I think Microsoft Made my Humidor... It crashes constantly

:smiley17:

What do I mean by crash, The humidity level drops at about 10% a week, no matter the humidification method that is used.

I have used everything from the cheap disk style moisturizers to the Heartfelt beads. I should note that my humidor is only rated to a maximum of 25 cigars at this time (I have a larger one on the way). Admitting that I am a complete and total nublet when it comes to cigars, humidors, and other interesting things, I may be totally at fault for these crashes. When I first got it, I just assumed that you toss your cigars in with a wet moisturizer... then I searched, low and behold one needs to "season" a humidor, so I followed the basic tutorials that can be found across the net. I did some dumb things that people recommend, like wiping the interior with water, which under deeper research is actually bad to very bad, causing the need for me to (lightly) re-sand the interior of my humidor from the grains in the wood that raised.

Next I left a bowl of distilled water in the humidor for 48 hours. With further research it seems that this too is not enough. So now I am using the boveda 84% packs and am going to let it sit there for about 2 weeks (my cigars are currently in a ziplock baggy with a xicar humidification jar and are sitting at 71% RH @ ~ 72 Deg), so I think they will be fine for the next 2-3 weeks while I try to re-season this small humidor.

I am starting to run a theory, Like salt water tanks, reef tanks in particular, it is usually easier to start with a much larger tank than you may want. The smaller the tank you run the faster a crash happens, a the larger the tank, the slower the crash happens and it is easier to catch. Again I think this may be the way with Humidors.

I could also be way off base, We'll see what happens with the new humidor when it comes, it is a Daniel Marshall Ambiente Black Humidor, and I have the boveda packs ready to toss in it and start the seasoning off, hopefully right.

Is there some sort of question in there? 25 count humidor? My guess would be you're opening it too much.

How do your cigars smoke?

I gotta find my humidor care guide I wrote

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Originally Posted by badwhale

Is there some sort of question in there? 25 count humidor? My guess would be you're opening it too much.

How do your cigars smoke?

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There is no real question, just documenting my current situation. Is opening it once a day to grab a cigar too often? They smoke OK but I have noticed as the humidity goes down they are starting to crack when I light them, specifically around the area where one puffs from.

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Originally Posted by kevin7

I gotta find my humidor care guide I wrote

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If you do please link it :smiley37:

It seems like I am ALWAYS asking this question, but what kind of humidity measurement are you using?

I think I would get a larger humidor because think about how much room for air is actually in your little humidor. You open it up and that air is all likely displaced, so your humidity device has to re-humidify the air. Your humidor interior won't loose it's "seasoning" during this event, but the air does. Your humidity measurement device measures the air and it takes your humidifying device X time to re-humidify the air.

As for you cigars cracking, I'm not sure we can attribute that to your humidor just yet. Where did you get these cigars? Did they get a lot of humidity and then get no humidity (rapid humidity changes)? (These are rhetorical questions.)

You said you have beads, how many ounces do you have?

Post us a picture of your rig, too.

probably a dumb question... but did you wipe it with regular water or distilled water? and its gotta be a light coat. and like they told me the other day make sure that you wipe around the seal it might just be that its not sealing right. food for thought.

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Originally Posted by illilli

It seems like I am ALWAYS asking this question, but what kind of humidity measurement are you using?

I think I would get a larger humidor because think about how much room for air is actually in your little humidor. You open it up and that air is all likely displaced, so your humidity device has to re-humidify the air. Your humidor interior won't loose it's "seasoning" during this event, but the air does. Your humidity measurement device measures the air and it takes your humidifying device X time to re-humidify the air.

As for you cigars cracking, I'm not sure we can attribute that to your humidor just yet. Where did you get these cigars? Did they get a lot of humidity and then get no humidity (rapid humidity changes)? (These are rhetorical questions.)

You said you have beads, how many ounces do you have?

Post us a picture of your rig, too.

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I'll get a pic some time soon (after my current seasoning trek).

Yeah a larger humidor is on the way, I ordered it on Friday :smiley37:.

I have no doubt of a mostly full air exchange, but the humidor is opened once per day, maybe. The other oddity is that (with the exception of the cheap disk) I have not had to "recharge" my humidification devices.

For my method of checking, I am using my digital temperature/humidity device, I think it is the Caliber IV.

I just ordered parts to build an external Arduino monitor so the humidity and temperature can be read without opening the case.

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Originally Posted by SailorJoe

probably a dumb question... but did you wipe it with regular water or distilled water? and its gotta be a light coat. and like they told me the other day make sure that you wipe around the seal it might just be that its not sealing right. food for thought.

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I used RODI (Reverse Osmosis De-Ionized) Water, which is as pure as distilled water (I have a system that I use for Carnivorous Plants, and Salt Water Aquariums), and I did wipe down the interior. I will say that upon further research wiping down the interior of the humidors may be a mistake, as it causes the wood to absorb the water too quickly, causing the grain to raise, and the possibility of warping the wood and damaging the seal.

This may be one of those Ford vs Chevy, Linux vs Windows, or $political_party_a vs $political_party_b debates, I am too new to it to know at this time.

Since nobody else has asked, I will.......

Does it have a good seal?

If your humidor is not sealing properly you would lose a lot of RH without ever having to open it.

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Originally Posted by CptnBlues63

Since nobody else has asked, I will.......

Does it have a good seal?

If your humidor is not sealing properly you would lose a lot of RH without ever having to open it.

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I assume it has a good seal, it makes the coveted whuuuump sound when it closes, and doesn't slam.

Any tests that can be recommended to check if the seal is good?

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by tc3driver

I assume it has a good seal, it makes the coveted whuuuump sound when it closes, and doesn't slam.

Any tests that can be recommended to check if the seal is good?

Thanks.

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Dollar bill test! :smiley20:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tc3driver

I assume it has a good seal, it makes the coveted whuuuump sound when it closes, and doesn't slam.

Any tests that can be recommended to check if the seal is good?

Thanks.

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That's the only one I knew of until I saw George's reply..........now I'm going to have to google "dollar bill humidor test" :smiley36:

If there is no glass on the humidor you can use a flashlight as well. Turn it on, put in humi, close humi, look for light leaks.

How many cigars are in it? Are you buying one stick after work and sticking it in then going back for it after dinner? If it's a CHEEP 25 count its most likely not going to perform like some of the others on the market. Fill it up and put the beads in it and quit checking it.it will find its balance on its own. Last question why the hell are you worried about it if you just ordered a bigger one?