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Beetle eggs!?!?!?

I

IanHummel

Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
885
As some of you may know, I've been having some humidity stability issues with my humi recently. I re-calibrated my hygro and it was still 3% low on the salt test. After re-hydrating my beads, my humidity has been still dropping. It's been sitting at a little over 70 degrees and has been dropping from 65% consistantly. The first obvious thing is that it's not completely seasoned (even though I did the Boveda packs for 10 days). So this evening I decided to move some of my smokes into another box with a crystal jar and leave some of the smokes in the desktop with the beads and put a shot glass of distilled water in it. Upon removing some of the smokes I saw this:

IMG_0178.jpg


IMG_0179.jpg


It's a dark red/black/dark purple color. It's hard as well. Is this a beetle egg? I just got the humi up and running recently. After finding this mysterious object, I quickly went through each and every stick. No signs of beetles (holes, tears, openings, anything!).

What do you all think? I guess would be, if it is a beetle egg, what should my 1st course of action be? If it's NOT, as far as getting my humi to the right stage, how long should I leave the distilled water in the humi and should I keep it in there with the beads?

EDIT:

Upon further examination, the object in question is VERY hard, could maybe be plastic? It still worries me though.
 
I didn't look hard, but the only reference I could find says tobacco beetle eggs are very, very small and pearly white.

Wilkey
 
Wilkey,

Do you ever sleep? :p

Regardless, times like this I'm glad you don't. Thanks for your always wise input. What are your thoughts on my underlying and continuing humidor issue?

Also, please kindly PM me your address, I have some firepower that is going out in the next couple weeks that you could possibly be a part of. :whistling:
 
My addy? What do you think I am? A sucker? :p If you want to hit me, you'll have to work for it. ;)

Do you mean your Cheaperhumidors, seasoning issue? Or is there another? I checked that thread and I posted in it. Seems like things are under control, are they not?

Wilkey
 
Ginseng said:
My addy? What do you think I am? A sucker? :p If you want to hit me, you'll have to work for it. ;)

Do you mean your Cheaperhumidors, seasoning issue? Or is there another? I checked that thread and I posted in it. Seems like things are under control, are they not?

Wilkey
Click to expand...

Haha, I have tried and there aren't many people that will give you up in these parts. :(

This was the last response I had from you:
*********************
"Right on. Not only is wood a moisture reservoir, it also passes moisture from one side to the other (in-out or the other way around) so the entire humidor system is always in a state of dynamic equilibrium. If interior humidity is 65%, then the wood will be in the range of 12-14%

So basically, if you keep you humi someplace where the temperature and humidity swings, the beads/PG/wood/cigars will buffer the internal conditions and smooth out fluctuations.

I would think that a few weeks would be more than sufficient for a well sealing humi to season up.

Wilkey
"
*********************
As far as the issue goes, I thought all was resolved, but today I check it and it's back to dropping consistently once again and was around 61% when I checked it today. I'm really confused at this point? I have placed a shot glass in the humi along with the beads. I guess what I'm wondering is how long should I now keep the shot glass and beads in the desktop and how do I know when is the right time to remove the shot glass? Is it ok to keep my smokes in the humi while I'm fixing the atmosphere?
 
You worry too much, just use the desktop, smoke a cigar every so often. I've had cigars kept at 55% and 78% that smoked fine and others that were kept at 65% that smoked horribly. Worry about it will just cause unneeded stress and excess hair loss.
 
Well, let's assume for the time being that your hygrometer is reading correctly. If this is the case, then you have a leaky box. If the beads are being depleted quickly, necessitating frequent recharging, then something is not right. Have you done the flashlight test? If your box has a significant gap somewhere along the seam were lid and base meet, you could be losing humidity (assuming the external environment is drier than 65%).

Dave does make one good point and that is to let the smoking performance of the cigars provide an indication of the storage conditions. There's practical utility to that advice. However, something is clearly not right if your beads are drying out so quickly. I would hesitate to dismiss this situation as inconsequential. The fact is, if the box is not doing its job and not allowing the humidification system to do its job, then sooner or later it's going to catch up with you.

