Quote Originally Posted by craig View Post
Really sounds like the seal isn't there. The dollar bill test doesn't indicate a seal in low RH winter conditions IMHO.

I'm not sure what kind of humi you have, but with my desktop humidor, I'll put a heavy book on top (lid) to help the seal work in the wintertime (MRN is perfect for this). I only have to do this in the wintertime. If I forget to put the book back on, then the RH will drop.

Note that if your humi's RH really is 38% or was 50%, it'll take a few days to get to about 64%, but each % of RH after that will take a week or so.

The best long-term solution is probably active humidification, e.g., a CigarOasis or Hydra.

Good luck!
OK
I went ahead and sealed off the space behind the hydrometer and also the wood used in the top lid seal.
These photos below show my humidor and the sealing. I used aquarium silicon. No smell, just its black color (pet store only had that). You can see that the 3 pieces of glass are sealed off. I'm letting it dry for the night and will try it again tomorrow. Should I season it at that point?
Also, there are the beads in the bottom left corner. The RH in the apartment was about 20-24%. and about 72-4F. The digital hydrometer shows 40%, the analog one about 37-8% (Don't mind the photo readout, that was taken earlier). The digital one is my little weather station unit.