possible humidor problem?

Hey all,

I am a newbie to the world of cigars, still just a casual smoker. i bought a small humidor on ebay (i think it is the same as this one from jrcigars.com - http://www.jrcigars.com/index.cfm?pa...H12KR&type=hum). i broke it in by lightly sponging the inside with distilled water every few days for 2 or 3 weeks. after that i left the humidifier and hygrometer in the box for about a week and the humidity level seemed to hold constant. after that i bought a few cigars and put them in. after about week when i went to smoke one of the cigars, the humidity level had dropped to about 60%. i put my smokes in a friends humidor and tried the breaking in process again. same thing happened.

i basically have 2 questions. does this sound like the humidor has a bad seal? if so, is there any hope of using this humidor or should i just cut my losses and start over?

second question is this. i have heard people argue the proper way to break in a humidor. some say just leave a shot glass of distlled water in the box until the humidity gets to about 70%, some say to actually sponge the inside of the box with distlled water. what is the best way to break in a humidor?

i've been using a 50/50 solution to recharge the credo and the smokes came from a cigar shop, not mail order so they shouldn't have been overly dry.

sorry for the long post but i'm just a newbie looking to get the best experience out of some good cigars!

thanks in advance for your time,
-nick

i think i dampened the inside of mine and left a small bowl of distilled water in it. Also after i got more cigars inside of the humi, the humidity maintained its level more easily.

Check out this site: http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...101/fp398.html

It is a pretty long article but if you read the whole thing it really explains all about humidors, how they work, and how to season and maintain them. I found it very handy. Let me know how it goes.

I had some instructions with one of my humidors and that was to sponge down the interior with distilled water and then leave a shot glass of distilled water in it for 24 hours. I had no problems until I started relying on the hygrometers!! I have 4 digi and 2 digi all reading differently. One really good bit in that article was

"While a humidor needs a device that maintains moisture levels, it does not necessarily need a gauge. Some humidors, however, come with hygrometers, which indicate the interior humidity. While the analog models (the round gauges with a needle inside) often have the appealing style of a dial on a sports car's dashboard, they are frequently inaccurate. Digital hygrometers, on the other hand, are usually reliable to a level of plus or minus 2 percent.

No matter what a thermometer or hygrometer says, the true measure of your humidor's performance will be the condition of the cigars inside. If the cigars are exuding a little oil, the conditions are perfect. If they seem too dry, you add more water. If they turn moldy, you have to throw out the cigars (probably with a tear or two in your eye), no matter what the hygrometer says." http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...101/fp398.html

It maybe your humi is well and truly ready it's just your hygrometer that's screwing up :smiley37:

i recently broke my hygrometer(not on purpose) but i guess it doesnt really matter after reading that excerpt.

i had a bad mold problem. i used to wash the trays in my humidor and soak them in water. . .tap water at that. then i would fill these two big green foam holders with tap water or "brita water" expecting it to work like distilled water lol cause i could never find distilled water.

i think theres more than meets the eye when it comes to distilled water cause i finally got some recently and yeah maybe its cleaner but mixing it with those crystals that i use now really gets stuff goin. in just one day(overnight) my humi went from 60 to 70 on the dial hygrometer. and
-all- the cigars in there are 10 times softer/more supple than the day before. that stuff is incredible. i would definately recommend it.

i cleaned out my humidor (4 tray cedar with plexiglass laid in the door with a brass lined hygrometer that is laid into the wood that is curved around it. very nice, very good seal . . bought it in the keys.) with some tea tree oil based disinfectant spray as opposed to chlorox or whatever and that seems to have worked cause there is no more mold. i have also been letting it sit for about a month since i cleaned it out without any humidity.

i want to put my cigars back in ( i have been keeping them in a smaller humidor i have and in the bathroom) i think my bathroom ones are ruined though. i took one out and it smelled like cat pee. but others smelled ok. they are not completely dead yet though they are not in good health.

they are the ones that were in the humi when it was invaded by mold. they all had a dusting of mold but were all wrapped. think the mold got in them? they are my cusano 18's that my wifey bought in a box (my very first box and cigar gift from anyone so they are sentimental to me)

think they are still safe since they were wrapped?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeManiX

they are the ones that were in the humi when it was invaded by mold. they all had a dusting of mold but were all wrapped. think the mold got in them? they are my cusano 18's that my wifey bought in a box (my very first box and cigar gift from anyone so they are sentimental to me)

think they are still safe since they were wrapped?

---

What color was your mold?? Did the mold leave a stain on the cigar wrapper?

green . . . a light green . . . like a pastel green. and no no stain nothing hugely noticeable(sp?) anyway. when i wiped them up it all came right off.

As long as the mold did not leave a stain, I don't see why your cigars would not be salvagable.

no stain ON the actual cigar or the wrapper that i can tell and none in the humi either


will try some of the cusanos to make sure. will go through them thoroughly to see if they smell funny

They say if left at the wrong temp for 24 hours a beetle infestation could break out! I'm in the UK so not that usual to get long hot days, but its summer now and 27 to 30 degrees celsius at the moment so my ciagrs keep going above the recommended temp at leat 12 hours of each day for the last couple of weeks and probably the next six, with occasional days of normal temperature. Haven't seen any problems yet, but i think I should smoke more cigars before summer and just buy when i want some in summer, then fill up again in autumn. :smiley29: