Humidor Paranoia

I received my first humidor last December. I got it as an early Christmas present because I explained to my wife that you have to "Season" them before you use them. Once I received the humidor, I went online and read everything I could about the proper way to take care of a humidor. I set it all up: I calibrated my analog hygrometer with the salt method; I put distilled water in a shot glass in the humidor for 48 hours; I loaded the two circular humidifiers with distilled water; ...errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkkkk, (SCRATCH)!!

Here is where my troubles began. I didn't understand that distilled water by itself doesn't regulate the humidity (I'm such a noob!) So apparently, my humidor is "Good To Go!" because it is reading 70% right on the money. I load it with the remainder of a box of cigars that I had in a cedar cigar box humidor and I go about my business. I check it every day and the humidity is right at 70%. Well, after about a week, the humidity is at 72%, then it goes to 75%. I am perplexed. It goes to 77%. I know I've got problems. The feet of my cigars start to swell.

So, I go back to the internet. Ah, there's my problem. I need to load my humidifiers with a 50/50 solution of distilled water and propylene glycol. Of course, I'm such a noob! So, I fill those bad boys up with CI's Cigar juice. I fill them to the brim and slap them in the ol' humidor. In the meantime, I had taken the humidifiers out and put my cigars back into their old cedar humidor, so the new humidor had moved down to like 67%. So, I put the humidifiers back in and once the humidor gets to 70%, I put my cigars back in. I am "Good To Go!" I smoked the few cigars with the swollen feet; they still tasted good to me. A few days pass, the humidor jumps up to 73%. WHAT THE HELL??!!??

Noob Next Lesson. I go on the internet and read....oh, I need to leave some room in the humidifer to obsorb excess humidity. I take one humidifier out and let it dry out and then put it back in. I am back to 70% in no time. I am now "Good To Go!"

Now, we jump to present day. I open my 70% humidified humidor and get out my morning cigar. It's in it's wrapper. It's hard to get out of the wrapper. The foot is swollen. I am panicing a little because I have now put many other cigars in the ol' humidor. This IS one of those earlier noob fiasco cigars, but I still worry. I guess you could say that I am completely paranoid about my humidor's humidity now.

I plan to get some 65% beads very soon, because I just cannot trust those humidifiers with CI Juice in them any more.

I just wanted to share my story of story of setting up my humidor and invite others to share similar stories or anything about being paranoid about the humidity in their humidors.

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction with the beads!!!:smiley1:

unless i missed something,did you wipe down all the inside of the humidor with a damp sponge??.....using distilled water on a new sponge....

I did not rub down the sides. I read a LOT of recommendations all over the web and there were two camps with regards to wiping the cedar with distilled water. One for and one against. I decided to go with the humidor manufacturer's recommendation which specifically said NOT to wipe down the inside.

As compensation for that, I actually left the distilled water in for 72 hours, which might have been bad, I don't know.

By-The-Way, I should have put this thread in Accessory category. I apologize for messing up.

it would seem to me that you absolutely must wipe down all the inside wood.....i've never seen anybody say otherwise...i'm surprised that they would......you're not going to hurt anything...and you'll help your cigars...

I've always wiped the wood down. I didn't even know there were opinions out there to the contrary.

The moral of this story is use humidity beads. :)

Using a digital hydrometer is a good idea, too.

Well, leave it to me to find them, but be unable to find them now, of course. Here are two, but not some of the original ones I found:

http://www.simplycigars.co.uk/acatal...rs_Humidor_Car

http://www.cigarlife.com/rdrmail/rml0d.htm

I am not debating with you on the correct method to season a humidor; simply stating that I did find information saying not to wipe down the inside. At any rate, as evidenced by the high humidity in my humidor, I accomplished the mission of getting the cedar saturated.

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Originally Posted by illilli

Well, leave it to me to find them, but be unable to find them now, of course. Here are two, but not some of the original ones I found:

http://www.simplycigars.co.uk/acatal...rs_Humidor_Car

http://www.cigarlife.com/rdrmail/rml0d.htm

I am not debating with you on the correct method to season a humidor; simply stating that I did find information saying not to wipe down the inside. At any rate, as evidenced by the high humidity in my humidor, I accomplished the mission of getting the cedar saturated.

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I have heard the same about wiping down the inside. I received a humi from Cuban Crafters and their instruction says not to wipe the inside...

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Originally Posted by SuperChuck

The moral of this story is use humidity beads. :)

Using a digital hydrometer is a good idea, too.

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AMEN Brother!

(The other moral is: Don't do stupid stuff when you set your humidor up like me)

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Originally Posted by SuperChuck

The moral of this story is use humidity beads. :)

Using a digital hydrometer is a good idea, too.

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What Flavor? :smiley37:

I too had 'issues' with my humidor. I was having a problem with too much humidity and temp. Then i had a problem with too little humidity while temp was fine. Talk about stress, isn't smoking cigars all about relaxing? Keep in mind that i live in DC, which is build on a swamp and subject to inhumane humidity, or lack there of. So i went from 77 degrees and 80% rh down to 65 degrees and 63%rh, finally got it constant though. TG!:smiley29:

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Originally Posted by illilli

(The other moral is: Don't do stupid stuff when you set your humidor up like me)

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The upside is you're mostly just suffering from Newbie Jitters. Your humidor is not rendered completely unusable just because you had some humidity issues. You don't have to feed your cigars to the dog.

