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Boveda Capacity

Smokemorestressless said:
HCM beads shows a procedure to raise the rh. Their product is adjustable. This page explains how to raise/ lower the setpoint of the beads.

mlbaproducts.com

Using HCM Beads - HCM Cigar Beads And Cigar Finger Bags

HCM Cigar Beads And Cigar Finger Bags or canisters contain Humidity Controlling Molecular (HCM) beads. The beads are a 100% clay product with no chemical additives, and are completely safe and non-toxic. They are designed to control the humidity in your humidor and scavenge-free ammonia.
mlbaproducts.com mlbaproducts.com
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Thank you for that. Yes, I followed these instructions, and was in contact with the owner of HCM. I tried the first method, which is adding a wet sponge in the humidor with cigars in it, but that didn't seem right (cigars would absorb a ton of moisture!).

I then put the wet sponge in a container with the beads for 24 hours. This spiked the humidity, but then it would slowly drop back to 61%. If you put the beads in a container with the sponge and hygrometer, it will just read super high (of course, because it's a wet sponge). So, I wasn't sure how to set it to a set point? It will rapidly go way past 65%.

I tried a few times, and I just got tired of messing with it. Boveda seems to work really well for me, once I got the RH down. It's holding it without issue now. The true test for me will be in the summer, when the ambient humidity is high (I live in the Canada, so high humidity in the summer)

I'm sure HCM is a good product, but I was just not having much luck with it for some reason.
 
bluenote75 said:
Thank you for that. Yes, I followed these instructions, and was in contact with the owner of HCM. I tried the first method, which is adding a wet sponge in the humidor with cigars in it, but that didn't seem right (cigars would absorb a ton of moisture!).

I then put the wet sponge in a container with the beads for 24 hours. This spiked the humidity, but then it would slowly drop back to 61%. If you put the beads in a container with the sponge and hygrometer, it will just read super high (of course, because it's a wet sponge). So, I wasn't sure how to set it to a set point? It will rapidly go way past 65%.

I tried a few times, and I just got tired of messing with it. Boveda seems to work really well for me, once I got the RH down. It's holding it without issue now. The true test for me will be in the summer, when the ambient humidity is high (I live in the Canada, so high humidity in the summer)

I'm sure HCM is a good product, but I was just not having much luck with it for some reason.
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Makes sense. Thanks for dharing the experience. Sounds like I am about to replicate your journey.

The boveda don't bring humidity down that well in my experience. Going to try hcm to drop humidity from 69 to 65, and maintain. Plus a small bit of 62% for my dry box.

If that doesn't work then will go to Boveda to maintain 65%.
 
so, a quick update: I have one of those cigar medic humidimeters, and my cigars are all reading in the high 40s/50s! Took about 4 or 5 samples, both foot and head readings. How can this be?

Does anyone have these humidimeters? Can you trust them?

Again, I have an adorini humidor, 100ct. 4 x 65% bovedas, they are not dried out. Room temp is about 66 or 67, ambiant rh is around 40%

Think I'll just ditch the humidimeter and let it be.
 
bluenote75 said:
so, a quick update: I have one of those cigar medic humidimeters, and my cigars are all reading in the high 40s/50s! Took about 4 or 5 samples, both foot and head readings. How can this be?

Does anyone have these humidimeters? Can you trust them?

Again, I have an adorini humidor, 100ct. 4 x 65% bovedas, they are not dried out. Room temp is about 66 or 67, ambiant rh is around 40%

Think I'll just ditch the humidimeter and let it be.
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Is the Humidor seasoned properly?? Maybe punt and re-season? Do it with distilled water and not the boveda seasoning pack.
 
bluenote75 said:
so, a quick update: I have one of those cigar medic humidimeters, and my cigars are all reading in the high 40s/50s! Took about 4 or 5 samples, both foot and head readings. How can this be?

Does anyone have these humidimeters? Can you trust them?

Again, I have an adorini humidor, 100ct. 4 x 65% bovedas, they are not dried out. Room temp is about 66 or 67, ambiant rh is around 40%

Think I'll just ditch the humidimeter and let it be.
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I have zero experience with the cigar medic thing that measures your actual cigar rh. If it is accurate my guess would be the rh inside your humidor is too low(season it properly), or if rh is correct then let your cigars sit linger to come back to proper rh. Unfortunately cigars with rh that low is not good.

1.) What is the rh inside the humidor?

2.) Be sure you calibrate your hygrometer, or your reading is meaningless. I use the 75% boveda calibration kit, and caliber iv hygrometers.
 
All good advice. I did check a cigar in cellophane and it read 65%. Strange.

My rh in the humidor is around 64% with a calibrated caliber iv. I just had a padron 1964 maduro, and it tasted fine, despite the humidimeter measuring 55%.

Question, if humidor rh is measuring around 64, there would be no reason to reason, correct?
 
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bluenote75 said:
All good advice. I did check a cigar in cellophane and it read 65%. Strange.

My rh in the humidor is around 64% with a calibrated caliber iv. I just had a padron 1964 maduro, and it tasted fine, despite the humidimeter measuring 55%.

Question, if humidor rh is measuring around 64, there would be no reason to reason, correct?
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Not unless you are having weird issues like you are. It wouldn’t hurt if you are concerned
 
bluenote75 said:
All good advice. I did check a cigar in cellophane and it read 65%. Strange.

My rh in the humidor is around 64% with a calibrated caliber iv. I just had a padron 1964 maduro, and it tasted fine, despite the humidimeter measuring 55%.

Question, if humidor rh is measuring around 64, there would be no reason to reason, correct?
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Could be a few reasons.

1.) Hygrometer not properly calibrated. Leave it 24hr in a calibration bag.


2.) Did you properly season the humidor? There are some good posts in here about how to do this. If the cedar is real dry it would be wicking the moisture out of your cigars and boveda. But the boveda is keeping the air reading okay. The way I check is remove all cigars and bovedas from humidor. Calibrate hygrometer (don't skip this). Leave the hygrometer closed in the humidor for 2 or 3 days. Open it and check the reading.

3.) How long have your cigars been in the humidor? Might need a longer stay to rehumidify them. If #2 is an accurate reading and your humidor was properly seasoned.
 
thanks for everyone's responses!

I checked a couple of more cigars, this time laying them on a table to check with the humidimeter. Now, they are measuring the proper 65%.

Moral of the story? Toss out the humidimeter, relax and enjoy the cigars!

Thanks again for everyone's input.
 
If you're unsure of the Humidimeter accuracy, they have an electronic calibrator you can get.

20230124_112937.jpg
 
Darin said:
If you're unsure of the Humidimeter accuracy, they have an electronic calibrator you can get.

View attachment 64959
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Thanks.

The thing is, you will get different readings if you like it down, if you have the cigar on an angle, etc. if lying down, it's spot on. if you are holding the cigar while measuring it's 50%, etc.

I should have thought about it logically. I have a calibrated hygrometer, with 4 x 65% bovedas, in a very well sealing humidor. The cigars have been in there for months. Therefore, it's virtually impossible for my cigars to be anything but 65% regardless of what the humidimeter shows.
 
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