Bead Issues

So I decided to man-up and by some 65% beads from Heartfelt. According to their site, I need .1 pounds for my humidor. I easily put that many in. The RH was pretty low before I put in the beads, so I think I may have over compensated by oversaturating the beads. However, the RH in a week and a half, has failed to climb above 59% according to my digital hygrometer. I would think if I had oversaturated the beads, it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 70%. Anybody have any idea why this could be happening? Maybe my cigars were just real dry before and are soaking up the moisture? Maybe I need to re-season my humidor? Maybe my humidor sucks? Thanks for any help.

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Originally Posted by JRas224

So I decided to man-up and by some 65% beads from Heartfelt. According to their site, I need .1 pounds for my humidor. I easily put that many in. The RH was pretty low before I put in the beads, so I think I may have over compensated by oversaturating the beads. However, the RH in a week and a half, has failed to climb above 59% according to my digital hygrometer. I would think if I had oversaturated the beads, it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 70%. Anybody have any idea why this could be happening? Maybe my cigars were just real dry before and are soaking up the moisture? Maybe I need to re-season my humidor? Maybe my humidor sucks? Thanks for any help.

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Have you done the salt test on your hygrometer?

I am thinking that is your problem. The beads are fairly foolproof.

Drew seems to have hit it right on the head.... I would do some type of test on your hygrometer... lots of people do the salt test.... the newest thing seems to be using a Boveda bag and calibrating you hygrometer.

http://www.cigarmony.com/store/produ...7061cd10fccaaf

I did do the salt test when I got it about 4 months ago. I also salt tested the analog hygrometer which is mounted on the front of the humidor. They are both reading the same right now.

Hmmm...I still trust my beads over my hygrometer. I heard somewhere that they will start reading low when the batteries get low. Try changing them.

You are using distilled water with your beads, right?

I am using distilled water. I guess I will salt test the hygrometers again. I'm thinking I might also need to season my humidor again. I took it easy on it the first time and I'm thinking it might not have been enough.

Another thing you can try that I've heard is taking a shotglass full of distilled water and leaving it in your humidor for a day. This should provide enough moisture for the humidor's wood to absorb as well as the beads.

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Originally Posted by godfather

Another thing you can try that I've heard is taking a shotglass full of distilled water and leaving it in your humidor for a day. This should provide enough moisture for the humidor's wood to absorb as well as the beads.

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That would be a better way if it was seasoned once and you think the humidor needs to absorb more water, but remember you don't want the beads to absorb all the moisture, you want them to keep a consistent humidity, so don't do this for long. The important thing right now JRas224 is what colour are the beads at that humidity? are they all completely white, or clear?

-W.

They're probably 80% clear.

well sounds like the beads are holding up ok.

Have you checked the seal on your humidor? (place a dollar bill over the edge of the box, close the lid on it and see how easily the bill pulls out, it should be hard to do or not possible at all).

it could just be that it needs to equalise as well if your salt test shows o.k.

-W.

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Originally Posted by JRas224

They're probably 80% clear.

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Don't fret. Keep the beads at least 50% clear and your cigars will be happy.

Add more beads, you cannot put too many in. I usually triple the reccomended amount.

Actually, I went back and looked at them and it's probably more like 90% clear. Would oversaturation lead to low humidity though? I just placed the beads and my digital hygrometer in another humidor that I'm not using right now but has been seasoned. I'll see what happens in there. The dollar bill test resulted in resistance but it did come out.

How big is your humidor and how many beads did you get (ounces? tubes?)

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Originally Posted by JRas224

Actually, I went back and looked at them and it's probably more like 90% clear. Would oversaturation lead to low humidity though?

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No, they would release excess water into the humidor over time.

Here is my humidor: http://www.cigarsinternational.com/p...=el+presidente

I bought the half pound bag of beads and placed them in some tupperware.

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Originally Posted by JRas224

Here is my humidor: http://www.cigarsinternational.com/p...=el+presidente

I bought the half pound bag of beads and placed them in some tupperware.

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You should have enough beads for that humidor. You probably need to add some water to the spanish cedar, sounds like it has dried out.

Hmmm....

Dry cigars, dry humi, or, dry gars AND dry humi, bad hygro, bad Karma.

