Starting Construction

**DeeDubya** · 06-23-2009, 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by ashauler

I still don't see my cot.

I can see it... but only in my mind. I can smell it too... and it smells like cigar smoke.

**ashauler** · 06-23-2009, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by DeeDubya

I can see it... but only in my mind. I can smell it too... and it smells like cigar smoke.

LMAO......you're right, it does.

**sammis** · 06-23-2009, 07:31 PM

Hmmm am I the only one wondering about the Bread box in the Humidor?

You must have some high standards for your bread as well as your cigars.

**DeeDubya** · 06-24-2009, 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by sammis

Hmmm am I the only one wondering about the Bread box in the Humidor?

You must have some high standards for your bread as well as your cigars.

That's a box of sourdough robusto's.

**DeeDubya** · 07-07-2009, 01:06 PM

Just 3 weeks and I am already experiencing some algae growth in the humidifier drip pan. And that's with using distilled water! I guess it's really no surprise since the outside temp has been over 100 each day for a month now. The inside temp gets up to around 77-80 max but still kind of warm. It's a perfect incubator for mold and algae growth. I found this first little colony early on when I was making the float valve connection to the unit. I simply removed the pan and washed it. My intentions are to control the algae with a Dimethylbenzyl ammonium chloride compound in tablet form. This would provide a biodegradeable, non-corrosive and non-toxic treatment with no detectable odor. The solution does not evaporate into the air but adheres to the pan with somewhat residual protection. Most likely a dose of 1 tablet per week will keep things in check. Mold spores are another problem all together. The damp humidor environment would be a prime breeding ground for black toxic mold. I don't want to ever see toxic mold in the humidor so I will soon be installing an ultraviolet light source (UV-aire) similar to the sterilization lamps used in the medical field. UV in a large dose will kill just about anything. Mold spores passing within 18" of the lamp are zapped dead. The main disadvantage is bleeching. I will have to fan force the air through a metal chamber containing the lamp so as to continuously treat all the air within the humidor over time while shielding the UV light from the cigars. I'm already familiar with this arrangement as we have a larger unit already installed in the central air conditioning return air chamber. It's a bad dude. When first installed we could actually smell the plywood cooking, not from heat but just from the intense UV rays.
Just a little update on progress. Everything else is working as planned. RH is now controlled at 64-66%. Automatic water fill is working. After 2 weeks of storage the cigars are already stabilizing. I had several different brands that were busting wrappers when kept at 70%. Now at 65% they are burning perfect.

**craig** · 07-07-2009, 03:24 PM

Algae? I guess we don't get that here because the water is so frickin' hard (and cold).

It'd be nice to get the temps down ... maybe leave the track lights off most of the time?

Lookin' good!

**DeeDubya** · 07-07-2009, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by craig

Algae? I guess we don't get that here because the water is so frickin' hard (and cold).

It'd be nice to get the temps down ... maybe leave the track lights off most of the time?

Lookin' good!

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, the lights are usually off. I think once we get past these really hot "dog days" things will go better. Actually the humidifier works like the swamp coolers that they use in New Mexico / Arizona. The evaporating water on the filter media really sucks some heat out of the air, but also catches spores which are then washed off in the water pan, where they replicate and grow into large pods of slime. Today, the RH is about 70% outside so it's not even running. That's right, 103 degrees and 70% RH for a heat index of about 110. Good day for a jog!