Humidor set-up question

[here'sjohnny]

Okay so i got my humidor in the mail today, (small 20 count). I followed Lopaka's humidor setup guide to season it. I had soaked the humidifier in pg solution and had it resting on a towel for a long while to make sure it wouldn't drip inside my humi. anyways when i opened the humi i checked the rh and found it to be a solid 90%. am i crazy or is this strange. i know the humi needs time to absorb the water, but that made me imagine it would be overly dry in the humidor until it was ready to rock. Prolly just being a paranoid noob, but what are you guys thoughts?

[bigwhiteash]

Patience is the key, you really need to avoid messing with it for at least 2 days! more is even better. The last one I did, I was lucky enough to be going away for the 4th of July weekend, since I'm impatient myself. Moisture will permeate the air first, the wood will eventually absorb, and hold humidity, but things take quite a bit of time to stabilize. Try not to rush this step, the health of your precious cigars is at stake.

Humidity will read high at the start, after a few days, it will SLOWLY creep down to 70% if you're using PG.

One question, are you using a properly calibrated DIGITAL hygrometer? Those round analog things are very inconsistent.

[here'sjohnny]

Ok no worries i will keep myself in check for the next couple of days. My hygrometer has been calibrated twice in the past with a salt test, both times it hit 80% on the dot so i just mentally compensate by 5. If patience is key i sure won't be unlocking anything soon. (wow thats a terrible joke sorry)

So, question answered, i am a paranoid noob.

[Shelby07]

Be ready for a change after you add cigars. They will absorb or release moisture when you put them in unless they are at the correct rh already. As previouly stated, patience is the secret. Always give the humidor 2-3 days to stabilize and try not to open it to gawk at the cigars too much.

Congrats on your first humi... it won't be your last.

[here'sjohnny]

so i gave my humi 3 dats. the last two it held at 7% perfectly. i filled it with cigars and it jumped back to ninety. Again isthis a spike or should i worry?

[bigwhiteash]

I assume you meant to say 70%?


Sounds about right, things will stabilize after a day or two. Basically, the cigars you added took up the empty air space, leaving less air for the moisture to occupy.

Cigars are much slower to absorb moisture, and your hygrometer can obviously only read the RH of the air, you will get high readings for a day or two. 90 sounds a bit high, but then I've never used an analog "needle" type hygrometer, perhaps they respond differently than digital.


I would still consider investing in a quality digital hygrometer.

[basil]

Filling a 20 count humi is definitely enough to make the rh jump, if the cigars are coming from a high rh environment. Cigars that wet are probably impossible to smoke. It's possible that they came from the store like that, but if you tried to smoke one you'd've known immediately, and that would corrolate with a high rh in a small environment after putting them in the humi.

If it were me, I'd leave them for a few days, don't add water, and be sure to keep them 60-70F. The rh where you live says 45% right now, so that inside your box should come down. Keep in mind also that a smaller space is going to be harder to stabilize.

edit - BWA's suggestion to get a digital hygrometer is a good idea. When you realize you need something larger, go for the beads - very low hassle factor.