Attaching top mounted hygrometer

[ggiese]

Duct tape that sucker in!!!

And you are being too impatient. It takes time for the humidor to reach stability (sometimes 4 - 6 weeks).

Wipe down the insides with distilled water - put your beads in there - wait 2-3 days - fill the humi with cigars. Just keep an eye that the level doesn't fall below 60%.

Also - you need to do the salt test on your new hygometer. Out of the box, analog hygrometers tend not to be very accurate and need adjustment. If you have a digital hygrometer you're much better off!

Next question - how are the seals? On a humi like that, I tend to think they're not very tight.

[Cigarbear]

I wiped the interior real well when I first got it. Afterwards I put distilled water soaked sponges in the drawers and the bottom on plastic bags and put a calibrated digital hygrometer in while the analog that came with it calibrated with the moist salt cap test. I also put a humistate tube in the bottom tray and a 4oz humucare jar in the base. After a check at 12 hours and 24 hours the hygro was reading about 72%. After taking out the sponges I waited another few hours without any rH change so I filled it with cigars. That was late Friday and it's settling at 70% at the moment. Should I be aiming a little lower for fluctuation or is that more a matter of preference?

[Silencei2]

I wiped the interior real well when I first got it. Afterwards I put distilled water soaked sponges in the drawers and the bottom on plastic bags and put a calibrated digital hygrometer in while the analog that came with it calibrated with the moist salt cap test. I also put a humistate tube in the bottom tray and a 4oz humucare jar in the base. After a check at 12 hours and 24 hours the hygro was reading about 72%. After taking out the sponges I waited another few hours without any rH change so I filled it with cigars. That was late Friday and it's settling at 70% at the moment. Should I be aiming a little lower for fluctuation or is that more a matter of preference?

I would definitely say it is a matter of preference. I couldn't make up my mind when it came to it so I keep mine at 66-67. I would have to say though from first hand experience that if you keep them at a higher humidity they tend to draw harder. There are a lot of threads that discuss this topic and a lot of websites but they all tend to point towards 65%

[Cigarbear]

I would definitely say it is a matter of preference. I couldn't make up my mind when it came to it so I keep mine at 66-67. I would have to say though from first hand experience that if you keep them at a higher humidity they tend to draw harder. There are a lot of threads that discuss this topic and a lot of websites but they all tend to point towards 65%

A more moist cigar seems like it would certainly have a harder draw. I had a La Aurora earlier that pulled fine and just finished a La Aurora second that had a harder draw. I chalked it up to being a second but perhaps is a humidity issue. The Cusano 59 I had last night had a very easy draw. It was from one of the flip trays on the top so perhaps had a lower rH. I think I'll take one of the humistat tubes out and see where it settles.

[FunkyCold5]

I like to move my digi-hygro around, so haven't bothered peeling off the sticky tape on the back.

To each his own. I use beads, so I don't really need to keep an eye on it, BUT would like to check it every now and then.

So I have one Digi-Hygro and I just move it around from cooler, humidor, and other cigar storages I have.

Andrew

[Cigarbear]

I replaced the gel with beads on both the humis. I have another pound of beads for a 150 qt coolerdor. I'll upgrade to one of the active systems eventually but my current setup seems to be pretty good.