Humidification Woes...

[Curmudgeon76]

Hello all,

I'm new to the site, and am happy to have found an online community specializing in the pastime of cigar smoking. I was turned on to cigar smoking by my father, who taught me about the fundamentals of cigars, the different brands, wrappers, etc. While I'm sure I'd be considered a novice here, I do enjoy smoking a decent hand rolled cigar on a daily, or every other day basis.

I'm writing because I'm having a lot of trouble controlling the humidity in my humidor. I have read the humidfication FAQ and still have some questions. I have a glass-topped Montecristo Afrique humidor, and a 50 cigar Paradigm humidifier.

First off, let me start by saying my home is very dry. The typical RH in my house, as measured by a digital hygrometer, is around 37%. I try to keep the temperature constant (hard to do in New England!) around 62-64 degrees. The hygrometer is reading the temp in my humidor as 65 degrees.

I began by soaking by humidifier in distilled water for about 10-15 minutes, just covering the openings on the side of the humidifer, to saturate it. After placing it in the humidor, I let it sit for several hours and then checked it: the RH was approximately 44 percent. Additionally, as the days go by, the RH in the box seems to drop.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I have only used distilled water, not 50/50 solution but I was under the impression the distilled water was adequate by itself. My farther has a different humidor, yet the same humidifier, and the RH is also WAY below what it should be.

Any one have any suggestions on how I can improve the situation? From what I've read about the Paradigm, it SHOULD keep the RH around 70 all the time, and only require refilling every couple months. Any input and advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Justin

 

[dpricenator]

Welcome. I'll let the pros answer the questions

 

[Jwrussell]

Actually, the distilled water should be fine as your Paradigm should already be primed with PG.

First question: have you calibrated your digital hygrometer to make sure you know how far off of the true reading it is? This is the easiest mistake to make.

Second: have you checked the seal on your humidor? What about the seal around the glass?

 

[Angry Bill]

Jusitn,

First off, welcome to the boards. Go to the introduction section and tell us about yourself and what you lie to smoke!

Next, I would suggest beads. Here is the link about them from the storage section. There are other great storage related topics in there also.

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php?t=1663

 

[tubaman]

First, Welcome to BOTL!

Before going much further, is this a new humi? Has it been seasoned or is this a problem that has just started to happen after using the humi with no problems?

 

[RonC]

Hello Justin, I sell a lot of Paradigms, and use them in my desktops. Hopefully I can help. First thing is to make sure that your hygrometer is accurate. Usually, digital hygros are fairly accurate, but just be sure. You can mail me your hygro, and I would be glad to test it.

When filling your Paradigm, just completely submerge it in distilled water for about 15 minutes. Drown the thing. The 50 cigar Paradigm unit should work fine in a 50 count humidor assuming that the humidor seals well. If the humidor has a poor seal, you will need to do some more work. First, you can pry off the plastic endcaps of the Paradigm. This will expose more foam, and boost your humidity. If that doesnt raise humidity, you can supplement the Paradigm with some additional portable humdification. I have been experimenting with Water Pillows. They are cheap, and do a real good job of supplementing your everyday humidifier. If 2 or 3 water pillows in addition to your Paradigm is not doing the job, it would appear that your humidor has a poor seal. As a last resort, you can try to season your humidor again.
let me know if you need any more help. I am available by email or phone.

 

[terrantheman]

1st you should take all cigars out of the humidor and put in a ziplock with some bovedas. Have you seasoned your humidor? If not season it by dapening a paper towel with distilled water(only) and wiping down the inside just to moisten it not saturate. If you saturate it it will warp the spanish cedar. Next I would change hydrometers if you are not using digital. Do a quick boveda calibration test just to see how accurate the hydrometer is. While doing the test keep you humidification device in the damp humi. Once you have an accurate reading place hydro in humi and by the next day you'll know where you stand. Could be a leeky humi? I don't know, personally I like the heartfelt beads they are accurate as all get out and you know where that reading should be at all times. I feel 70% is a little to high and keeps the cigar to moist to smoke which causes bitterness but different smokes for different folks. I hope this helps and you can get your RH where you want it.

