So is my humidor a gonner? *Update:* My Hydras gond crazy!

[Danforz]

UPDATE:

Thank you again everyone for your input. I greatly appreciate your insight. However, it seems the problem isn't going to be the mold but the Hydra. It did it again! I recallibrated it last night and it was fine this morning. Off I go to work, come home and of course BOOM up to 80% humidity again (though it was reading bellow 60%)!

Any ideas?
_________________________________________________________________________

Hello everyone,

I literally stepped in from my trip only 30 minutes ago, to find my bumping the humidity of my humidor up to an astounding 80% RH. This is problematic as I've been gone for the past five days and some mold has reared its ugly head in the humidor and I'm quite worried (I've got white, green and yellow molds). Heres some background:

On Friday, I disconnected the power chord on my Hydra humidifier so I could go inside the humidor and rearrange some stuff without the fan continually buzzing. Well, I guess I forgot the Hydra has an ON/OFF button (I'm used to the CO+). When I turned the thing back on, its reading of the humidity was completely off (by ~10%) and the adjustment knob only allows for an adjustment of +/- 5% or so. I allowed the humidity in the unit to drop to the point where I could re-calliberate it based off my Heartfelt Industries digital hygrometer. Before I left for Mexico, all seemed well and both the Hydra and the hygrometer were reading at around 70%.

Anyways, I arrive back today and as I said, there are spots of mold in between some of the ventilation holes.

There are also some yellow "spots" which look more like stains then fuzz. These are what really worry me as they seem as if they are ingrained into the wood - and are quite numerous. For now, I'm doing my best to remove this stuff with a lot of cue tips but am still a bit worried. Luckily, my cigars seem OK (way to soft but I can deal with that) but I'm worried about the condition of the wood in my humidor and the hydra itself. Will this fuzz spread? Is the humidor a gonner? Why the hell did the hydra go haywire?

Any help would be GREATLY GREATLY appreciated. Merry Christmas and thank you in advance.


EDIT: Here are photos of those "yellow spots." Upon further investigation, I'm starting to think they are just wood stain. I hope I'm right ???

 

[Sthamper]

I’ve had it happen as well… don’t panic.

If you can… remove the shelf and set it outside in direct sunlight.
Gently brush the mold off.

I had mold in my humidor from over-filling the humidifier, this solved my issue.

 

[mysterea]

Also, try and get a toothbrush in there to scrub that stuff a bit.

 

[NullSmurf]

I like the sunlight idea, but I'd also back it up with an oxydizing "cleaner", like Oxyclean. It's the same solution I used to sterilize beer brewing equipment - bleaching without the bleach.

 

[jlada]

... like Oxyclean. It's the same solution I used to sterilize beer brewing equipment - bleaching without the bleach.

There is a BIG difference between "OxiClean" and "OxyClean" FYI.

OxyClean does contain bleach:
KOH
NaOH
NaOCl

Do NOT use this in a humidor.

OxiClean does not:
C2H6Na4O12
Na2CO3
KOH

I don't really 100% recommend using this either, but it's far better than OxyClean.

Edit: If you wanna go geeky and discuss the chemical reactions and what they form and why it works, PM me. It's not worth the trouble unless anyone is genuinely interested.

 

[vortex]

I've also heard of using a light, white wine to just dampen a cloth but brushing and sunlight sounds safer and just as effective. UV light kills the buggers as well as alcohol. You probably should re-season it when your done.

 

[NullSmurf]

... like Oxyclean. It's the same solution I used to sterilize beer brewing equipment - bleaching without the bleach.

There is a BIG difference between "OxiClean" and "OxyClean" FYI.

OxyClean does contain bleach:
KOH
NaOH
NaOCl

Do NOT use this in a humidor.

OxiClean does not:
C2H6Na4O12
Na2CO3
KOH

I don't really 100% recommend using this either, but it's far better than OxyClean.

Edit: If you wanna go geeky and discuss the chemical reactions and what they form and why it works, PM me. It's not worth the trouble unless anyone is genuinely interested.

Geeky already! :sign:

What would you use to kill the mold spores without leaving obnoxious residue?

 

[indyrob]

Isn't copper a fungicide?

 

[Wurm]

Wipe it down with dry cloth and let it stay OPEN in the fresh air for a few days... no chemicals, no vinegar, no nothing. The mold spores have nothing to live on in dead dry cedar and once they die your good to go.

Re-season it and in the future make sure you open it every 2nd day and fan in some fresh air (I use a baseball cap as a fan for my 120 count) and if you go on a extended trip during warm moist weather, remove the humidifier / beads (dry beads would be ok to absorb the extra moisture) during that time, if you don't have some one who can monitor your humi for you.

 

[Danforz]

Thank you all for the insight, I believe I've got the humidor mold problem covered but my Hydra has gone haywire again!!!

Last night and this morning it was reading a steady 73% (left it a bit high to avoid splitting foots). I get back from work today and the hydra reads 64% while my 2 hygrometers read over 80%!!! Anyone know what the hell is wrong with the thing? I re-calibrated it last night!

 

[Wurm]

Beads...

Lots and Lots of Beads.

 

[Danforz]

Wurm,

I've contemplated the idea. However, the unit was working PERFECT prior to this stint. I've emailed the vendor and I'm about to call them. HOpefully we can get to the bottom of this.