Humidor Humidity Help

[Stryprod]

Question:
My 150ct humidor was seasoned about 1 month ago and I threw in 4 ounces of 65% beads which is recommended for 150-300ct humidors, so I imagine they are sufficient. I have the beads on the bottom level in the middle of the humidor with enough air space for the humidity to travel because I only have approx. 80 cigars or so. I know the seal is pretty decent as I see no fluctuations even when exposed to high/low humidity. The problem is, the dang humidity just will not go below 71-72%!!! Its not life or death, so I have waited awhile thinking a new humidor can fluctuate, but smoking the cigars at that humidity is a pain in the butt. Its like smoking a wet towel. Beads have some clear, some milk white... Pretty good mix so I don’t know what the heck is going on. Any suggestions? Could it be the beads? Would a humidor take this long to season?

[SuperChuck]

Try blowdrying your beads. They're probably oversaturated.

[Stryprod]

Try blowdrying your beads. They're probably oversaturated.

Will do it again but as I said, about 50-50 mixture of white to clear beads so I didnt think it would be causing the problem.

[Shelby07]

Salt check your humidistat. If that is ok send the beads back for a replacement pack. You may have gotten 70% by mistake.

[mauied1101]

Will do it again but as I said, about 50-50 mixture of white to clear beads so I didnt think it would be causing the problem.

I don't necessarily do a 50/50 clear/white beads all the time - I find that in the summer, I find less clear, more white beads seem to work better. Winter, vice versa. You could try adding more to see if that helps? Just my .02.

[SuperChuck]

I don't necessarily do a 50/50 clear/white beads all the time - I find that in the summer, I fin less clear, more white beads seem to work better. Winter, vice versa. You could try adding more to see if that helps? Just my .02.

Yeah, I'd think the same... More white (dry) beads can help absorb that moisture better...

You may also want to try to find some Spanish Cedar (cigar boxes are a good source; your local retailer may be able to part with some) to fill up that humi. That will help reduce fluctuations.

[Stryprod]

Well I am leading towards drying the beads out pretty good to see where we go from there. Otherwise, I really think I got the wrong beads shipped to me mislabeled. As far as more cedar, its got a lot with the trays and dividers, but I am not having a fluctuation problem... I will keep you guys posted of my progress.

[Shelby07]

Another suggestion. Take a few beads and put them into a bag or a tupperware container and see what readings you get there.

[Desert Rat]

Relax Stryprod, things are probably fine. Throw another couple boxes of gars in the humi, quit opening the humi every 20 minutes , and I bet everything settles down in a couple of weeks to a month.

Also, don't even begin to figure out some cock-a-mamie "dry bead to clear bead" mixture. Anybody with a stable humidor figures out to either add a little water to ALL the beads periodically, or dry ALL the beads periodically.

The beads are basically rocks, they can't think or talk to one another. They either absorb moisture or expell moisture at their set point. There is the possibility someone mentioned that you have 70% beads, but I would wait a good little while before pointing the finger at the seller.

A little common sense is needed to see the big picture . Trying to stabilize the moisture content of a couple pounds of wood and 5 or so pounds of cigars with beads, teaspoons of water, and an iffy hygrometer gadget is going to take some time and trial and error .

Good luck!

[cls515]

your hygrometer may be giving a false reading. Even at that, they are only accurate to say +/- 3 points. What kind of hygrometer are you using?

[Stryprod]

Hygrometer is good, dried the beads 2nite... we'll c.

[Viper139]

One thing that is forgotten often is the condition of the battery in your hygrometer. When the battery starts to lose its voltage the hygrometer will give readings that are far more inaccurate than when new. I replace the batteries in my hygrometers when we have a time change, do the smoke detectors too. This way that problem is eliminated and you can trust the readings more.

If you got your beads from me and you are in any way uncomfortable with them or feel they are the wrong rh I will be happy to replace them. Just FYI, I work very hard at not mixing up the beads, I package only one rh at a time then put everthing away before packaging the other rh. But as they say no one is perfect, my wife reminds me of that often.

[planenut]

I like to split my beads into two different containers (glad containers I think). Anyway one is kept completely dry and the other is misted with a spray bottle. I also like leaving the top off of the containers and they are only about 1/2 inch thick so there is a lot of surface area.

Just my .02 but I'm always suprised at things like a drymistat tube that has such a small opening.

[Stryprod]

Well, dried the crud out of the beads again and the humidity dropped to about 68% which is pretty close. Changed the batteries in the hygrometer, salt tested it (add +1) and now it is reading between 66%-67%. So we are pretty close and i'd imagine with more time it should get closer, just as long as they were not at 70%+ because that was like smoking a blanket. Thanks for all the help!