New title: A little help please!

[smokelaw1]

100 qt coleman marine ($50 on sale). I have a radioshack hygrometer/thermo sitting on top of it, with the wire/sensor inside($20). A pond of beads ($29), some cut to order shelves from home depot ($6), and two "drawers" from bargain humidors ($20).

I figure I'll have room for 200 singles on the trays in afew empty boxes, as well as 20 boxes, if I stack carefully. So for 126 bucks, I've got a decent little setup going. Now, I am curious about one thing, though. How long should it take the beads to bering the cooler up to 65%? It has a few empty boxes in it now, and that's all. It's been 16 hours, and it is still 45% humidity. I don't want to move cigars into a really dry box, so I should wait until it is more humid, right? THen I think that because I didn't line it, if I do that, when I oipen it, all the humid air will disappear realy quickly.

This is the first time I have had to humidify such a large space...any suggestions?

 

[BlindedByScience]

My $00.02 - put your shelves, boxes, basically all the wood you plan to have in the coolerdor inside. Put your beads inside. Get a new, cheap synthetic sponge (small one) and a gallon of distilled water at the grocery store. You'll want DI (distilled water) for the beads, anyway.

I'd cut some small chunks of sponge (say, 1" square) and moisten them with the distilled water. Not too wet, just moist. Put two or three small pieces of the sponge in there on something that will keep them from soaking the wood. If you've got spots in the cooler where they can sit, cool, but if not, use a saucer or small plate.

The goal here is to let the beads and wood "soak up" the humidity for a while, so that the wood doesn't remove humidity from your cigars when they go in there. If you have 65% beads, I'd shoot for 67-70% on the hygro. When you get to that point, you know things have "soaked up" pretty well and you should be in good shape to load it up with gars. Keep in mind that it will be LOTS easier to keep the humidity where you want it when the cooler is full than when it's empty.

This is basically what I do with my cooler; I run it up to 67%-ish, and let it coast down to 62%-ish before I recharge the environment. Usually takes two to three months.....

Last but not least....don't do what I did and get too "anal" about RH. I keep my "smoking" humi around 65% or a tad lower but the truth is anything between 62% and 70% is probably just fine. You'll find with a load of cigars and some time, it will regulate out just fine.

I forgot to mention that it's pretty important to "salt test" the hygrometer so you know how good its calibration is. Plenty of threads with great instructions on how to do that; search turns 'em right up.

Good luck - !! - B.B.S.

 

[smokelaw1]

BBS-- thanks a bunch!

I keep my smoking humidor(s) (Shoulda just bought a cooler a while ago) at 63-65% with the beads, and hope to keep the cooler at the same level. I will load it up with everything that it will hold eventually, minus the cigars, and see how she does. I'm picking up a few boxes this weekend, so I was hoping that it will be good by sunday night to put the boxes in.

Thanks again!

 

[BkCloud114]

Pictures..... we need pictures

 

[smokelaw1]

Pictures..... we need pictures

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Once it is filled with more boxes of smokeable happiness, the pictures will be forthcoming.

 

[smokelaw1]

AAARGH! Got home, after leading the beads with water, leaving a tray full of water, leaving sponges full of water, and soaking all the wood involved, and the damn thing STILL reads at 43%. I tested with my own digi hygometer from my desktop, and sure as snot, it's not taking any humidity. What is that all about? The beads had dried out, the wood had dried out.
It's the coleman 100 quart marine. Anybody else ever have problems with it?
It's starting to tick me off.

 

[DevilsMilk]

My only suggestion is to not let the sponges dry out and a cooler that size with that much wood could take days to regulate. Also how many beads do you have? Is it enough for the size?

 

[smokelaw1]

Perhaps I am just noot being patient enough. I have a pound of beads in it. I thought that was the right amount for a 100qt cooler.

My only suggestion is to not let the sponges dry out and a cooler that size with that much wood could take days to regulate. Also how many beads do you have? Is it enough for the size?

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[armedak]

Hmmm... I think you are taking your intial set-up humidity too seriously. I am now on cooler number two and they are the bigger 152 qt marine igloo's. Make sure your hygrometer is propertly calibrated and just fill the sucker up with all your cigars. It will be much easier to stabilize your humidity at 65% with the cooler full of smokes. A pound of beads should be plenty for a 100 qt. Fill it up with smokes and boxes and your beads and let it stabilize for 24-48 hours. If the RH is still low spray some distilled water on your beads. I put my pound of beads in three nylon stockings and placed them on the bottom, middle, and top of the cooler. It works great! So, filler er up and see what happens. I think you will find it will stabilze at 65 within a couple of days. Best of Luck!

 

[smokelaw1]

Hmmm... I think you are taking your intial set-up humidity too seriously. I am now on cooler number two and they are the bigger 152 qt marine igloo's. Make sure your hygrometer is propertly calibrated and just fill the sucker up with all your cigars. It will be much easier to stabilize your humidity at 65% with the cooler full of smokes. A pound of beads should be plenty for a 100 qt. Fill it up with smokes and boxes and your beads and let it stabilize for 24-48 hours. If the RH is still low spray some distilled water on your beads. I put my pound of beads in three nylon stockings and placed them on the bottom, middle, and top of the cooler. It works great! So, filler er up and see what happens. I think you will find it will stabilze at 65 within a couple of days. Best of Luck!

