new smoker

[godfatah182]

Hi everyone. I just turned 18 in january, and since i have always loved the aroma of cigars i decided i wanted to get involved with this hobby. Granted i did smoke a few cigars before i was 18, but nothing handmade except a few macanudos. Now i have my own humidor, and an ever changing supply of cigars.

I have one question. I cant get my humidor up to anywhere near 70% it is remaining in the 55-60% range. DO i need to do something to make my humidor work? i have the oasis thing that came with it filled with distilled water.

Thanks

[Treyjo43]

Did you season the humidor when you first got it? And what type of hydrometer do you have, digital or analog because the analog types are notorious for being inaccurate.

[godfatah182]

i have a digital hydrometer, adn i calibrated it with the salt test
idint season my humidor however, how do i do that?

[coppertop]

You don't have to calibrate a digital hydrometer. It comes calibrated from the factory....well at least all the ones I have seen do. To season your Humi just take a old cotton t-shirt and wipe down the interior of your humi with distilled water. Use enough distilled water to get the t-shirt damp and wipe down everything on the inside. This should help with your humidity problem.

[IHT]

i wouldn't wipe it down unless you've tried everything first. and if you do wipe it down, barely make it damp...

as for digital hygrometers, NONE that i've purchased have been right. even the one that coppertop got me, still reads 42%


i have no clue why, but my plain jane ol' hygrometer works great. it fluctuates up and down when i use my travel humi, so i know it's working...

i just KNOW that all my digital ones won't work for some reason. there's no way that my humi is at 40% humidity and even my non-cubans are smoking good.

[coppertop]

IHT has bad luck.......he can't help it. But most digitals do work just fine.

Mine does.....but this is my second one. So it might be your digital....what kind do you have?

[godfatah182]

im not sure of the brand, but i got it at my local shop. it works fine, it is only 2% lower than actual humidity. I can tell my smokes are little dry because they burn a too fast.

[one90proof]

Welcome to CS! Use the search feature and you can find a ton of great info on humidors and how to take care of them. I'm a newbie too and I learned alot about humidors that way.

Glad to have you aboard! BTW, if you are looking for a new brand to try.....be on the lookout for anything from Padron. GOOD stuff!!!

[Eichen]

Many folks break in a humidor by filling up the humidistat with propylene glycol and distilled water. They leave the humidor empty so the wood can soak up the humidity. Keep an eye on the hygrometer. When it drops, fill up the humidistat with more distilled water. This'll go on for a week or two. If you want to speed things along, get a dish or bowl and put some water in it (if you don't want it splashing out by mistake soak it up with a sponge or rag etc). Most humidor manufacturers prefer that you don't actually get liquid water on the cedar lining inside the humidor. After the humidor's maintaining a pretty good humidity for a while it's time to dump in the cigars.

Sorry if I'm incoherent.

Anyway, welcome to CS!
-E

[mad4Fuente]

I agree with Eichen. Do not wipe it down with water. This can warp the cedar lining. I put a small bowl or sot glass of distilled H2O in the humie along with the hygrometer and let it sit until it reaches a consistent RH. Then add the smokes. The RH will drop a bit at first as the sticks will absorb the moisture but it will settle down after a short while as the 50/50 solution does it's thing. Some humies take a while to adjust and stabilize, depending on the size. Once stabilized you are good to go and usually will have no problems. Good luck and enjoy your new found recreational smoking!!

[robmcd]

welcome ... make sure your humidor seals properly. after a few days put your cigars in there and everything should be ok. don't wipe it down. the ultimate test is your cigars... hygrometers aren't very accurate devices in general.

[godfatah182]

thanks everyone for the tips, as of right now im pretty happy wiht the way my cigars smoke, but i cna tell they are a little dry so im going to try the dish of water thing to get the humidty up. thanks again