I have a super-dumb question about Heartfelt beads ...

[Coolhand]

http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/products.asp?cat=70%+Rh+Humidity+Beads

The tubes DO contain beads straight from the manufacturer, yes? I've got two mesh bags in a ~2400 cubic inch capacity humi - 65% - and I'm not getting great moisture distribution at the moment.

This is not the fault of the beads, at all, to be clear - My life's been a hectic mess lately, I've not been as good as I should've been hydrating the things, there's too much air in there (had to cut back on my buying, didn't cut back on my smoking, but now I'm in better shape to restock :eyebrow and it's been really dry up here in the high country. So I'm thinking of buying a couple of the large tubes (if it's overkill, so be it) at 70%, spacing them through the cooler, and putting an Oust fan in there to keep the air moving well.

I'm thinking of the tubes because where the bags rest on the trays (this is my humi: http://www.cigarsinternational.com/prodDisp.asp?item=M-HAV300&cat=10&page=4) the wood is getting discolored and I think it's leeching most of the moisture away, so I need a better storage method.

Thoughts?

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Maybe reseasoning the Humidor would be good...

But to answer your question, yes, the tubes come filled with beads.

There's a separate section where David sells empty tubes

 

[Coolhand]

Maybe reseasoning the Humidor would be good...

But to answer your question, yes, the tubes come filled with beads.

There's a separate section where David sells empty tubes

Yep, got the tupperidors ready to rock, I go back where the humi is tomorrow, and going to do exactly that. And thank you. I was 99% sure that would be the answer, but thought I'd feel a real dumbass if I ordered empty tubes (guess I just didn't see where they were, derp).

 

[dpricenator]

Even if you use the bags, I would not place them directly on the wood.

 

[gentimmy]

Even if you use the bags, I would not place them directly on the wood.

oops

what should I put them on?

 

[Coolhand]

Even if you use the bags, I would not place them directly on the wood.

Yeah, originally I was putting them on plastic sheets, but I forgot to put them back in. :disappoin

What can I say, the economy's a bitch and I'm running myself ragged. Mistakes were made.:hanghead:

 

[Jwrussell]

Yep, you can get either tubes or filled tubes, whichever you prefer.

Why are you wanting to get 70% beads? Would you rather keep your cigars at 70% RH, or are you trying to compensate for something else? Those footlocker style humis are deep, so you will get some variation in RH due to temperature fluctuations to some degree, but really, if the seal is good on it, you shouldn't have a huge problem maintaining 65% throughout without having to micro-manage.

When you say there is too much air, I assume you mean that you are less than 75% full in the humi? If so, yeah, that makes it a tad bit more difficult, but shouldn't really make it impossible. Do you have empty cigar boxes you can use to take up the extra space? That can help (I always hold on to my empties, especially those made entirely/mostly of spanish cedar).

If the trays are truly "leeching moisture away" then the reasoning will help. If properly seasoned that shouldn't be the case. However, if you are rehydrating the beads as they sit on the tray or putting them back on the trays right after rehydrating them, you are probably just dealing with the fact that the beads haven't had time to pull in all the moisture yet. Rehydrating these things can be a bit tricky and I almost always end up having to sit my bags of beads out on something for a bit to let them absorb extra moisture so that they are not wet when I put them back.

 

[Jwrussell]

oops

what should I put them on?

Easiest solution, IMHO, is a piece of wax paper. Cheap and easy to replace. Really though, depends on your individual set up.