Need some help!

[jebloom22]

I have a newer Don Salvatore 100-cigar humidor with windows (less than two months old). To keep the temps down, I have it setup in my basement, where it holds around 66F. The humidity has a tougher time staying up down there, so I fluctuate between using 3-4 small Xikar crystal jars, and when I need to, I also will use some distilled water in the included humistat. I went to refill the humistat this morning, and found what appears to be mold spores behind it. I wiped them off with a slightly damp paper towel, but am now quite concerned with the potential spread of mold.

What now?? Are my ~85 cigars at risk? I did refill the humistat and put it back up after having wiped up the area behind it down.

 

[RonC]

that sounds like a lot of humidification for a 100 count humidor. Finding mold is more evidence that there is too much humidification. What type of hygrometer are using?

 

[jebloom22]

that sounds like a lot of humidification for a 100 count humidor. Finding mold is more evidence that there is too much humidification. What type of hygrometer are using?

Using several hygros, but I know my caliber III is good. House is dry, and humidity almost always below 70... the spores were on the lid behind the humistat. I am very concerned that my humi is toast. And I was just getting ready to transition to HF or HCM beads.

 

[jebloom22]

Well, maybe this hasn't happened to many people as evidenced by minimal response to my request for help.

I'll share what I did, and hopefully I can comment months down the road that it worked, and my new humidor is fine.

I removed the cigars, and placed them in sealed tupperware-type containers with a small jar of Xikar 70% crystals each. Didn't appear that any of the sticks had mold on them - looked to me like the spores were limited to just behind the humistat. I should have thought this through earlier, because the humistat has openings on both sides, despite one of those sides being pressed against my humidor lid. Regardless, the humistat is toast - it will certainly not be used again. I don't trust a warm water rinse.

After wiping off the "stuff," I vacuumed the inside of the humidor to hopefully avoid any spreading of the mold spores. I then used a mixture of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol on the infected area with a clean cloth, but I didn't use enough to really soak (and damage) the wood. I then left the lid open so it could dry. It's been like that for a few days now.

I hope to get some beads - haven't decided yet between HCM and HF. Once I get those and re-season the humidor, the cigars will go back in. I sure hope I caught things in time.

 

[Headbanger]

Sounds like you did the right thing. With lower temps and less RH in the air during the winter time don't sweat the RH unless starts to go below 60%. Once the air temps rise when the winter breaks the RH should be able to rise without being forced.


Any mold on the cigars can be wiped down with lightly damp cloth and enjoyed later. As long as the mold does not get into the foot you should be fine. If there is widespread mold from this incident then keep the sticks in the tupperware container to keep mold out of the humidor.

I suggest shooting for 65% RH and not using the 70% stuff.

 

[t_ron99]

Yep. Looks like what you did should work fine. Make sure you calibrate your hygrometer when you are up and running again.

 

[jebloom22]

Re-calibrated the Caliber III hygrometer this past week. Dead on.

I'm using the 70% crystals now until the beads I want are in stock, but what's nice is that at the low temp in my basement, the 70% crystals get my actual RH in the tupperware to about 63-65%.

 

[ItalianCustom]

I love my HF beads...also have used the cheap crystals from CI with tubes from HF

 

[jebloom22]

Been going back and forth in my choice between the HCM and HF beads. Leaning towards the HF beads now because more people seem to have experience with them, and they now come in a case that can fit where my humistat used to be on the lid. Unfortunately, they're out of stock at the moment. Also debating if I buy the case, should I also pick up a couple of tubes to sit with the sticks at the bottom...

 

[ItalianCustom]

i found the case to be a little overpriced... I use the tubes in my desktop and bags in my vinodor

 

[jebloom22]

Assuming that if I go with tubes instead of the case, I'll need to use several of them. Do we know if they are more effective when they are kept together versus spread around the humidor?

I don't know where pricing will end up (multiple tubes vs. one case), but I'd like to know which option is better for maintaining proper humidity.

 

[Jwrussell]

Just now seeing this. A couple of things. Good to see you calibrated your hygros, that's always the first question. Next thing, if you have having that much difficulty holding humidity, something's wrong (I'm referring to your comment about humidity having a tougher time staying up down there). Unless you are talking about the ambient RH, which really shouldn't affect THAT much, again, unless you have a leaky humidor. You might want to check the seal if that is the problem. You mention windows...that could also be a source of leaking. If your humidor is seasoned properly, and the sticks have had time to acclimate, and the humidor seals tightly with no leaking, you really should not need to be constantly adding things to try to keep the RH up.

As to the beads, either one will work fine, but keep in mind that the HCM beads are only supplied in their own bags. HF you can get bulk, with bags, tubes, pretty much however you want to keep them.

 

[Jwrussell]

Kind of depends on the space you have to humidify/regulate. The larger the space the more I like to spread the beads around in different places. Does it really make a difference? I can't tell you scientifically that it does, but in my mind it just makes sense that it would.

 

[ItalianCustom]

on my desktop I had 2 tubes at the top since all my sticks were shorter.....

 

[jebloom22]

Alright, so I'm considering 3 medium 65% tubes (way more than the minimum for a 450 cubic inch interior), with 2 on the bottom and 1 on the top tray rather than my initial thought of the single medium 65% case on the lid. Yeah, that sounds about right, and the price for the 3 tubes vs the 1 case is comparable.

 

[ItalianCustom]

yeah and your saving about $10

you could probably use one on the top and one on the bottom.....

Edit: also have you checked for leaks in your humi>?

 

[pnoguy]

Just now reading this. Could you describe your process for calibrating your hygro?

 

[Headbanger]

could get one of these for the humi too. Mark is a great guy and was a longtime BOTL sponsor as well.

http://www.getthepuck.com/

 

[jebloom22]

Don't think I have a leak in the humidor. Been the same for three humidors in my basement where the ambient RH has been low in the winters. On the new humi, I did do the paper test and the light test (I know it has windows, but shut off the lights and looked all around the lid).

As far as calibration is concerned, I used the Boveda 75.5% calibration bag. My Caliber III is dead nuts, but my other digital was off by 8.5% this time (and last time 6 months ago it was off by 4.5%). The one that is off is not being used anymore. Just sticking with the Caliber III. The analog-style digital that came with the humidor is defective, so I'm waiting for its replacement from Don Salvatore. I figure that with the new built-in hygro and the Caliber III, I ought to be on top of things.

Again, the three tupperware containers that my sticks are in now are all around 63-65% with 70% crystal jars in each.

 

[Jwrussell]

Just now reading this. Could you describe your process for calibrating your hygro?

Check out the sticky at the top of this forum (Storage) that talks about seasoning and humidification. You want a boveda pack at least or the boveda calibration kit. All you are doing is placing your hygro in a known RH environment so that you can confirm it is reading correctly, or more likely, so you can note to what degree it is off.