwortz;1530551]55% Starting humidity in cooler.
50% 1 hour after beads added/no water yet.
67% AM after adding bowl of water.
72% PM/ removed water
69% AM
65% PM/added bowl of water
72% AM/removed water
65% PM/ kept lid open until RH dropped to 62%
65% AM
64% PM/added cigars (10 min.) RH 55%/closed lid (12 min) RH 62%.
64% PM (7 hours later)
64% AM/gave 3 squirts of water/1 hour later RH 75%.
65% PM
66% AM 03/17/08/empty half cooler looking for cigar.
66% AM 03/17/08
66% PM 03/17/08
66% AM/03/18/08
66% PM 03/18/08

66% AM 03/19/08 Cab of RP OWR came yesterday, will add to cooler tonight since I got home to late last night (I do love to Herf)
65% 4:45 PM 03/19/08 re-arranged the cooler and added a 50 count cedar box of RP OWR. RH at time of closing cooler 55%
63% 5:15 PM 03/19/08 Up 8% in 30 minutes. I'll check it again in the morning.

63% AM 03/20/08 If it is still @63% tonight, I'm not sure if I should leave it or give 1 squirt with the spray bottle.

65% PM 03/20/08 Didn't need to do a thing, these tiny beads do recover fast