SInce I've been using these jars, I found out an interesting tidbit on humidity control.
Even with glycol/water mix (those pre-mixes), I was getting outrageous humidity levels (yep, they are calibrated, I freaked when I saw 85%...thank the leaf gods for lack of mold)...well, I realized something.
The seal on a jaridor is far better than most humidors, plus the lack of wood to stabilize things makes things difficult as well. The single wood disc at the bottom (I think it's cedar) isn't doing much. I may replace it with a far thicker cedar piece later on as an experiment to see the effect it will have.
In addition, the pre-mix seems to be failing...the glycol just isn't keeping things stable. Perhaps the humidifier it came with is too big, I dunno. Maybe I added too much pre-mix to it....once again, I dunno.
So my answer is this: keep the humidifier in for a day or two when new cigars are added...after that, an hour or so when it needs it, like after opening it up to get a smoke.
In the end....it's a lot of work for some. Jaridors were not my best idea, but they do make convenient and attractive desktop units. I'd reccomend against a newbie getting these (like I did) due to the sheer fudge factor involved in keeping them stable.
edit: perhaps this belongs in reviews as it's not a question....mods, feel free to throw it wherever feels best, I won't cry...I promise
Even with glycol/water mix (those pre-mixes), I was getting outrageous humidity levels (yep, they are calibrated, I freaked when I saw 85%...thank the leaf gods for lack of mold)...well, I realized something.
The seal on a jaridor is far better than most humidors, plus the lack of wood to stabilize things makes things difficult as well. The single wood disc at the bottom (I think it's cedar) isn't doing much. I may replace it with a far thicker cedar piece later on as an experiment to see the effect it will have.
In addition, the pre-mix seems to be failing...the glycol just isn't keeping things stable. Perhaps the humidifier it came with is too big, I dunno. Maybe I added too much pre-mix to it....once again, I dunno.
So my answer is this: keep the humidifier in for a day or two when new cigars are added...after that, an hour or so when it needs it, like after opening it up to get a smoke.
In the end....it's a lot of work for some. Jaridors were not my best idea, but they do make convenient and attractive desktop units. I'd reccomend against a newbie getting these (like I did) due to the sheer fudge factor involved in keeping them stable.
edit: perhaps this belongs in reviews as it's not a question....mods, feel free to throw it wherever feels best, I won't cry...I promise