Put a shotglass of rice in your humi until your RH gets down to 65-70. The rice will absorb the excess humidity. If they're so damp they're visibly bloated, give them a couple weeks to dry out.

You never want to rub down the inside of a humidor with distilled water.

If your humidity is too high then remove the humidification device until it gets back down to 65 percent. If when you put it back in and it goes up again, leave it out. I have had humidors in the past where I kept the humidifiaction device out for months at a time. Your cigars hold humidity, it could take months for them to lose their excess moisture.

Wiping down the wood is a must, not only does it help with the overall humidity of the humidor and seasoning of the humidor, but it also helps swell the wood a tiny bit which results in a much better seal. I good seal helps maintain the humidity. loose lids are a big cause of humidity loss.
Check this link out from Cigar Aficionado

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...101/fp398.html

Just because CA writes it, don't ever think it is gospel.

In all my years of experience with many different humidors there was never ever a reason to wipe the inside with distilled water.

We need a sticky of me saying RELAX! :)

When I was starting out, I checked my humidity every 34 minutes. If it was anywhere below 70%, I'd pour a gallon of water onto my humidifier. The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

Cigars are slow movers. Panicking and trying to "fix" something is only going to cause more problems. Similarly, you're trying to create an environment for them, which is even slower. Putting water on a humidifying element doesn't suddenly add moisture to the air. That's a very slow process.

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Originally Posted by The Master

Just because CA writes it, don't ever think it is gospel.

In all my years of experience with many different humidors there was never ever a reason to wipe the inside with distilled water.

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Its not just CA, Ive read this many times in other formats.
But it comes down to personal preference, if you think it'll help or not.

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Originally Posted by SuperChuck

The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

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LMAO !:smiley36: :smiley36:

I had heard that they can warp if you wipe them, so I didn't do it. Mine works just fine.

I'd recommend the beads solution.

Heartfelt Industries offer them and has a great reputation. I recently ordered them and they immediately stabilized one of my "problem" humidors.

Their website: http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/Home.htm

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Originally Posted by SuperChuck

We need a sticky of me saying RELAX! :)

When I was starting out, I checked my humidity every 34 minutes. If it was anywhere below 70%, I'd pour a gallon of water onto my humidifier. The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

Cigars are slow movers. Panicking and trying to "fix" something is only going to cause more problems. Similarly, you're trying to create an environment for them, which is even slower. Putting water on a humidifying element doesn't suddenly add moisture to the air. That's a very slow process.

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Man, you have described me to a T, but I could wait 60 minutes....

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Originally Posted by SuperChuck

We need a sticky of me saying RELAX! :)

When I was starting out, I checked my humidity every 34 minutes. If it was anywhere below 70%, I'd pour a gallon of water onto my humidifier. The end result was cigars that popped every time I tried to smoke one. These things were bloated like that chick in the Midol commercials.

Cigars are slow movers. Panicking and trying to "fix" something is only going to cause more problems. Similarly, you're trying to create an environment for them, which is even slower. Putting water on a humidifying element doesn't suddenly add moisture to the air. That's a very slow process.

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We need this post for Bill Clinton over on Cigar Pass (the infamous Humidor Problem thread...)

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Originally Posted by illilli

Man, you have described me to a T, but I could wait 60 minutes....

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Home brewing is another hobby of mine. You see the same problems in beermaking. Beginning brewers tend to freak out if ANYTHING is imperfect. They sterilize their brewpot, triple-filter their water, and start to panic if they don't see bubbles in the first 15 minutes. They start to get concerned that they killed their yeast because it's only 69 degrees, not the recommended 70.

Meanwhile, brewing is a rediculously inaccurate science. I've had fermentations that go strong for a week, I've had fermentations go three days. Once I even brewed the day before a heatwave and came home to a fermenter that had erupted like Mount Vesuvius! And you know what? All those beers came out just fine.

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Originally Posted by SuperChuck

Home brewing is another hobby of mine. You see the same problems in beermaking. Beginning brewers tend to freak out if ANYTHING is imperfect. They sterilize their brewpot, triple-filter their water, and start to panic if they don't see bubbles in the first 15 minutes. They start to get concerned that they killed their yeast because it's only 69 degrees, not the recommended 70.

Meanwhile, brewing is a rediculously inaccurate science. I've had fermentations that go strong for a week, I've had fermentations go three days. Once I even brewed the day before a heatwave and came home to a fermenter that had erupted like Mount Vesuvius! And you know what? All those beers came out just fine.

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One of my best friends does home brewing. He makes this dark stout that litterally begs to be drank while you are smoking a fine cigar. Well, it's a dark stout MOST of the time...:smiley1: Regardless of how it tastes, it packs a hell of kick!