Silca Kitty Litter Question

[CigarStone]

I have a few simple questions

1) Does the cat hang around the humidor?

2) Do Viper beads need to be conditioned or do they come ready to go?

3) Can kitty litter be conditioned in my humidor full of cigars?

4) Can the exact RH be achieved by using a little more or less beads/kitty litter?

 

[NullSmurf]

I have a few simple questions

1) Does the cat hang around the humidor?

2) Do Viper beads need to be conditioned or do they come ready to go?

3) Can kitty litter be conditioned in my humidor full of cigars?

4) Can the exact RH be achieved by using a little more or less beads/kitty litter?

I'll answer 2 and 4. Viper beads don't require conditioning. Even saturated, they will maintain their programmed RH so long as they don't run out of moisture. To question 4, there is a formula that you can find on the Heartfelt web site for determining what weight of beads for a given enclosure. I'd add a bit to that. Too much, and you still get the programmed RH. Too little, and you may still get the desired RH, but you'll have to charge more often. Those who are experienced with KLH should have something to add. Otherwise, there is good information you can find by searching "KLH"

 

[preembargo]

I have a few simple questions

1) Does the cat hang around the humidor?

2) Do Viper beads need to be conditioned or do they come ready to go?

3) Can kitty litter be conditioned in my humidor full of cigars?

4) Can the exact RH be achieved by using a little more or less beads/kitty litter?

1. Kick the cat

2. Ready to go

3. You should condition them before putting them in with your cigars

4. You can have too little but you can't have too much. You just need to determine how much you need based on the size of your humidor or coolidor.

Follow the steps Allofus123 laid out and you can’t go wrong.

 

[Allofus123]

Even saturated, they will maintain their programmed RH so long as they don't run out of moisture.

Thats not correct, if you over saturate any silica bead product it will be oversaturated and the beads would be unable to obsorb the over saturation to the programed RH.

 

[Allofus123]

I have a few simple questions

1) Does the cat hang around the humidor?

2) Do Viper beads need to be conditioned or do they come ready to go?

3) Can kitty litter be conditioned in my humidor full of cigars?

4) Can the exact RH be achieved by using a little more or less beads/kitty litter?

1) Most cats I know hate this stuff.... it hasn't exactly been a big hit in kittyland.

2) No, they are ready to go.

3) Yes they can but certain conditions would need to be taken into consideration. Depending on the size of your humidor, the amount of cigars already in the dor, and your humidification device, you can condition beads in the humidor with cigars. If you have a small/med desktop with a few dozen cigars in it I wouldn't go sticking 2 lbs of beads in to be conditioned. On the other hand, small amounts at a time, as long as the current humidification system can, within reason, keep up you should have no problem.

4) Not exactly sure what the question is here. You must use enough silica gel for the area you are humidifying. Once beads are conditioned they absorb or release moiture at a specific RH. Adding more or less will not change that.

 

[CigarStone]

I have a few simple questions

1) Does the cat hang around the humidor?

2) Do Viper beads need to be conditioned or do they come ready to go?

3) Can kitty litter be conditioned in my humidor full of cigars?

4) Can the exact RH be achieved by using a little more or less beads/kitty litter?

1) Most cats I know hate this stuff.... it hasn't exactly been a big hit in kittyland.

2) No, they are ready to go.

3) Yes they can but certain conditions would need to be taken into consideration. Depending on the size of your humidor, the amount of cigars already in the dor, and your humidification device, you can condition beads in the humidor with cigars. If you have a small/med desktop with a few dozen cigars in it I wouldn't go sticking 2 lbs of beads in to be conditioned. On the other hand, small amounts at a time, as long as the current humidification system can, within reason, keep up you should have no problem.

4) Not exactly sure what the question is here. You must use enough silica gel for the area you are humidifying. Once beads are conditioned they absorb or release moiture at a specific RH. Adding more or less will not change that.

So, on question 3), If I have a 4 cubic foot coolidor with a Cigar Oasis XL in it, I should be okay to condition the kitty litter in there with the cigars?

 

[preembargo]

Even saturated, they will maintain their programmed RH so long as they don't run out of moisture.

Thats not correct, if you over saturate any silica bead product it will be oversaturated and the beads would be unable to obsorb the over saturation to the programed RH.

Alright gentlemen, there's some science involved here and if you guys don't quit it I'm gonna have go an' get all Wilkey on yer a$$es and post some formulas and white papers and all that shiznit! :sign:

Basically, dry or unprepared beads are naturally "conditioned" at about %40 RH. Not really something you want in your humidor because they'll suck the moisture right out of the air and then out of your cigars until everything within the humidor is at %40 RH. Inversely, saturating them will flood the capillaries in the beads so they can't remove any moisture from the air and your cigars will be too wet.

Allofus123 has written the simplest yet most complete instructions I've read so far on how to condition silica gel beads. Trying to do it any other way is just repeating experiments done in the past by who knows how many people, experiments which ultimately led them all to use the same method Kenny has given us.

 

[Allofus123]

So, on question 3), If I have a 4 cubic foot coolidor with a Cigar Oasis XL in it, I should be okay to condition the kitty litter in there with the cigars?