Wilkey
 
I'll flashlight test it and take it from there. It does seem as though the humidity is dropping constantly though which is why I bring this up. If I were to open it one day and have it by 2% low and then the next have it be right on or high, I wouldn't say a thing, but for it to be dropping like this slowly, but consistently is what's raising the concern.

I did however do the dollar test. After putting a dollar in and dropping the lid. I did this from the front left, front right, and both sides. I can, without forcing it, actually pull the humidor across the desk without the dollar coming out when I did this except on the front right (to the right of the lock). When I put the dollar in there and try to pull it, instead of the humi moving, the dollar just pulls out. Looks like we may have found a leak. Where should I go from here?
 
Are you confident that the condition of the beads are as Viper recommends? I mean are they at the proper level of "clearness?"

A quick, consistent, persistent drop doesn't sound right.

Do let us know how the flashlight test turns out.

Wilkey
 
Hmmm,

Is there a lip or collar sticking up from the lower half of the box to interlock with a matching recess on the lid or are the mating surfaces flat on flat? If it is not flat on flat, it's not impossible that you could have a poor match even if there are sufficient points to grip a dollar bill.

Wilkey

I just read your edit. Do the flashlight test and let's see how bad it is.
 
Ginseng said:
Hmmm,

Is there a lip or collar sticking up from the lower half of the box to interlock with a matching recess on the lid or are the mating surfaces flat on flat? If it is not flat on flat, it's not impossible that you could have a poor match even if there are sufficient points to grip a dollar bill.

Wilkey

I just read your edit. Do the flashlight test and let's see how bad it is.
Click to expand...

Not flat on flat, there are lips on the lid and the base. I have no flashlight (must've gotten lost in the move) so I'll have to get one next time I'm out. I Just don't really understand how one part of the bar isn't sealing right when like you said, it's a lip creating a seal.
 
If the flashlight test fails then you have a few options...

OH sorry to just bust in here.....

option 1: Painters tape to help the seal
option 2: Call Customer Service at CheepHumi and see if they will do an exchange.

Hope this helps

Tim
 
The more complex the mating surface profile, the more difficult it is to establish a flawless seal. If both interlocking surfaces were cut with the same bit (dovetail, router, etc.) mating should be pretty good. However, if one or both sides are of compound construction, then variation in tolerance could introduce enough slop to make a leak.

Wilkey
 
My first thought when seeing that pic is that you had a couple of Viper beads in your hand, albeit a darker color. I have never seen eggs like that before. For the record, once I ditched the humidor and went to a cooler, I've never ever had humidity problems. The cooler stays at a constant 65% and hovers around 73 degrees with no evidence of beetles.
 
hahaha, nope, the pot stash is not with the stogie stash. Anyways, I have a shot glass of distilled water in one side and the humidity is climbing again. I'm thinking it just may not be seasoned completely. I'm going to let the shot glass sit in there for about a week or so, then remove it and see where it goes from there. I will revisit this thread in the next 5-7 days. Thanks for everyone's help. I'm off to have a quick smoke on the balcony.
 
Humidity is sitting at 64-65% with the shot glass and beads in there. Are the beads just keeping it at 65%? If that's the case, then I should technically be able to remove the shot glass and have the beads mantain the 65% atmosphere, correct? If the humidity drops again continually, it's a fact that the humi has a faulty seal. I have e-mail'ed CheapHumidors with no response as of yet....
 
The beads work as an equalizer, soaking up excess humidity and giving off humidity to try and reach that 65% balance. If the beads are too hydrated (clear), it won't have anyway to suck up extra humidity, which is why it's recommended to leave them about 80% hydrated.

I have found that if I keep 1 or 2 shot glasses of water in my coolidor, that keeps my beads at 65%. If it ever climbed any higher, I would remove one. Otherwise, I leave them in there to help maintain things.

If you remove the shot glass and the humidity begins to drop, it could be that the wood in the humidor isn't properly seasoned, you have a seal problem, or perhaps you added new smokes to your stash which always suck up some humidity until it balances back out again.
 
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