Humi full of cigars, 65% beads and still sitting at 74RH

[Owen_]

So my cigars recently turned up as did my 65% beads from heartfelt industries.

My RH is 74% with no sign of it going lower, its a x20 humi with x10 sticks in.

I havent even charged my beads to not add any humidity.

What on earth is going on and why is it still to high ?

[ashauler]

See this thread: http://www.cigarsmokers.com/threads/...ly-on-the-rise

[ashauler]

Ok, seriously, when you put the beads in the humi, what happened? Have they gone clear?

[ggiese]

So my cigars recently turned up as did my 65% beads from heartfelt industries.

My RH is 74% with no sign of it going lower, its a x20 humi with x10 sticks in.

I havent even charged my beads to not add any humidity.

What on earth is going on and why is it still to high ?

Almost sounds as though the cigars may have been "well" humidified before you put them into the humidor - unless you're living in a place that has 80% rH. I would not touch anything for a while and see where it heads. If the cigars are holding too much humidity and the rH in the house is in the 40-50% range (as it should be) - it will not be long before everything stabilizes itself.

Remember - it really is better to have a cigar with too much humidity and get it down to the right range - than to have the cigars all dried out and try to rehumidify them. Other than the issue with mold in a high humidity environment, you really don't have much to worry about. Watch for signs of mold - especially if you have maduro cigars (they contain significant amounts of nutrients those little mold critters love so much)...

Good luck!

[BurninMaduro]

especially if you have maduro cigars (they contain significant amounts of nutrients those little mold critters love so much)...

Good luck!

That made laugh! Those "little mold critters", awesome!

[illilli]

Alright, this is like the second post where no one asked the "really" important question!!

WHAT KIND OF HUMIDITY MEASUREMENT ARE YOU USING? I only trust digital hygrometers. You see, what you are saying doesn't make sense to me all unless, I go WAY back in memory where something similar happened to me. Only I was trying to use an analog hygrometer. I learned rather quickly that "analog" means "doesn't work".

If you ARE using a digital hygrometer, I recommend you calibrate it again and then try again. If you:

A.) are not using a digital hygrometer and
B.) have not calibrated it, then

We can't really help you much.

[illilli]

I'm sorry to keep posting about this subject, but it's like science; if gravity suddenly stops working, its going to bug you a bit.

The beads are like that; they just plain work. So, I was also thinking that maybe you over-saturated the beads (I've done that myself because I get a little spray happy as I wet my beads sometimes). That is akin to putting a glass of water in the humidor and that could also cause a higher humidity until the beads have a chance to loose enough moisture to begin working as intended.

I also want to say that even analog hygrometers, when calibrated (DID you calibrate the analog hygrometer, if you used one?), shouldn't be off by 9% humidity. They are usually off by 1-3% (according to my recent re-research on the subject -- I didn't do a study myself) and they are easily bumped or messed up depending on the model to some small degree.

Last thing....maybe they sent you the wrong beads. However, they are pretty good about doing it correctly as I personally (yeah, this is thin evidence) have not heard of anyone getting the wrong beads. (I didn't search the boards about the topic, so maybe I'm off base on Heartfelt's quality of service.)

[Owen_]

So its been several weeks now.

I have x2 calibrated digital hygrometers. Both have been reading 73% humidity for a few weeks, I have 65% beads in the humi which I have never saturated and my cigars are drying out and starting to crack.

I have since saturated the beads now both my hygrometers are reading 80% and holds fine yet the cigars still sound crispy when you give them a little squeeze. Someone please tell me whats going on.

And just to make everyone aware I have calibrated the hygrometers x3 times now due to thinking there readings were ridiculous yet each time the sit at 75% in a zip lock bag with a lid of salt in.

Many Thanks

[Stoopy]

Sounds like your digital hygrometers Are broken. Just throw them away and keep the beads wet.

[illilli]

I wouldn't throw them away just yet. The odds of TWO of them reading the same thing likely indicates that you DO have a high humidity in the air of your humidor. However, if that WERE the case, how would your cigars be drying out?

I guess it's not impossible that two digital hygrometers have whacked out together, especially if they are the same brand. However, they both seemed to calibrate the same, so this seems unlikely.

I just feel like this puzzle is missing one of the pieces. Sorry, that I can't think of anything. Perhaps, you just let everything remain the same for a couple of weeks. If the beads are not white, then leave them alone. Otherwise, spray them with distilled water until about 75% of them seem to have an opaque quality. I think everything will smooth out with time.