Humidor bottom drawer leaking?

[The Rook is on Fire]

Hey guys, I have the Napoleon II humidor...I know it probably wasn't the best choice in the world, but I like the aesthetics of it...I am using 2X the amount of HCM beads required for the humidor...The middle shelf and top shelf both read at 64-65...rock solid...no variation...but the bottom drawer, the drawer with the media, reads 55. I'm wondering if this is because RH rises and the slits that sense RH on the Caliber IV hygrometer are facing up...anyone else experiencing something similar? And here's the crazy thing...the cigars on the bottom drawer, feel and smoke just fine...I am just wondering if long term I may have problems...bottom drawer is for CCs only....the pictures are from the old setup...just to show what I'm working with...
Those tubes are old HF homemade tubes which I no longer use...

 

[jonesry09]

Anyway those hygros are off? I got a couple of the same ones off ebay a couple months back for my new wineador build. When I went to test them they took like 6 days to get up to the RH of the boveda. A couple weeks later all of the readings were all over the place so I put them back in the tupperware with a couple bovedas. I was shocked when the readings were all different. 4 hygros with readings all off from 2-9% RH. I was something pissed off. They aren't "calibratable/adjustable" (made that word up) so I pretty much just had to write on the face how far off they were. I dealt with that for a month and then pulled the trigger and ordered ones that I could adjust.

 

[The Rook is on Fire]

Anyway those hygros are off? I got a couple of the same ones off ebay a couple months back for my new wineador build. When I went to test them they took like 6 days to get up to the RH of the boveda. A couple weeks later all of the readings were all over the place so I put them back in the tupperware with a couple bovedas. I was shocked when the readings were all different. 4 hygros with readings all off from 2-9% RH. I was something pissed off. They aren't "calibratable/adjustable" (made that word up) so I pretty much just had to write on the face how far off they were. I dealt with that for a month and then pulled the trigger and ordered ones that I could adjust.

I love the new word hahaha! The Caliber IV is adjustable and it is completely calibrated with the boveda...it is quite accurate (tested with boveda and ambient RH). The hygro in the pic is an old Xikar that I gave away to my father-in-law...What I did now is I put about 6 ounces of HF 65 beads on the bottom drawer, and 8 ounces of HCM 67 beads in the middle drawer and nothing up top...I'm hoping even with an annoying ass leak on the bottom, that going way overboard with media will compensate...I think my next course of action will be to fix the actual leak via adhesive felt...I just don't know exactly where to put it in this humi...my best guess is to line the top of the drawer with the felt...any suggestions? Honestly, my biggest mistake is going for aesthetics over functionality, but it looks so good in the living room...

 

[MattyVan]

Some things to try....

Do you have one hygro that you move to each shelf to test, or do you,have oner on each shelf.... If so can you rotate them.

Toss a couple Boveda packs in the bottom that may fix it.

Find a small battery fam to put n the humi, maybe it needs a bit of air flow.

 

[The Rook is on Fire]

Some things to try....

Do you have one hygro that you move to each shelf to test, or do you,have oner on each shelf.... If so can you rotate them.

Toss a couple Boveda packs in the bottom that may fix it.

Find a small battery fam to put n the humi, maybe it needs a bit of air flow.

I only have the one hygro that I move around...maybe I'll see if I can get another one cheaply...I'm gonna see if the 6 ounces of HF beads on the bottom shelf work...then I may progress to Boveda if necessary...but I never thought about a small fan...do you have any suggestions on which I should get? I've heard people using those oust fans...

 

[NCost]

From my experience, those pull out drawers leak like sieves. You might want to try and put some weather sealing around it so when it's closed you're actually eliminating air leaks there.

 

[The Rook is on Fire]

From my experience, those pull out drawers leak like sieves. You might want to try and put some weather sealing around it so when it's closed you're actually eliminating air leaks there.

Thanks man...when you say weather sealing, is that the same as felt with adhesive backing? The material would have to be really thin so the drawers all close flush...

 

[Jesse]

I would suggest something like this maybe.

 

[The Rook is on Fire]

I would suggest something like this maybe.

I went with something thinner...because after doing the flashlight test and really examining the drawers, the amount of gap was really small...around 1-2 millimeters on the left and 0 on the right side...I found some felt at walmart for $2 for 5 huge sheets...just finished the project...now I'm recalibrating the hygro and recharging the HCM beads...and will field test it probably tomorrow...hopefully all is well...the top 2 drawers initially were reading 64-66 and the bottom drawer was reading about 55-57...hopefully my southern engineering and my wife's attention to detail will have fixed all the issues...

 

[Jesse]

Sounds like a great combination, hope it works out for you.