Quote Originally Posted by pmp View Post
Humidity can drop because of a poor seal, seasonal changes, additions or subtractions to the contents of the humidor.

Simply stating that its time to refill your beads when your humidity drops is idealistic and will probably work a percentage of the time but realistically, there is no clear way to measure when they are actually depleted. This is a real downside to beads.
I disagree. There is a very clear way to measure when they are depleted. They turn white. The reason for the beads being white doesn't matter as far as the beads are concerned. The only reason they will turn white is if humidity in the enclosure has dropped below whatever level beads you have. It makes no difference why the humidity is lower, only that it is. That is when water needs to be added.

If they are all clear, it means humidity is too high and you need to let some of the water out of the beads by putting them in front of a fan, setting them out, etc. Again, it does not matter what made the humidity raise, the fix is the same.