crystal gel humidification problems?

[bluue13]

Hi All!


Newbie here and very excited to start posting and learning.

I'm a long time (though no expert) cigar lover and have just recently had the joy of purchasing a 50 cigar capacity desktop humidor to start collecting and storing my cigars in.

The humidor came with a, from what I've learned and read, useless analog hygrometer but I seasoned it based on the directions it came with, calibrated the hygrometer and all that jazz and placed my cigars in, ready to enjoy the luxury of proper cigar storage.
I was using a humi-care crystal gel humidification jar instead of the sponge humidifier that came with it. I did finally receive a digital hygrometer for Christmas and when I calibrated it and placed it in my humidor It jumped to 76% RH (the analog was reading 68%). I immediately took the gel canister out and let the RH fall to 70% and placed it back in and the reading jumped back up to 76%.

So I've removed the crystal gel and gone back to using the sponge humidifier with a 50/50 solution of prop. glycol and distilled water and it seems to be holding between 68-70% RH nicely.

From what I understand crystal gel is supposed to be very effective in keeping the RH at 70%. So my question is am I doing something wrong? Has anyone else had issues with high RH when using crystal gel? Do I even have a problem? :laugh:

Thanks for the help and I look forward to being part of this community!

 

[Putz Mulligan]

Get yourself some humidity beads from Heartfelt Industries-------->Linky

Distilled water is all you need to keep them right. Spritz and leave alone. You can't go wrong.

Edited to add: Ditch the Gel crap. It's expensive, messy and as useless as the sponge you're currently using.

 

[bluue13]

Awesome, I will give them a try! Thanks!

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

As was stated, definitely give the beads a try.

I fiddled around with a bunch of different methods like the ones you mentioned, but was never satisfied.

The beads will hold your himidity solid, right at the level you want, and only require the occasional spray to refresh them.

All I can say is make sure you get the right amount for your humi but I'd go a little over the reccommended amount though. I live in an incredibly dry climate and the extra beads helped the humidity to recover more quickly when I am going in andd out of the humi.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

 

[dlow]

I never could get those stupid gel things to work. My humidly just kept going up and up. I finally threw in the towel when 2 cigars split. I've since switched to beads and never looked back.

 

[MadMonk]

Cover some of the holes on the gel humifiier with black electrical tape.