Humidor Help

[bully1875]

Hey guys.. This is my first post, however I have gotten a lot of pretty useful information from these forums so far.. I am having MAJOR humidor problems. I have charged the humidor 3 times now for 3-5 days straight and I put a Cigar Oasis in there also, for some reason my humidor just is not holding a charge. I heard someone actually tell me that my humidor may be broken. Is this possible?

[bigwhiteash]

Welcome to CS


put some cigars in there.

most humidors will hold humidity only when there's some cigars in there to humidify. They act as a buffer. as soon as you open an empty humidor, all the humidified air escapes

[bully1875]

Thanks for the quick response, I did put cigars in there and after about 3 days the Humidity dropped to 54%.

[Mitch]

How long have you had/used the humidor?

[bully1875]

just about a year. Problem is, I never really properly seasoned it.

[victory01]

try seasoning it first and salt test your hygrometer to make sure the 54% reading your getting is accurate. put some cigars in and maybe try smoking one after letting it sit for a couple days. my humi dropped a little when winter started but i found my cigars still burned and smoked fine.

it is possible for your humi to be 'broken'. the seal would be a huge factor in your humi keeping a consistent rh.

[bully1875]

The hygrometer is built in the the cigar oaisis. Im assuming its correct. I think it may be time to bite the bullet and buy a new humidor.

Thanks

[spiffykyle]

Agree that all humidors will hold humidity better when full. Make sure your humi is at least 50% full. If you don't have the cigars, use empty boxes. Actually, how big is your humidor?

Put the Oasis in and leave it there for a few days to let it level out. You might have to refill it once or twice to get the humidity up. With your cigars in there, leave it closed for a week or two to let the environment even out. When you open your humidor the level will drop pretty quickly, but the cigars will retain their moisture.

Patience is your friend here.

spiffy

[bigwhiteash]

Empty your humidor, and put an energized flashlight in there, turn off all the lights, this will help tell you if there is an obvious leak.

I usa an Oasis in my coolidor, and seconds after I open the lid, the reading usually drops quite a bit, but it recovers very quickly when closed. I can hear the fan run for less than a minute.

I have never calibrated the oasis, since I really can't think of a procedure to do this with the fan involved, so I keep a cheapo wal-mart hygro that I have salt tested just to verify the oasis, mine reads about 3% higher than actual.

you could re-season by moistening the lining slightly with distilled water, and let the oasis run for a day or two, or do like I did. get yourself the biggest frikin cooler you can afford/house, go to heartfeltindustries.com and pick up a pound or more of their Rh beads, (or stick with the Oasis), then use the desktop himi as a "dry-box", ( I use mine for cigars that draw to tight, a day or two in solitary confinement usually adjusts their attitude sufficiently)

[bully1875]

Just an update: I seasoned the humidor (again), this time I refilled it with my Cigars and jacked the Cigar Oasis up to 75%. I also learned a little tip, I put a small shot glass full of distilled water in the corner of the humidor as well. Temp has gone from 54% to 62% steady overnight. I think im in the right direction, but how long will it last?

[Shelby07]

I'm sure you've already done this, but it might be worth mentioning. When you refill the CO make sure you follow the instructions regarding soaking the foam then draining it. If you try to save distilled water by keeping it filled the CO will not circulate the air through the foam correctly.