I would think you could do it with say 1/2 - 1 lb at a time but you will need to monitor it. I'd prob try a 1/2 lb first to make sure the oasis keeps up. You should notice it running a lot more than normal at first until it brings the beads up to whatever "set" point you're working on. Maybe a very light misting of the beads to sorta help jump start them. If the humidity drops below 50 for more than a day I would add a few wet spounges or shot glasses of water to aid the oasis. It would take many days for cigars to be adversly effected by a sustained humidity drop.

As Preembargo said above, KLH is already naturally conditioned around 40% so you're just trying to move that conditioned point to whatever you desire.

 

[CigarStone]

NO NO NO blue ones..... the crystals are rough shape like rock candy. You are looking for Exquisicat Pearls... You can use the coarse ones, but you get more powder from them. The pearls seem not to crack as much.

To be honest I can't remember what the deal is with the blue ones. I do remember I read NOT to use them. Sorry I can't be of more help on that. I will search around and see what I can find.

The blue ones will give off an odor when moist. Take some and put them in a bowl and pour water on them. You will smell them for sure!

I use Safeway brand generic kitty crystals. They are 50/50 blue and white. They are unscented. Get unscented and it won't matter what color the crystals are. I use them in six coolers. Believe me when I say they work perfectly. At $8 for 4 pounds, I'm satisfied.

It doesn't matter a bit whether the crystals are bead shaped or jagged. Keep them in a dish or in a nylon stocking in a dish and you will be fine.

Wilkey

Since these are designed to absorb odor, will they absorb the cedar smell in my coolidor?

 

[CigarStone]

I have another question?

I just bought another 120 qt. cooler and kitty litter beads.

Once I get the cooler and it's contents of empty cedar boxes and cedar shelves stable at 65% and then put a pound of beads in, the RH will drop and the CO will fight to get them up to 65%. Once they get there, how long do I have to keep them there until they are properly conditioned?

Can these beads be reconditioned to a different RH?

 

[CigarStone]

I have another question?

I just bought another 120 qt. cooler and kitty litter beads.

Once I get the cooler and it's contents of empty cedar boxes and cedar shelves stable at 65% and then put a pound of beads in, the RH will drop and the CO will fight to get them up to 65%. Once they get there, how long do I have to keep them there until they are properly conditioned?

Can these beads be reconditioned to a different RH?

I got my answers by reading the previous responses.

Thanks allofus123

I am still curious as to whether these beads will absorb the cedar smell from my humidor?

 

[NullSmurf]

Logically, any silica beads should only absorb odors as they are carried by water. I think you're asking if the beads will negate the positive effect of the cedar. That would be no.

 

[AVB]

Spend the $3 to buy a container and condition your kitty litter before you put it in your humi/coolidor/whatever. Jeez, you make the simplest thing so difficult.

 

[CigarStone]

Logically, any silica beads should only absorb odors as they are carried by water. I think you're asking if the beads will negate the positive effect of the cedar. That would be no.

Yep, that's what I was asking.....thanks.

Also, I found the "Exquisicat Pearls" at PetSmart. If anyone needs some PM me, I had to buy a 7 pound jug.

 

[CigarStone]

Spend the $3 to buy a container and condition your kitty litter before you put it in your humi/coolidor/whatever. Jeez, you make the simplest thing so difficult.

I've found that my COXL doesn't work well in a small place. When it kicks on, it runs long enough that the RH goes up too high.

 

[AVB]

So just use a bowl of water like was mentioned way back in the start of this thread. That's what I did.

 

[CigarStone]

So just use a bowl of water like was mentioned way back in the start of this thread. That's what I did.

How would I regulate it to 65% for two weeks with a bowl of water?

 

[AVB]

Search is your friend. Be sure to read Here's complete instructions

 

[defetis]

This thread should be a sticky, I got so much crap for this and laughed at, but I saved alot of money and spent it on a few boxes instead. I followed the instructions meantioned in this thread, and everything went nice and smooth(minus the 6 hours of blue removal, Which I have found dont affect anything so dont waste your time!) Anyway, So I spent a total of like $70 bucks on a good cooler, kitty litter, spray bottle, distilled water, and a digi hygrometer, havent had to spray the bags since I put them in the cooler, holds at 65% like no other without a cedar lining. Have not noticed any cedar smell in the litter either.

 

[Smokyballs]

This thread should be a sticky, I got so much crap for this and laughed at, but I saved alot of money and spent it on a few boxes instead. I followed the instructions meantioned in this thread, and everything went nice and smooth(minus the 6 hours of blue removal, Which I have found dont affect anything so dont waste your time!) Anyway, So I spent a total of like $70 bucks on a good cooler, kitty litter, spray bottle, distilled water, and a digi hygrometer, havent had to spray the bags since I put them in the cooler, holds at 65% like no other without a cedar lining. Have not noticed any cedar smell in the litter either.

So how do you buy a couple of boxes of cigars with the money you saved not buying beads? What the hell are you smoking? $25 for a pound of beads, $.89 for a gallon of distilled water, $1.50 for a spray bottle, Maybe $30 for the cooler and $33 for the gauge! $90 gets you beads. You spent $21.75 on an ESG Robusto but you have to cut corners on the humidification to protect your smokes? I don't get you at all. The worst case scenario is that you saved $30? How do you buy a couple of boxes of cigars for $30?