Keeping humidity stable after opening humi?

[martinman]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I've seasoned my humi, and have it about 1/3 full (a 75ct w/ ~25 in). I've been opening it about once every 1-2 days to check out my stash, make a selection, or add new cigars. The humidity has dropped to about 61% inside of the box. It has been rising, but very slowly. At the rate it's going, it will probably take 5-6 days to stableize.

I did everything as suggested on the board with seasoning - I waited until it reached 70%, then added my beads and cigars. I'm assuming it's going to take a while to stablize? I've currently got a shot glass of distilled water w/ beads and my cigars in the humidor. It's reading a 65% right now, but I know when I open it and remove the shot glass, it will fall back down. Here in Michigan the humidity has been very low outside, so I'm still struggling with winter type conditions in my basement.

I just wanted to make sure i'm going about this right. How long does it take to stablize the humidity in your humidor after you open it? How do you handle this when opening it often (i.e. every 2-4 days) to add cigars or make a selection to smoke?

thanks again,
mm

 

[Lumberg]

61% is not the end of the world. If it stays above 60 and below 70 or so you will be fine.

 

[Tenpin]

I have found that my humidor is more stable when full.
Try to keep 60-70 sticks in there and see what happens.
(Cigarbid will help you out with that :laugh: )

Jim

 

[martinman]

:laugh: Yeah. That's always an option. I've always assumed that it being 1/3 full had something to do with it too.

I just wanted to make sure that this is expected behavior given the conditions that I presented.

 

[puffnstuff]

yeah, getting your humi as-close-as-possible to full capacity will help the RH buffering situation (plus, the added bonus is that you'll have more cigars!).
also, as fun as it is to gaze and marvel at the sight of your stash, try to do your actions, while your humi is opened, as quickly as possible. especially if the ambient air is relatively dry.

 

[emodx]

did you follow the directions on the beads. Perhaps the beads needed more water. Also, you may not have enough beads.

Emo

 

[BlindedByScience]

martinman - greetings.

If I read between the lines, it sounds like you are having the exact same issues I was having. I have two humi's, one's a little 30 ct desktop, and the other is a 100-ish desktop (the coolerdor upstairs is another story.... ). I did the "shot glass of water" trick, got things "stabilized" around 70% and thought I'd be fine. Once I loaded the box with my gars, I couldn't get the humitidy to stabilize in any way, shape, or form. I could open the box and it'd drop five points...or more. I could put small sponges with distilled water on them in the humi along with the elements that came with the humi and it'd only get up to about 62%-ish or so....no more. I figured I must have a bad seal, etc.

What happened was.....time. Over about three months, things just started working better and better and one day, it dawned on me how rock solid both my humis are at 65% and how badly I fought them when they were relatively new. I can't say for sure in your case, but in my case, it appears that three or four months was the time it took for things to really equilibrate and reach the desired humidity. I can open / close either one with little to no hit, humidity wise. Even if I dig around in them a bit, the RH snaps right back to where it needs to be. My $00.02 would be to watch them closely and be patient.

Got to say the beads are the only way to go; I've got Heartfelt beads in both my humis and can highly recommend them.

Regards - B.B.S.

 

[Allofus123]

Which beads are you using? 70% or 65%? As has already been said there is nothing wrong with 62%. That is well within range of exceptability and to be honest with you quite a few people prefer a 63 to 66% range.... me included.

You stated that the humidity drops when you open it.... thats normal and shouldn't be any big surprise. If you are using 65% beads and its only dropping to 62% forgetaboutit.... you're fine. Even using 70% beads if the humidity is going up after you close the humidor than it is working just fine. How long it takes to stabalize after each opening depends on several variables. The size of the Humi.... the amount of beads.... the amount of air that needs to be humidified.... the quality of the seal.... the temperture.

I think you'll find that if you put some more cigars in your humidor the recovery will be much quicker. Another trick, depending on the size of your humidor, is to stick a cigar box in the humidor. The more room you take up the less air that needs to be stabilized.

 

[martinman]

I appreciate the replys everyone. Well, I ended up ordering more beads. This time, the ones in the aluminum enclosure. I filled w/ distilled, attached it to the lid, and bingo. No problems. It's rock solid at 65%.

I salt tested my radioshack wireless unit and it always came out 4%-5% low, so I'm assuming that the humi is ~68%-69% now? Hmm.. Maybe I did the salt test wrong? It's kind of suspect that it's reading a consistent 65% (w/ 65% beads). The other variable is that I moved the wireless unit inside the humidor. I took down the dividers inside, so it's just one big open box now. Maybe that had something to do with it? Or... maybe I need to take a hair dryer to the beads?

