To recharge or not recharge..that's the question.

[pmp]

Deleting posts is in VERY poor form. If you post something, you better mean it.


Crystals do NOT buffer humidity, they are saturated, and can only raise rh. The only way they could possibly absorb humidity is if they were completely dehydrated, in which case, they would do nothing for low rh.

They definately have their uses, I'll throw a drymistat tube into my desktop during the winter months, but in the summer, ambient rh here can run in the high 90's, dry beads do a pretty respectable job of controlling this.

90s? Damn. My house is rarely over 30. Buffering is not an issue for me.

Well I guess its good to keep in mind that for places where the RH exceeds 70, beads might be the better option.

[mrtr33]

Humidity has been in the 80's here since the beginning of March......it will stay that way (and higher) through December....

The weather never changes in southern California. I lived there for years. It might seem like it does, but nah.....

BTW, anyone in TX, LA, MS, AL, GA see that storm this past week/weekend? WoooHOOOO!

[Shelby07]

There's a chart that's been floating around for a while that compares temp to humidity. While it's a valid chart, it's often misinterpreted. It is, in fact, so prevalent that a google search with the words "temperature humidity cigars" brings up several hits. I've even seen this bogus information given by CA. Here's a link to a page that has it all wrong.

http://www.cubancigarhouse.com/humidor.php

The explanation given is wrong because the chart actually tells you is how the %RH changes as the temperature fluctuates.

Looking at the chart, if you start off at 70 degrees with a RH of 70% and the temperature drops to 67, you will see that the RH will raise to 78% unless corrective action (i.e., reducing the amount of moisture) is taken. This is because cool air cannot hold as much water as warmer air. An everyday example that will help explain what this chart actually shows can be seen when you watch the weather report.

Weather reports always show the current temperature and dew point. The dew point is actually the temperature at which the air, given the current VOLUME of moisture (different than %RH,) will become 100% saturated (100% RH.) If the temp/dew point spread is 3-4 degrees, you will usually have fog. and once the temp drops to the dew point, unless the VOLUME of moisture in the air changes it will start raining. Dew point is always lower than or equal to the actual temperature (RH can never exceed 100%.) It explains why dew forms on cool grass in the morning.

This shows the importance of what the beads and the Spanish cedar in your humidor do. Unless your humidor is temperature controlled (both heated AND cooled as necessary) your RH is going to fluctuate as the temperature changes. As most people know, fluctuating RH is worse for your cigars than a constant high or low RH.

Beads and Spanish cedar help to stabilize the %RH as the temperature fluctuates. As the temperature changes, the beads release and absorb moisture to help keep the desired relative humidity. Frow what I understand, Spanish cedar actually performs much the same buffering function as it tends to be able to hold less moisture as the temperature rises and more moisture as the temperature falls.

[mail man]

okay, I have been reading all I can on this, but my question is this, what can I do if my humi is over humidifying?
the outside RH at home is hovering around 83%, and I can't seem to get my RH down in my humi. I noticed I smoked a cigar the other night that had been in the humi for about a week, and it split at the foot, and I had one heck of a time trying to gat any type of real smoke from the stick...after reading the posts on this site, I realized that I have too much RH, and it is really getting to me. I want to make sure I don't kill any new sticks I have coming.
I am using the Xitar gel? crystals? they are soft and kinda of giggle like Jello. Is there something I can put in the humi to kind of soak up the extra humidity?

Keith

[badwhale]

okay, I have been reading all I can on this, but my question is this, what can I do if my humi is over humidifying?
the outside RH at home is hovering around 83%, and I can't seem to get my RH down in my humi. I noticed I smoked a cigar the other night that had been in the humi for about a week, and it split at the foot, and I had one heck of a time trying to gat any type of real smoke from the stick...after reading the posts on this site, I realized that I have too much RH, and it is really getting to me. I want to make sure I don't kill any new sticks I have coming.
I am using the Xitar gel? crystals? they are soft and kinda of giggle like Jello. Is there something I can put in the humi to kind of soak up the extra humidity?

Keith

Did you read this thread that you just posted to? Just wondering.

Will

[mail man]

Did you read this thread that you just posted to? Just wondering.

Will

Okay, I made an ASSHAT of myself.
I did re-read it with ALL of my attention after I posted...Sorry everyone, I was waaay too distracted to call what I did reading. I did find my answer, and will be getting some beads, and trying to drybox a couple of sticks.
Thanks and sorry
Keith

[ashauler]

Did you read this thread that you just posted to? Just wondering.

Will

lmao

[mail man]

I guess, I still want to ask, and this is what I should have asked in the first place is, are the "crystals" I have the beads that are being refered to? the jar of stuff i have in there is only about 3 weeks old, so I "think" they are just too full to absorb any humidity in the humi, and wanted to know if there is anythign I can do to keep the humi from going overboard?