Quick Intro and a Question

[bluesman]

Hello everyone!

First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chris and I live in Rochester, NY. I'm pretty much a noob when it comes to smoking cigars. I've been regularly smoking cigars for about six months now after a buddy of mine got me hooked. Before that I'd have one during special occasions and such, but never really knew enough to have any idea what was good, bad, or even what type of smoke I was having.

Now onto my question with a little extra background info. So although I've been smoking fairly regularly (one or two a week) for awhile now, I've just recently took the plunge into having a few sticks on hand and figured I should get a basic humidor to keep them in prime condition. I tried to do my research and picked out something basic that had fairly good reviews from what I can tell, but I'm not sure if there's a problem with the humidor. I ordered one of the Capri humidors (the all wood lid, not the one with a glass top) made by Quality Importers and just received it today. Everything looks ok with the humidor except I'm not sure if its making a proper seal. I expected the humidor to need a little force to close it once the "lip" on the lid made contact with the bottom part of the humidor, but it doesn't. I can hear it making contact in some spots, but it is still loose enough for it to simply shut by itself with no force. A couple additional details - I haven't even begun the process of seasoning the humidor yet as I'm worried that I'll need to return it so I'm thinking that once the wood absorbs some humidity it will expand slightly and seal properly, but I thought I remembered reading somewhere that it should need a little force to close (eg, I don't even know that force is the right word, but I thought I read that it shouldn't close on its own without pushing down on the lid a little). Also, although it isn't particularly cold in my area today I did let it sit in the house out of its packing for a solid hour or two and tested it again, but had the same results. Please let me know what you think. Hopefully, I'm just being crazy as I'd hate to have to return my brand new toy.

Also, I'd just like to thank everyone on this site for providing a lot of useful info. I may have just registered, but I've been reading a lot of things on here the past week or so and have learned a lot from you all already.

[FightingFish]

Hello and welcome!
I'm new to cigars myself, but here's my take. A humidor shouldn't click shut like tupperware, it really shouldn't need anything more than gravity to close. Try the 'woosh' test: Drop the lid from an inch up. You should hear a gentle 'woosh' sound from the air escaping. That will be two cents please.

[bluesman]

I wouldn't say I hear a "gentle 'whoosh' sound". It's more of a 'thunk' - not quite a thud, as if there's just enough air pressure to keep it from making a full thud. This discussion could prove interesting...at least trying to describe sounds via written word.

[Mangyrat]

Welcome to the forum.

Now to the humidor.

After it is seasoned some the wood slightly expands and the seal will get better.
I have a Yukon thats basically the same as the one you got and it didn't seem to seal up very well when i first got it but now its fine.

I use the small humidor to keep pipe tobacco samplers in now so im not real concerned if it stays at a perfect humidity, But back when i used it for cigars it was no problem after a few weeks of using it.

[buzz]

You can try the flashlight test: Turn all the lights off in your room to make it absolutely pitch black, try to make your way to the humidor, step on something sharp and ram your shin into a coffee table or something, turn the flashlight on, put it in the humidor, see if any light shines out of it.

Welcome from AZ.

-Buzz

[Roger]

Welcome from Eastern Oregon. Enjoy your stay with us.

[craig]

No force. Welcome from Ottawa, Canada, where glass is illegal in commercial humidors.

[bluesman]

You can try the flashlight test: Turn all the lights off in your room to make it absolutely pitch black, try to make your way to the humidor, step on something sharp and ram your shin into a coffee table or something, turn the flashlight on, put it in the humidor, see if any light shines out of it.

Welcome from AZ.

-Buzz

Hahaha, nice. This should prove even more hilarious after the Stone IPA I've been drinking tonight. It's too cold to go outside and smoke so I figured I might as well enjoy some beer that will ruin my palate.

I think the seal is good though. After watching a few You Tube videos and re-reading a few things last night it seems like the seal good enough at least. I began the seasoning process last night. I just did the shot glass method last night as I realized I didn't have any new sponges and it was too late to go to the store. Today I picked up some sponges and did the wipe-down method with distilled water and left the moist sponge in the box on top of a plastic bag. I did notice that even after the basic wipe down, the lid fits a lot more snugly. If I just slowly close it, it requires just a little force to completely close and if I drop it from about an inch I definitely get more of a whoosh sound now.

Interestingly, I've been doing the salt test on my digital hygrometer for over 24 hours now, but it still doesn't seem like the reading has stabilized. Hopefully, once I get that dialed in I can get the hygrometer in the humidor so I can tell once the humidity in the box is stabilized. Probably should have just picked up the Boveda calibration packet, but I was trying to save a few bucks.

Thanks for the helpful replies and welcome posts!