I get this right sooner or later.

 

[Allofus123]

If you're using 65% beads and your humidity reading is above that than the beads are too wet. You should not have a humidity reading above 65% unless the beads are over saturated. (or there is another source of humidity....not sure why there would be)

Quite frankly it doesn't appear you had a problem with the first set up....
not sure why you added more beads.

The humidity has dropped to about 61% inside of the box. It has been rising, but very slowly.

You are using 65% beads and the humi dropped to 61% when you opened it and then rised slowly afterwards.... that would be perfectly normal. I'm confused as to what you're trying to accomplish.

Adding more beads is like drowning in the Ocean vs the bathtub... it doesn't matter how much you use once you have enough to do the job. A desk top requires very little. Patience might be the best advice to give at this point.

 

[martinman]

Quite frankly it doesn't appear you had a problem with the first set up....
not sure why you added more beads.

Well, I was looking for quick recovery. For as much as I'm in there rearranging, making a selection, I bothered me that I was loosing so much humidity when opening. In the first setup, I had the beads in the tube they ship in. From what I read, they work better when spread out. With my new setup, that's exactly what I'm experiencing. I had the beads at the bottom of my humi separated by dividers. Now, I have the alum. block of beads up top attached to the lid. This is working out a heck of alot better. The humidity is back up to normal in about an hour after opening.

The other thing I was after was low maintenance. I figured (and verified with viper) that more beads don't hurt, they just spread out the amount of time you have to rehydrate them.

I had so many problems with my last humi ruining cigars (turned out I had a bad seal), thats I'm paraniod with this one.

 

[Sunward]

I appreciate the replys everyone. Well, I ended up ordering more beads. This time, the ones in the aluminum enclosure. I filled w/ distilled, attached it to the lid, and bingo. No problems. It's rock solid at 65%.

I salt tested my radioshack wireless unit and it always came out 4%-5% low, so I'm assuming that the humi is ~68%-69% now? Hmm.. Maybe I did the salt test wrong? It's kind of suspect that it's reading a consistent 65% (w/ 65% beads). The other variable is that I moved the wireless unit inside the humidor. I took down the dividers inside, so it's just one big open box now. Maybe that had something to do with it? Or... maybe I need to take a hair dryer to the beads?

I get this right sooner or later.

[snapback]186843[/snapback]​

Testing your Hygro, can give varying results. Make sure your salt is 100% pure (i made that mistake). Also, i used a large ziplock, and rested it in the middle, wire bracket support, sensor facing up, near the top of the bag. Gave me a perfect reading, but read low 5% before when i layed it flat. 65% beads might be a better way to calibrate your hygro. There is a reset button on both units that may need to be be clicked.

 

[martinman]

Testing your Hygro, can give varying results. Make sure your salt is 100% pure (i made that mistake). Also, i used a large ziplock, and rested it in the middle, wire bracket support, sensor facing up, near the top of the bag. Gave me a perfect reading, but read low 5% before when i layed it flat. 65% beads might be a better way to calibrate your hygro. There is a reset button on both units that may need to be be clicked.

I tried it in a bunch of different positions. But never tried the wire rack. On the remote unit, the sensor is on the back right (i've got the 63-1030)?

 

[emodx]

One point that needs to be clarified. For beads or foam to work efficiently, surface area needs to be maximized. If for example, you have an aluminium tube full of beads that are exposed to air only at one end, then there is very little vapor exchange happening. But say you placed the same amount of bead in an uncovered dish or perhaps pantyhose, then the surface would be increased several fold. By increasing the surface area, you increased the effectiveness of the same amount of beads.
Increasing the amount of beads decreases the amount of time between recharging or drying. Unless you are also increasing surface are while adding beads, adding beads doesn't necessarily help wide swinds in the RH. I should have gone into more detail earlier, but I was pressed for time.

Emo

 

[Sunward]

Testing your Hygro, can give varying results. Make sure your salt is 100% pure (i made that mistake). Also, i used a large ziplock, and rested it in the middle, wire bracket support, sensor facing up, near the top of the bag. Gave me a perfect reading, but read low 5% before when i layed it flat. 65% beads might be a better way to calibrate your hygro. There is a reset button on both units that may need to be be clicked.

I tried it in a bunch of different positions. But never tried the wire rack. On the remote unit, the sensor is on the back right (i've got the 63-1030)?

[snapback]186897[/snapback]​

yes, ihave the 1030 and it comes with a wire bracket. take the batteries out of both units. then put back in and reset using the button. Set it inside so the sensor is facing up. I use a large ziplock... wait 8 hrs at 70 degrees F. You should have a good reading of 75% with salt.