Cigar beads causing high RH

[cyclops454]

I know you said the hygros are solid, but it could be that you hygros are off a bit. The beads are scientifically designed to hold a specific RH. No reason in a confined space with no other source of humidity, that the RH would go over the specified Bead RH%. I'm guess the hygros are off a bit.

Both have been calibrated in the last month or so using the calibration kit and both had identical readings. I'll admit that any hygrometer even a recently calibrated one can be be off by a few percentage points either way but we're talking 10%. I don't mean to sound like the beads aren't working the way they're supposed to. I just think they work in a different way than what I was expecting.

 

[Jwrussell]

Keep us posted on your experiment. That just sounds way off to me. I don't see any reason why the beads should have dumped enough moisture into the air to bring the RH from 50-55% to 75%.

The only thing I can come up with, and this is just guess work on my part as I'm not a scientist and don't claim to understand exactly how the beads work, is that they may be more effective at putting out moisture than they are at absorbing it. Still seems like it wouldn't go anywhere near that high though. One last thing, is the temp in your place fairly stable? Changes in temperature can affect RH. Not the actual moisture in the air, but the RH reading.

 

[Greyghost]

GreyGhost, what was your issue and how was it resolved? Might help this case...

All the responces are dead on for checking this and that, great advice, where were you guys when I was going through this.LOL Been using beads since 05 and not really looking on here hard since this year, my bad.

How I got resolved was taking the beads out to dry. Transfered my cigars in that humi to another and then but the dry beads back in and let the humi settle out at 65 rh for 7 days. What it boiled down to was over humifacation and to many beads, also to many wet and not enough to absorb. It is very important to make sure of the dimensions of your humi and the amount of beads. And then how much water to beads ratio. The amount of cigars in your humi is a factor. Since I keep them at least 85% or fuller my temp and humidity are very stable.

This happenened when I switched to beads but now will never look back at anything else.

On my 3 desk tops when I open them about every day depending on what I am smoking the rh drops from 65 to 62/61 till I am done picking one out. Two are glass tops and when I shut them again within minutes they are back to 65 rh. two desk tops are 150 ct. and the 3rd is 300. The 2 cabinets when I open them to basicly restock the desktops or put in boxes and rotate the stock every 3 months they both hold the rh at 65 with very little maintence to the beads. The cabs are 500 and 700 ct.

I do a recalibration on the hygros (digital) every 6 months.

 

[Danilo]

I skimmed trough... so not sure it's been mentioned or not... Did you calibrate you hygrometers?? NOT WITH SALT (that's for french fries and popcorn) Use a boveda calibration pack to calibrate all your hygros (digital I hope) and then check the humidors...

Heartfelt beads do what they say they do... no need to spend more on shilala or whatever else...

 

[Makaveli]

second the boveda for hygro's, and humidors.:chat:

 

[joshua]

Yeah the 79% bovedas or whatever they are... They are at an odd number so its easy to calibrate.

I think the issue would be that having added water to the beads before putting them in they were saturated and couldn't absorb any more moisture. When they are try they will be solid white. When they are wet they turn clear. So generally in more humid weather you don't need to add water, only if they turn white and your HR is lower than you expect. Thats when you have to add water.
So if you were adding the beads new to a humidor with cigars in it that may have been already over the level you wanted, there was no place for the water in the air to go... at least thats what my technical thinking mind would like to believe. hah

 

[openendstraight]

I live in a very dry climate, so when i charge my beads i make sure they are all clear, because i need all the extra moisture. I would assume in a place like Baltimore you need to put them in with less water, maybe even completely dry if you are still having problems.

 

[cyclops454]

Ok so I ran my experiment for a couple more days and and the RH got up to about 78-79% which I thought was a bit weird. Yes both hygrometers are digital (one is caliber III and the other is a xikar unit) and calibrated by the boveda kit in the last 1-2 months. So anyway I took the tube out and emptied the contents (it's kind of hard to tell the state of the beads through the tube) and I'd say about 30% of them were clear and the rest white. l left the beads out and got them to 100% white. I refilled the tube and put them back in my humidor. After 24 hours the RH is at 69 so should just be a matter of time now (crosses fingers).

 

[GoingPostal]

you can also put more than the recomended amount of beads to help equalize the RH more rapidly