Junking My Rectangular Humidifier

**godfather** · 10-25-2005, 11:14 AM

So I thought I could make it work, and like everyone else, I'm done with this thing.

I get fluctuations of 71-75% humidity. My end goal is to get a 'stable humidity' here.

Looking at heartfelt industries's site, I'm going to go with a the aluminum rectangular humidifier.

My question (and I've tried searching on this site, maybe not hard enough) - What makes the beads so much more stable than the conventional 50/50 solution + sponge? I've never understood 'technically' what makes them so much better. Will they really keep at a steady humidity?

Are there any drawbacks to getting the 65% humidity beads v.s. 70% ones? I'm probably going to go with the 65% ones.

Thanks for any input ...

**mithril** · 10-25-2005, 11:21 AM

the way the beads work is that they hold the water and either puts humidity into the air or take it out. they find the happy medium and keep it at the 65 or 70% humidity level. if there is no humidity in the air they will not work as well as if the beads are saturated in water they will not work. hence why have a hygrometer is still important. the level you get is mostly prefrence. some say cigars smoke better at 65 than 70.

anyone correct me if i'm wrong

**stjohnroe** · 10-25-2005, 11:29 AM

To be honest I think that they work in exactly the same manner as 50/50 and oasis, however because of the nature of beads the surface area should be greater thus improving the effectiveness.
I am now using tubs of gel in conjunction with traditional humidifiers and they work really well. I use the old humidifiers for topping up water reservoires and the gel stops the whole thing over humidifying.
I am now maintainng a nice stable 68% though I still get some temporary (+/- 3%) variations due to temprature changes, but I can see no way of avoiding that until I build a wine cellar or invest in a cigar fridge.

**stjohnroe** · 10-25-2005, 11:34 AM

Oh, and why dont you simply replace the sponge or oasis in your old humidifier with beads?

**BigMacFU** · 10-25-2005, 11:47 AM

What Johnny Roe said, don't ditch the plastic case, just the florist foam. With some cheese cloth or pantyhose, you can turn that rectangular plastic into a bead holder. I did that many moons ago, I think I posted on it, but i sure as heck ain't going digging on a search right now