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Never thought of doing that. I was scared I might damage the smokes if they sit in 42% humidity for a week if the thing never stabilizes. The other problem is, I don't have nearly enough smokes to fill it yet. At best, It'll be half full.
I'll give it a try.
Thanks!

 

[viper139]

Perhaps I am just noot being patient enough. I have a pound of beads in it. I thought that was the right amount for a 100qt cooler.

My only suggestion is to not let the sponges dry out and a cooler that size with that much wood could take days to regulate. Also how many beads do you have? Is it enough for the size?

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Rule of thumb is 1/3 pound per 50 quarts so you are fine on the amount of beads.

The biggest thing is patience, we know it is hard.

 

[gandolf565]

I set my coolidor up yesterday, used the beads from heartfelt (70% 1/2 lb). I put them in a wide tupperware dish, added 1/8 cup distilled water, and covered that with nylon gauze. Let it set for a couple of hours, and bam! there it was at 69%. Overnight I left the windows and front door open, the OA humidity was about 90% when I got up. My coolidor is now at 74%.

Anyone have any suggestions on what product to use to seal the lid on the coolidor better? Surely someone has had to do this...

...Edited for spelling, grammar, and quantity...

 

[viper139]

I set my coolidor up yesterday, used the beads from heartfelt (70% 1/2 lb). I put them in a wide tupperware dish, added 1/8 cup distilled water, and covered that with nylon gauze. Let it set for a couple of hours, and bam! there it was at 69%. Overnight I left the windows and front door open, the OA humidity was about 90% when I got up. My coolidor is now at 74%.

Anyone have any suggestions on what product to use to seal the lid on the coolidor better? Surely someone has had to do this...

...Edited for spelling, grammar, and quantity...

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Most home inprovement centers sell a foam self adhesive seal for doing windows and doors etc. This generally works well for sealing a leaky lid.

 

[gandolf565]

Most home inprovement centers sell a foam self adhesive seal for doing windows and doors etc. This generally works well for sealing a leaky lid.

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True. I suppose I should have asked differently. Is there one brand or product that is better than others. Some adhesives are better than others, etc.

Thanks for the quick turn-around, I appreciate it.

There were only 497 labels though!







Just kidding :laugh:

Have a good one!

 

[Swissy]

I've got the colman 100qt cooler and have not had any problems with the seal. I also have 1 pound of 65% beads, and it holds steady for at LEAST a couple of months before I need to recharge.

As far as getting the RH up, I did just like what BBS said in his post, and I had mine up and running pretty quick.Just make sure the sponges stay moist- don't let them dry out untio the RH settles and you remove the sponges.

it helps to have the cooler full.. :whistling:

 

[smokelaw1]

The mroe I read around, the more I think my problem is a bad seal. I now have another few boxes (three full, five empty) in it, the sponges, a bowl of water, pretty wet beads, ten cedar blocks and two trays, and humidity is only at 50%. It is in a dry room, and this could be the problem. Perhaps I will try to seal the lid better. All the wood has been wiped down. I dunno. Starting to get pissed at myself for not just biting the bullet and getting the large cabinet, instead of the cooler and a smaller humidor. Oh well, live and learn.

Oh, and Viper, your secret plans for world domination are safe with me...! Thanks again!

 

[gandolf565]

Smokelaw...

Did you add any distilled water to the beads? For 1 pound, it's about 1/4 cup.

 

[smokelaw1]

Smokelaw...

Did you add any distilled water to the beads? For 1 pound, it's about 1/4 cup.

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Yes, the beads are pretty moist. I believe Viper's instructions say 25ml per pound. I have more than that in them now. I also have water in a bowl, in sponges, and have wiped down all cedar (trays and blocks) with distilled water.

 

[gandolf565]

That is weird... I am having exactly the opposite problem, I should have put the beads in dry I think. My humidity is 75%, it has not been stable and tends to bounce around depending on the ambient conditions. The weather here is warming back up, so I will be running the A/C and I am sure it will go down and level out until the next time we get pea soup to breath.

 

[smokelaw1]

That is weird... I am having exactly the opposite problem, I should have put the beads in dry I think. My humidity is 75%, it has not been stable and tends to bounce around depending on the ambient conditions. The weather here is warming back up, so I will be running the A/C and I am sure it will go down and level out until the next time we get pea soup to breath.

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Ah, see, my cooler is stuck in the basement (the fiance doesn't wnat it hanging out upstairs for some weird reason...the nice humi is alowed there, though), and if we don't run the DE-humidifier, the basement gets musty, so it is 40% or so down there. I do believe it might be a seal problem. I'm going to try to seal it better, and then see what happens.

ANybody have any idea how long my boxes can stand to be so dry before I do any damage to the cigars?