Hey all,

I am a newbie to the world of cigars, still just a casual smoker. i bought a small humidor on ebay (i think it is the same as this one from jrcigars.com - http://www.jrcigars.com/index.cfm?pa...H12KR&type=hum). i broke it in by lightly sponging the inside with distilled water every few days for 2 or 3 weeks. after that i left the humidifier and hygrometer in the box for about a week and the humidity level seemed to hold constant. after that i bought a few cigars and put them in. after about week when i went to smoke one of the cigars, the humidity level had dropped to about 60%. i put my smokes in a friends humidor and tried the breaking in process again. same thing happened.

i basically have 2 questions. does this sound like the humidor has a bad seal? if so, is there any hope of using this humidor or should i just cut my losses and start over?

second question is this. i have heard people argue the proper way to break in a humidor. some say just leave a shot glass of distlled water in the box until the humidity gets to about 70%, some say to actually sponge the inside of the box with distlled water. what is the best way to break in a humidor?

i've been using a 50/50 solution to recharge the credo and the smokes came from a cigar shop, not mail order so they shouldn't have been overly dry.

sorry for the long post but i'm just a newbie looking to get the best experience out of some good cigars!

thanks in advance for your time,
-nick