Do beads really absorb excess moisture?

[Bxcigrfan]

so then if i want to keep my sticks at 68* environment does that mean i want my humidity to be 65% or do i want it to be 81%
and vice versa if my temps go up into the 80's do i want to make sure my humidity is lower than the 65% i was shooting for at 75*?

Can't really answer the first part because we're not sure what temperature the 65% RH beads are "calibrated" for. But you're absolutely right about the second part, as you're temperature goes up you should be shooting for lower RH% numbers but that'll be difficult because naturally as ambient temps go up there is usually more water in the air and therefore a higher RH% as well.

Think of it this way. Say you have a 1 ft x 1 ft x 1 ft box full of baseballs. The baseballs represent warm air. The empty space between the baseballs is open and water could be present in that space.. Then consider the same box but filled with golf balls. The golf balls represent cool air. Again the empty space between the golf balls is open and water could be present in that space. Now if you filled each box with water and then measured the volume of water present in each box, there would be more water in the box full of baseballs. Since both boxes are 1 cubic foot the box with baseballs has a higher RH because a higher percentage of that volume is full of water than the box of golf balls.

Thank you that does help but for the first question take the beads out of the equation. when i first started smoking i read that ideal conditions would be 70% @ 70* but if i wanted my sticks to have an 65% humidity to them what temp should they be at?

and to throw a bigger monkey into the mix i have this question too

if the humidity is supposed to be relative than shouldn't 65% at 65* or 65% at 85* be equal in humidity but in order to truly do that wouldnt we need something in our humidors actually remove/replace air from the environment. I oasis tries to resolve this but in my opinion its also one way it can blow "wet" air in but the humidor/winedor/cooledor doesn't have an exhaust to pull air out when it gets too high.

 

[broblues]

65 at 65 and 65 at 80 are NOT the same. The key term is RELATIVE. Different amounts of moisture can be suspended in air that is of different temperature due to the density of the air. Hotter air can hold greater amounts of moisture than cold air. To maybe clear it up a bit, it is 65% of the total possible moisture that can be held in air of that temperature. Thus the term RELATIVE.

 

[BlindedByScience]

You guys are giving me a headache. This is a hobby and it's supposed to be relaxing. If the cigar is too dry it needs more humidity. If the cigar is too wet it needs less humidity. If the RH is too low, I add water to the humidifier cans in my cabinet. If it's too high, I leave the doors open for a couple hours. This just ain't rocket science, really isn't all that complicated.

I'm going to go smoke a cigar...I hope I do it right........

 

[Bxcigrfan]

65 at 65 and 65 at 80 are NOT the same. The key term is RELATIVE. Different amounts of moisture can be suspended in air that is of different temperature due to the density of the air. Hotter air can hold greater amounts of moisture than cold air. To maybe clear it up a bit, it is 65% of the total possible moisture that can be held in air of that temperature. Thus the term RELATIVE.

yes that is what i mean by the same in both cases the most air should be possible 65% saturation
so should we be aiming for our gauge to always read 65% regardless of what beads we have. because the gauge is reading the air not the beads. So if our gauges are calibrated correctly and we have beads at are formulated for 70% @ 70* then we should see our gauges read 70% @ 70* but if the temp has changed in the environment, our gauge is going to read a diff number even though our beads are 70% beads. So we would need to introduce some medium to regulate the humidity up or down.

i guess I'm side tracking this discussion cause my real question is should we be chasing a certain percentage of humidity or should we be chasing an specific target of say 70%@70*. Should i try to make my gauge always read 70% or should that number be changing based on temp but always be equal in relativity to 70/70

i purchased 70% beads thinking the humidors i have are not $2K humidors so i dont think their seals are air tight. I assumed i would lose 5-8% due to bad seal. in my coolidor the gauge always reads 65-66 unless i re-wet the beads and then for a little while it goes up to 70 but comes back down and hangs at 65/66 until i leave them in there for a while with out refreshing and it goes down to 62/63. the sticks all smoke fine so i dont really care but i have thought of buying more beads but didnt know if i should change %

 

[broblues]

Yes, when you come in to this hobby, you read that 70% at 70 degrees is ideal. But, it is about what you like. I like mine a little drier. You may find you like yours at 70. All you are trying to accomplish is storing your cigars safely in an environment that won't destroy your inventory. Certainly be careful, but there is wiggle room.

 

[Bxcigrfan]

...I'm going to go smoke a cigar...I hope I do it right........

light the closed end first :sign:

 

[Rod]

MrAnderson - You bring up an interesting point. What if you have a cigar that is sealed in a glass tube? Does the RH change depending on temperature? Very interesting topic...