Some, none, or all of the above.

Looks like you are going to have to throw beads, cigars, and humi away.

Start all over.

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Looks like you are going to have to throw beads, cigars, and humi away.

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Yep, I suggest you send them to me and I'll throw it away for you. It will be too traumatic for you to throw it away yourself. Heck, I'll even pay the postage. I'm just that nice of a guy. :smiley2:

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Yep, I suggest you send them to me and I'll throw it away for you. It will be too traumatic for you to throw it away yourself. Heck, I'll even pay the postage. I'm just that nice of a guy.

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Thanks for the offer Dru. Very sweet of you. However, I think I'll take my chances with reseasoning the humi. Thanks again to everyone for all the help.

So the tupperware is open to the air though right? I put the lower portion of my tupperware filled with beads into a pair of pantyhose. works great.

-W.

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Originally Posted by Monk

So the tupperware is open to the air though right? I put the lower portion of my tupperware filled with beads into a pair of pantyhose. works great.

-W.

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ya, basil sent me a pair of pantyhose right off his leg for me to put my beads in, they work great.

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Originally Posted by chefchris

ya, basil sent me a pair of pantyhose right off his leg for me to put my beads in, they work great.

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With some of the photos we have seen of you, I am surprised you didn't have your own pair... or were fishnets too open for beads? :smiley2:

-W.

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Originally Posted by Monk

With some of the photos we have seen of you, I am surprised you didn't have your own pair... or were fishnets too open for beads? :smiley2:

-W.

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i can't find the right ones to match my party shorts. :smiley6:

How much surface area of the beads are exposed to air?

I have a similar humidor. If your humidity is too low, placing a shot-glass of distilled water on the corner does help control the humidity. You should try that first before doing anything rash.

Plus, what temperature is your digi-hygrometer reading? That may be a cause to your low humidity. The colder it is in the room (where you humidor is), the less humidity there will be. But, the beads should take care of that.....maintaining correct moisture with temp. changes.

Andrew

Fill the humidor 2" deep with sea water. Let sit overnight. :smiley36: :smiley8:
Just kidding.
I use distilled water, and trust the beads. Sure is nice not running around every other day, measuring RH. In fact I have a few containers that don't even have hygrometers in them.
:smiley20:

...and, of course, the $64,000 question...

How do the sticks feel and smoke? That is the best indicator.

The beads are probably an inch an a half deep in the tupperware that has a diameter of about 3 inches. The sticks definately feel dry. I gave the humidor a quick rub down last night with some distilled water so hopefully that helps. One interesting thing though, I put about ten of my sticks in a ziploc bag with my beads and my digital hygrometer. The highest reading I got on that environment was 60%. So now I'm thinking I will salt test the hygrometer again. I've had this distilled water for a while, distilled water doesn't go bad does it?

And the temperature has consistently read 70-72 degress on the digital.

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Originally Posted by JRas224

The beads are probably an inch an a half deep in the tupperware that has a diameter of about 3 inches. The sticks definately feel dry. I gave the humidor a quick rub down last night with some distilled water so hopefully that helps. One interesting thing though, I put about ten of my sticks in a ziploc bag with my beads and my digital hygrometer. The highest reading I got on that environment was 60%. So now I'm thinking I will salt test the hygrometer again. I've had this distilled water for a while, distilled water doesn't go bad does it?

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No it won't go bad :smiley1:

-W.

Thought I would post a couple of comments about how my beads have been working. I went ahead and got a half pound of the 70% beads and a big tube of the 70% beads. When that tube went in, after wetting it of course, my humidity after a week or so, went down to 52% humidity. I never had a problem when I used the foam rectangular humidifier and a Boveda packet.

So I think I have solved the problem by using a aquarium media bag and filling it with beads and then sticking that into the rectangular humidifier. Then I got a fresh piece of spanish cedar and wet it and stuck it in the humidor. After a couple of days, humidity is up to 67% and rising. I like my cigars around 70 or 72% humidity.

Any comments or suggestions on why the humidity goes down when using the beads? Everyone's advice or experience pointed to how good they are. Just seemed to have better luck with the foam, but a little more work than the beads.

Anyhow, later.