can you use a humidity jar and beads in the same humi?

[GoingPostal]

I ask this question cause i have notice that the beads i use in the humi with the xikar humidity jar have discolored a bit. Is the 50/50 solution i use to fill the xikar jar clogging the heartfelt beads? I thought humidity was humidity or am i wrong? I read in the sticky that you can bake the beads to make them clear again, has anyone actually done this?

 

[TravelingJ]

Hrm. I don't know for certain. I would think that drying them out fully would be a good idea, then using just the beads alone. I like them because there is no solution involved, and I'm just adding distilled water to my cigars.

It reminds me of those days/nights where the temp swings are drastic. I have a hell of a time regulating the temperature in our RV, so I have on occasion turned on a space heater...and the AC. I like to let them fight it out to see who wins. Who is winning in your war, the beads, or the gel?

 

[SkinsFanLarry]

When I was using a humidity jar I never used anything but distilled water in it, could the 50-50 solution be the cause of the beads turning brown, quite possibly in my opinion.

 

[ninjafox99]

I'm not sure if i saw it here or on the heartfelt website, and i could be wrong, but i think i read somewhere that said it's not a good idea to have beads AND 50/50 pg solution. And instead of an oven, I used a hairdryer to dry the beads out, and it worked well.

 

[ninjafox99]

I found this on heartfelt's site:

"VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!

You will notice that every time I mention the fluid that is added to the Heartfelt Humidification Beads I say “distilled water”. This is extremely important; anything other than distilled water will ultimately ruin the beads. All the impurities in tap water will be drawn in by the beads and remain there. Ultimately the beads will get plugged up and not work anymore. The same is true with any type of humidifier solution (also known as 50/50 solution) this will also ruin the beads in the long run. "

 

[smokinghole]

My beads have slowly gotten a brownish/yellow tinge to them. Sort of like I've been blowing smoke on them for months. That's normal. Now your post is confusing. It sounds like you have beads in a humidor and you might be using 50/50 solution. If you have a large cabinet or cooler and keep the jar for additional humidity and the beads as a two way device then depending on the humidity of the beads you might be oversaturating the beads because of the crystals in the jar with the 50/50.

If you're putting 50/50 on beads then you're going to need some new beads.

To answer the question of the posted title. I keep beads in my humidors and from time to time I grab the take out boveda packs from Fuente, CAO or RPs and toss them in my humi. This allows me to humidfy my cigars if they need it and recharge my beads (65%) in a gentle manner. I pull the packs out in 4 days or so and everything is good to go.

 

[GoingPostal]

I found this on heartfelt's site:

"VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!

You will notice that every time I mention the fluid that is added to the Heartfelt Humidification Beads I say “distilled water”. This is extremely important; anything other than distilled water will ultimately ruin the beads. All the impurities in tap water will be drawn in by the beads and remain there. Ultimately the beads will get plugged up and not work anymore. The same is true with any type of humidifier solution (also known as 50/50 solution) this will also ruin the beads in the long run. "

i guess my first post wasn't clear enough. I have the jar that i fill with 50/50 solution at the bottom of the humi. and put beads that i recharge with distilled water on the top tray. think i'm just going to leave the jar till i finish the pg solution i have left then convert fully to beads

 

[David]

The chemicals that the 50/50 solution is putting into the air in the humi is being sucked up by the beads...hence the brown color.