 

[RonC]

NO PG in your Paradigm, it ruins the foam.

 

[Curmudgeon76]

Hello all,

Wow, thanks for the quick replies! I first tried supplementing my paradigm by using a Dixie cup with a paper towel inside it, saturated with distilled water. This helped somewhat. I did NOT know about seasoning my humidor until I viewed this site. I have not done that, but I put my stogies in my dad's humidor for the time being, and have a couple shot glasses full of distilled water in there now. Ordered a digital hygro for myself, it should be here tomorrow. I did the test where I lifted the lid about three inches and dropped it, got a nice whoosh sound when it closed. It seems pretty solid, but how are the glass top humidors in general? Is a solid topped considered better?

Also, the salt test: I filled a spring water bottle cap with salt, and put about 3-4 drops of distilled water in, until it had the consistency of wet sand. I then put my digital hygro and the cap in a tupperware container and closed the lid. Within, I'd say, 5 hours, the RH was at 70, but after that, it continued to decline a little bit, going down to 69, then to 68. Perhaps I didn't have an air tight seal.

As I said, my dad has the paradigm 50 cigar model too, and a different box. The digital hygro, when placed in his, actually reads LOWER than my humidor, so I guess we must both be doing something wrong!

Thanks again for any input!

Justin

 

[JRL]

First welcome to the family.
:waving:

I have a glass top humidor and I don't have a problem with keeping humidity in mine, and I live in Las Vegas. Its around a 150 count. I do use HeartFelt beads and as long as I check them once a week or so I am good to go.

 

[Jwrussell]

OK, a few things. First, to Terrantheman: It's HYGRO bro'! :rofl: ALso, I don't recommend wiping down the inside of the humi for various reasons. Stick with the shot glasses of distilled water and you'll be fine.

Next, although the salt test will work, and has worked for people for years and years, you'd be much better served picking up a boveda pack or boveda one-step calibration step (RonC sells them) to test your hygro. You definitely need an airtight container so check that. As to the reading, give it at LEAST 24 hours in a stable temp before you even bother looking at it, 48 hours is better. The salt/water solution or Boveda need time to equalize the humidity in the container. Longer if it's a larger container (you may have real problems getting their with a salt solution if it's a larger container).

Glass tops aren't necessarily worse than solid tops, but they have to be made well. It's very easy to get a cheap glass-top where the glass/plexi isn't sealed well leaving you with a humi that may SEEM to have a good seal around the edges, but may in fact be leaking humidity around the glass seal.

Give everything time. It will probably take a couple of days to season the humi correctly and you need a couple of days to really know what your hygro is truly reading. Go slow, and when you are done you'll know what's really going on.

:thumbsup:

 

[Coolhand]

Curmudgeon -- Welcome, first off. RonC is definitely the man to listen to, but I have to echo the bead sentiment. The Relative Humidity around here is about 7% most days, and my glass-top humidor was kicking my ass trying to keep it above 60%.

I got a new, larger humidor (about a 500 count) from one of the sponsors here, and 16 oz. of the beads ... two 4-oz. bags in the big one and one 4-oz. bag in the little one, and both are currently rock-solid at 65%. It's beautiful.

 

[Curmudgeon76]

Hello all,

Thanks! Looks like I might be switching to the beads in the future. I saw the site that sells them: how do they work exactly, do you take some out of the package and put them in the humidor? Or do you just put the whole tube in the humidor? I'm under the impression from my reading that they're reusable too?

Also, a couple questions on seasoning the humidor. First: will NOT seasoning the humidor cause all kinds of problems in regards to keeping the humidity up? Secondly, from what I read in the FAQ, the best method is to put the shot glasses full of distilled in the humidor until your hygrometer reads desired humidity (ie 65 perecent) then take them out, and put in your humidification device. Is that accurate?

