RH problems in my mini cabinet

[pembroke3355]

I have a small cabinet humi. During the winter months with the Hydra I was able to maintain 65% rh with no trouble. Now that summer is here to stop my cigars from baking I put in a room air conditioner. Since I have done this I cannot seem to get the RH below 72%.

I took the Hydra out same problem. I bought 1.5 pounds of 65% beads put them in dry still nothing staying at 72% RH. I have calibrated each of my digital hydro's a few times so I know they are right. If I shut the AC off and let the temperature rise to 74-75 I can get it to go to 70% RH.

Every time I put the AC on as the temperature slowly goes down the RH goes up. I tried wetting the beads a little and all that did was cause the RH to go to 74% so I dried them back out now back to square one 72%rh.

Today was cool here never used the AC at all and room stayed at around 72.5 to 73 degrees but the RH never moved from 72%. I am really stumped on this have done many google searches on relative humidity and really cannot find a answer. I am stumped as to why the beads are not sucking up some of the moisture.

I have a real problem here it is let the cigars bake to get the RH down or keep them at between 70-72 degrees and have a RH of 72-74%. Forget getting it any cooler in the room then the RH really shoots up. The beads have been in the humidor for at least 2 week now and I am at my wits end stressing over this.

Does any body have any clue as to why this is happening or suggestions to fix this. Ideally I want to keep cigars at 65% RH but it seems impossible to do unless it is winter. Any help would be much appreciated.

Best Regards
Don

 

[B.HOBS]

What is the ambient humidity in your room/environment? Depending on that, you could try leaving the cabinet cracked open for a little while to shed some of that excess moisture, although it will do nothing if your ambient is higher than your humidor....

 

[pembroke3355]

What is the ambient humidity in your room/environment? Depending on that, you could try leaving the cabinet cracked open for a little while to shed some of that excess moisture, although it will do nothing if your ambient is higher than your humidor....

Would the AC not drop the ambient humidity? I was under the impression the cooler air cannot carry as much moisture. I left it open one night and the RH was 80%. I am just stumped as to why the beads are not taking some of the moisture from the humi they are totally dry I would think it would bring the RH down some. Even if I take the beads out for the night the RH stays at 72% so I am just totally baffled. Would it all be just a bad seal but I thought the beads would help with that also. Plus in the winter with the same seal I can maintain 65 %rh with the Hydra. Sorry for the rant just very frustrated. I have some very nice sticks in there and would hate to see them get screwed up.

Best Regards
Don

 

[Yeahthatsme]

If the wood and cigars have absorbed a lot of moisture then it could take a while for the beads to bring it down. Also the seal could very well be the culprit in all of this.

 

[pembroke3355]

If the wood and cigars have absorbed a lot of moisture then it could take a while for the beads to bring it down. Also the seal could very well be the culprit in all of this.

I was afraid of that did not seem to be a problem in the winter but there are some spaces guess it is time to get some weather stripping and hope that works. Thanks for the reply.

Best Regards
Don

 

[bpj87]

Based on all of the corrective measures that have not worked, it seems like the seal must be bad. I have added extra foam sealing to my coolidor, and it holds RH like a champ.

 

[tone-ny]

You did the right thing by removing the hydra out. It'll take a week or so to stabilize. This is a typical occurrence in the summer. I remove all the water out of the canisters in my cabinet around June to avoid this.