Need some expert humidification advice for my custom cabinet

[.jacob]

I've had my cigars in my new cabinet four about 2 weeks now and I'm having difficulty getting the rh to reach 65%.

Here's how she currently sits:

Stats:
14" x 15" x 24"
1 lbs Heartfelt 65% beads
1 disc of Heartfelt 65% beads
2 Boveda 69% packs
3 water pillows
Seals are all pretty good, bottom could be tighter. Did dollar bill test, I can pull it through but not without some resistance.

I never properly seasoned the humidor WITHOUT cigars in it. With the sticks inside I've wiped down the walls with a damp rag 3 times over the two weeks but still the humidity falls back down to 61-62%.

Hygro is a Xikar calibratable. I calibrated it before use in the humi 3 weeks ago and it was dead on. I'm re-checking it right now. Rh outside of the humidor appears to be 56% so the box is doing something.

One thought I had is that the humidor may be too empty and that's why it's not holding moisture as well as it should be? Another thought is the cigars and boxes may have been extra dry because they'd endured a 7 day FedEx shipment cross country and then another two weeks of sitting in ziplocs & the boxes in shoddy saran wrap while I was finishing up the box...

Any tips or advice are appreciated!

Jacob

 

[Psojka RP,601]

when i didnt have alot of sticks, i had RH problems too...could be that its too empty...........

have you properly calibrated the hygrometer?

take out ALL cigars and place in ziplock bags with a small damp washcloth in the gallon ziplock bags...place all beads and a shot-glass filled with distilled water inside empty humi...soak walls and top and bottom again like you tried before...let it sit a day or so and within 48 hours, you should be good to go...worked for me.

good luck!

 

[Starz26]

Duct tape the hygrometer near the top of the cabinet and see what it reads....me thinks that it may be a litter higher RH up there.....

If so, it may be that it is just a little too empty.

report back plz...

if RH is the same at top then season properly as a humi that size will take a little while to season...

wipe down, then out a sponge soaked with water inside
next day same thing
one more day
then repeat for 3 or so days sans the sponge.

then you should be all set....have to let the wood absorb enough moisture so you are not constantly fighting the battle.

 

[Ed Monton]

How wet are the beads? I would suggest adding more distilled water to the beads until they are all clear. I've recently switched over to heartfelt beads and they are dead on 70% (they are 70% beads) after a couple of days but my box is a lot smaller and fuller.

Also, if I was you I would remove the ziplock bags. To fill up space you could add a cedar tray for singles. Nice cabinet by the way.. Perfect size in my opinion.

 

[Mitch]

Wood can suck up a lot of moisture. Until your steady you might want to put a little bowl of water in there. Until, you risk going too high, it couldn't hurt. Ron is our resident expert, but my guess would be thirsty wood.

 

[Virgeinadeaux]

After sealing mine right, I re-seasoned mine for 15 days I got an EZ Accumonitor from RonC, and it is really cooking now. PM RonC he can help.

 

[Jfire]

Wood can suck up a lot of moisture. Until your steady you might want to put a little bowl of water in there. Until, you risk going too high, it couldn't hurt. Ron is our resident expert, but my guess would be thirsty wood.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[BagfullofPings]

I would use an active humidifier (Hydra or Cigar Oasis). After setting it at 67-68, I would put 1/4 pound of dry beads in the back corner of each level. I use the tubes from Heartfelt. That has worked great for my cabinet...it is about the same size as yours.

 

[GoingPostal]

I'm no expert but your problems are probably due to never properly seasoning the cabnet and the wood is soaking up moisture.

 

[openendstraight]

I never properly seasoned the humidor WITHOUT cigars in it.

I think you answered you own question.

The biggest problem most new humidors have when there is a Humidity problem is not have time to season before it was filled.

 

[Danilo]

it'll take 2 things... water, and time.

Dish of water inside... and time for the wood to soak up what it needs to.
I would not wipe it down.... might warp something.

 

[CWS]

My friend it sounds like you are trying to rush things. Your dry boxes and cigars are competing with the cedar humi for moisture. I agree with removing the cigars to a cooledor or ziplocks. Leave the boxes and put in a few bowls of water, beads etc. Seal er up and let it stabilize. Let the boxes absorb moisture and the humi. It will take time. That is a good sized box. Once you stabilize to the level you want, add in the cigars. Wiping down the sides may speed things up but you also get stains and uneven absorption. Let the wood do its work naturally. Good luck.

 

[.jacob]

Thanks guys.

All of the cigars have been moved to ziplocs.

I've added a large bowl of water to the humidor in addition to beads. Tomorrow I'll add a second bowl of water and maybe a couple 84% Boveda seasoning packs if you think it'd be a good idea.

The hygro is being tested with a Boveda. Once checked I'll mount it up high in the box.

I'll check back in in two weeks.

Jacob

 

[GoingPostal]

I would take the beads out while seasoning the cabinet. a second dish of water would work. basically it's going to take patience. you didn't build it in a day so don't expect it to be seasoned in a day. Also leave that door closed and let that wood soak up the moisture.

 

[CheapHumidors]

Did you try closing the door? lol jk

When it's empty, there's more open air and hence more space that has to be saturated with moisture (remember, we calculate vapor density using gm/m^3, so a greater volume obviously affects the saturation of the air). So that is one potential issue.

One of the purposes of seasoning the humidor is to saturate the wood so it doesn't suck moisture out of the air. With a surface area that large, it may take some time and a fair amount of moisture to make it completely seasoned.

Also, remember that RH% is inversely proportionate to temperature (about 0.7%RH/Degree Fahrenheit), so variations in temperature can cause variations in RH.

There are a few common "failure points" in a humidor: The seal, the hygrometer, the humidifier, the seasoning, and the conditions (temperature, volume, pressure, etc.). Work your way through them until you find out what's wrong

Hope this helped some. It's a lot of words to say I don't know what exactly is wrong lol.