One other question. I don't buy/smoke TONS of cigars, maybe one a day. I could make due with a humidor that holds 50 cigars, maybe 75. Can anyone recommend any solid humidors in that capacity range that have worked out well for them?

Thanks in advance!
Justin

 

[tubaman]

Season the humi, otherwise it's just going to suck the humidity out of your cigars in the beginning.

 

[Jwrussell]

Justin,

Beads are wonderful. They are a two way humidification device that hold the area they humidify to a set RH (typically 65 or 70&#37. They are a silicate material. Do a search on the forums for "beads" or "heartfelt" and you should find a wealth of information. In fact, there should be information on this in the sticky on the top of this forum. You will need to have some sort of container for them, either a bag, tube or even pantyhose work to keep them contained. Otherwise they get everywhere and you don't want that. They will last pretty much forever so long as you use only distilled water with them.

You have the seasoning concept correct. As to whether or not it will cause problems not seasoning, the answer is both yes and no. It will cause you all kinds of grief for a while. However, if you do not season it and just throw cigars in and continually humidify your humidor, you should end up with the same result after alot of time. But really, why go through all that hassle? You won't be keeping your cigars properly until the humi is seasoned. Better to just get it over with now.

As to your last question. Stick around long enough and you will find yourself laughing at your post in less than a year. You will find that for most people, there is literally no such thing as a humidor that is "big enough". :rofl: As to a good humi that size I'll leave it to others to answer. Suffice it to say there are tons and tons of options out there.

 

[JRL]

Jusitn,

First off, welcome to the boards. Go to the introduction section and tell us about yourself and what you lie to smoke!

Next, I would suggest beads. Here is the link about them from the storage section. There are other great storage related topics in there also.

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php?t=1663

Here is a link to all your questions in regards to beads.

 

[Coolhand]

When I got here, I had a 150 count humidor, and thought I was good.

I have now a 150 and a 500 ... and am eyeing coolers as we speak.

And I've been here two months. I'm telling you, these guys are the Wrong Crowd. Capital W, Capital C.

 

[dpricenator]

I have a Montecristo Afrique glass top humi in the office and it is on the money at 65%. Of course I also have a big pouch of 65% beads in it as well. Season it then use beads and you'll me set

 

[Curmudgeon76]

Hey all,

Thanks for all the great input! I'm seasoning my humidor now, I'm a few days into it. Humidity is at 58% now.

I'm gonna invest in some beads, but I had some questions. First, how big are the individual beads? Are they large sized, like a jelly bean or a little smaller, or are they really small like the little pellets that are found in a silica packet?

Secondly, the FAQ mentioned about the different ways to recharge them, including spraying them with a spray bottle. Anyone have a preferred method, and if so, can you give a little bit of detail on it? I know the FAQ said to wet the beads until they are "75% clear". When they are 75% clear do they still have a bit of whiteness to them, like a little bit of opacity?

Finally, in regards to calibrating my hygrometer. I ending up getting a model called the Caliber III by a company called Western Humdior and they claim the unit is calibrated at the factory, and will be accurate within +/- 1%RH for up to five years. Additionally, it says it requires NO calibration and goes even FURTHER to claim the following:

"This is an electronic instrument. To maintain the warranty of this product and enjoy many years of error free operation, do not attempt to perform the following: DO NOT wrap this gauge in a wet paper towel to test the accuracy. DO NOT perform the salt test. DO NOT submerge submerge the gauge in water!... Additionally, it goes on to say "...Should anyone suggest any of the above to test the accuracy of the Caliber III, we recommend that you run from them immediately!"

I found this somewhat amusing, but is it accurate? I bought a Humidipak by Boveda and was going that to test the unit. Should it be OK to do so? Thanks very much in advance!

Justin

 

[RonC]

Should anyone suggest any of the above to test the accuracy of the Caliber III, we recommend that you run from them immediately!"

i would run away from buying any product from a company that tells you not to use the salt test.

Western is a joke (imho)