You guys are giving me a headache. This is a hobby and it's supposed to be relaxing. If the cigar is too dry it needs more humidity. If the cigar is too wet it needs less humidity. If the RH is too low, I add water to the humidifier cans in my cabinet. If it's too high, I leave the doors open for a couple hours. This just ain't rocket science, really isn't all that complicated.

I'm going to go smoke a cigar...I hope I do it right........

Tom - Be sure your lighter flame is calibrated to the correct temperature, otherwise you could risk an uneven smoke. Good luck!

 

[broblues]

The amount of moisture never changes, but the relative humidity does.

 

[MrAnderson41]

You guys are giving me a headache. This is a hobby and it's supposed to be relaxing. If the cigar is too dry it needs more humidity. If the cigar is too wet it needs less humidity. If the RH is too low, I add water to the humidifier cans in my cabinet. If it's too high, I leave the doors open for a couple hours. This just ain't rocket science, really isn't all that complicated.

I'm going to go smoke a cigar...I hope I do it right........

This is the take away from this discussion. Don't get stressed out over this stuff. It's interesting to me because I'm a mechanical engineer. If it's interesting to you then cool, enjoy the conversation. Otherwise don't stress out over it and just try to keep your setup +/- 2-3% of your ideal RH and realize temperature plays a big part in that as well.

MrAnderson - You bring up an interesting point. What if you have a cigar that is sealed in a glass tube? Does the RH change depending on temperature? Very interesting topic...

The amount of moisture never changes, but the relative humidity does.

You've got Rod's question answered exactly right. In that case the RH is what changes, not the amount of moisture in the air or the stick.

Really what all this RH talk is driving at is you want a certain quantity of water in your smokes. A good way to measure that is by the RH of the air they're kept in. That's because, like all things, nature trys to find an equilibrium. Somebody a long time ago determined that air at 65%-70% RH and 70 degrees has just about the right amount of water you want in a cigar. Given time, a dry stick left in the conditions will pick up water and a wet stick (wetter than the air) will lose moisture and stabilize around ambient amount of moisture.

 

[BlindedByScience]

This is the take away from this discussion. Don't get stressed out over this stuff. It's interesting to me because I'm a mechanical engineer. If it's interesting to you then cool, enjoy the conversation. Otherwise don't stress out over it and just try to keep your setup +/- 2-3% of your ideal RH and realize temperature plays a big part in that as well.

I'm an electrical engineer and this stuff still give me a headache.....

 

[MrAnderson41]

This is the take away from this discussion. Don't get stressed out over this stuff. It's interesting to me because I'm a mechanical engineer. If it's interesting to you then cool, enjoy the conversation. Otherwise don't stress out over it and just try to keep your setup +/- 2-3% of your ideal RH and realize temperature plays a big part in that as well.

I'm an electrical engineer and this stuff still give me a headache.....

That's ok. Impedance, and phase angles, and all that imaginary stuff you can't see makes my knuckle draggin ME head hurt.

 

[souldog]

70% and 70*. Pretty simple fellas, adjust accordingly. Good to know!

Don't get too caught up in the whirlwind boys, just keep it simple.

 

[whopper]

70% and 70*. Pretty simple fellas, adjust accordingly. Good to know!

Don't get too caught up in the whirlwind boys, just keep it simple.

 
I just ordered a couple more 65% heartfelt tubes for my new humidor.  Please keep the hate to a minimum.  ???

 

[thefatguy]

70% and 70*. Pretty simple fellas, adjust accordingly. Good to know!

Don't get too caught up in the whirlwind boys, just keep it simple.

 
I just ordered a couple more 65% heartfelt tubes for my new humidor.  Please keep the hate to a minimum.  ???

You have to store all those opus/Anejo cigars, lol.

 

[wkoti]

I have a shit load of beads, around 7lbs in my wineador. If I overcharge them, I get a huge spike in humidity. I then have to pull them out and dry them substantially before putting them back in. I've never waited around to see if the remaining dry beads sucked up the excess humidity. But with that amount of beads, I charge them maybe once a year. So that hassle is outweighed by the 364 days of year that everything is regulating itself.

 

[whopper]

 


70% and 70*. Pretty simple fellas, adjust accordingly. Good to know!

Don't get too caught up in the whirlwind boys, just keep it simple.

 
I just ordered a couple more 65% heartfelt tubes for my new humidor.  Please keep the hate to a minimum.  ???

You have to store all those opus/Anejo cigars, lol.
 
Ya, you got me.    I decided to buy a 150 ct humi instead of setting up another cooler-dor.

 

[grateful1]

Yes!