Hi, hello, buenos días, bonjour

**asus** · 02-23-2012, 04:08 PM

Hey all, as you can see I am a new guy on the forum, a newbie if you will.
I come to you from Toronto, Canada. I have a gf, a dog, a cat, a motorcycle and a humidor with some cigars.

Now the reason I joined this forum is to try and educate myself on cigars.
Currently I have a humidor I picked up from my local cigar shop (not sure if I can name, names so I'll leave it out).
They had a nice starter kit that I picked up a little over a year ago. Unfortunately as of late I think the box is starting to fail me... is that possible.
My kit came with one of those brass and glass hygrometers and two humidification pucks (screw cap type). About two months ago my hygro was reading below 50 RH, so I seasoned my humidor and tested my hygro. I could only get it up to 85 after keeping it in a wet bowl for an hour. I adjusted it with the screw and set it to 100 and placed it back in. It then dropped to about 50 again the next day.
I then picked up a digital hygrometer and two new pucks (non screw cap type), filled them with solution and the reading was 70 in about 3 hours....great.
A few days later I take out a cigar and it's reading 60..WTF? I refilled the pucks and I get it back up to 65 as of this morning.
This is starting to frustrate me. Should I be concerned?
The reason I ask is that I am getting about 40 cigars tomorrow and want to make sure they are not going to go to waste in my humidor.

Any help is appreciated.

**badwhale** · 02-23-2012, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by asus

Hey all, as you can see I am a new guy on the forum, a newbie if you will.
I come to you from Toronto, Canada. I have a gf, a dog, a cat, a motorcycle and a humidor with some cigars.

Now the reason I joined this forum is to try and educate myself on cigars.
Currently I have a humidor I picked up from my local cigar shop (not sure if I can name, names so I'll leave it out).
They had a nice starter kit that I picked up a little over a year ago. Unfortunately as of late I think the box is starting to fail me... is that possible.
My kit came with one of those brass and glass hygrometers and two humidification pucks (screw cap type). About two months ago my hygro was reading below 50 RH, so I seasoned my humidor and tested my hygro. I could only get it up to 85 after keeping it in a wet bowl for an hour. I adjusted it with the screw and set it to 100 and placed it back in. It then dropped to about 50 again the next day.
I then picked up a digital hygrometer and two new pucks (non screw cap type), filled them with solution and the reading was 70 in about 3 hours....great.
A few days later I take out a cigar and it's reading 60..WTF? I refilled the pucks and I get it back up to 65 as of this morning.
This is starting to frustrate me. Should I be concerned?
The reason I ask is that I am getting about 40 cigars tomorrow and want to make sure they are not going to go to waste in my humidor.

Any help is appreciated.

Welcome from Bitterville.

Do a search for "herfer's guide to setting up a humidor" or something like that, and there's a great resurrected post in the accessories forum. Salt test and everything is in there.

I wouldn’t worry too much about your cigars as long as they’re burning alright when you smoke them.

Most everyone is going to recommend humidity beads, and either ditch the hydrometer, or at least get a digital one.

Will

**buzz** · 02-23-2012, 04:39 PM

What Will said. Welcome from AZ.

-Buzz

**ggiese** · 02-23-2012, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by buzz

What Will said. Welcome from AZ.

-Buzz

Leave it to two engineers to have the new guy dump his hydrometer. I suspect it's because the both of you suffer from a terminal case of "hydrometer" envy.

**ggiese** · 02-23-2012, 04:47 PM

...oh - and welcome!

**buzz** · 02-23-2012, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by ggiese

Leave it to two engineers

Nice work with the double-to-two use!

Yes, I'm easily distracted.

**badwhale** · 02-23-2012, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by ggiese

Good call on having him ditch is "hydrometer" - you're going to confuse the crap out of him if he's measuring the specific gravity of his liquid (e.g. distilled water). He should really be using a digital "hygrometer" instead!!!

Originally Posted by ggiese

Leave it to two engineers to have the new guy dump his hydrometer. I suspect it's because the both of you suffer from a terminal case of "hydrometer" envy.

We, engineers, are not known for spelling.

Civil engineers, at least, are known for exuding an air of confidence, even if you're not sure. This is especially important for structural engineers.

Hydrometer makes more sense, so it's right.

**ggiese** · 02-23-2012, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by badwhale

Welcome from Bitterville.

Do a search for "herfer's guide to setting up a humidor" or something like that, and there's a great resurrected post in the accessories forum. Salt test and everything is in there.

I wouldn’t worry too much about your cigars as long as they’re burning alright when you smoke them.

Most everyone is going to recommend humidity beads, and either ditch the hydrometer, or at least get a digital one.

Will

Good call on having him ditch is "hydrometer" - you're going to confuse the crap out of him if he's measuring the specific gravity of his liquid (e.g. distilled water). He should really be using a digital "hygrometer" instead!!!