A Mysterious Humidity situation.

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demiurgic

Don't Worry, Be Happy.
I have a 200 count Estate Heritage Humidor and It most definitely has some air exchange going on.
It shuts fairly well, was patiently seasoned, has a calibrated hyrgo, analog and digital, has 1/2 pounds of 65% RH beads in it and about 100 sticks.

Here is the situation you could help me understand.

When it's cool at night, it comes down to 70% RH at best, nothing lower.
In the hot Hawaiian summer days, it climbs to 76%.

Now at night, the RH at home is near 70% but when I open the box it's still at 75% RH.

This is driving me nuts because I'm gonna start farming beetles at this rate and I prefer not to dedicate my entire collection to them just yet.

Good humidor builders say they leave space 1/64 of an inch for air exchange as this inhibits stale air and mold issues. I believe that my humi has a tiny air exchange thing going on, not something huge.

It's near a spot that the sun hits daily. And I have now moved it and placed a cloth over it just to further protect it from the sun.

Experts, any ideas?

demi
 
Humidity=mold. Heat=bugs. But at 70 you should be fine. 1/2 pound of beads may be too much. You only need 1 or 2 oz's for that size box. Try taking some of the beads out. Also, be sure only about 2/3rds of them are clear so they can absorb moisture.:2
 
whats the humidity outside?

here in Louisiana it can be a devil at times to keep constant humidity because its so humid outside and if the humidor is not completely sealed humidity likes to find its way in.

deffinetly get it away from the sun. if not not your humidor would become more of an incubator for beetles rather than a nice habitat for cigars.:tu
 
bobarian said:
Humidity=mold. Heat=bugs. But at 70 you should be fine. 1/2 pound of beads may be too much. You only need 1 or 2 oz's for that size box. Try taking some of the beads out. Also, be sure only about 2/3rds of them are clear so they can absorb moisture.:2
Click to expand...


That's news to me since Heartfelt website says that more beads are not an impediment in anyway. More can be better. Please let me know why this is not the case Bobarian.
And yes 2/3rds are clear if not more actually. Pretty well distributed thru the box as well.

rwhit37 said:
whats the humidity outside?

here in Louisiana it can be a devil at times to keep constant humidity because its so humid outside and if the humidor is not completely sealed humidity likes to find its way in.

deffinetly get it away from the sun. if not not your humidor would become more of an incubator for beetles rather than a nice habitat for cigars.:tu
Click to expand...

The humidity outside is in the upper 80-90% RH I am guessing. Fairly damp just like LA. Yes, it finds it's was into the box which is why I put in the extra amount of 65% RH beads as a cushion for quick absorption and fast stabilization. Not working however, and R H is just too high inside the box and will not get into the mid sixties like the beads say they are.
I open the box as infrequently as I possibly can. 1-2 times a day at most.
 
If you're seeing drastic temperature changes, it will wreak havoc with your humidity. The standard beads we use are fairly slow in adsorption and desorption, I'm guessing they just can't keep up with the ambient humidity/temperature situations that you're dealing with.

Not only is sunlight bad for your cigars, but constant temperature changes will mean constant moisture changes in them unless you change the RH with it; in that case, though, you start to get mold issues. Some type of temperature control would be a very good thing for you cigars.

Having too many beads is only a problem when they start to take room that you could be using for cigars.
 
demiurgic said:
That's news to me since Heartfelt website says that more beads are not an impediment in anyway. More can be better.
Click to expand...

Beads release humidity when the air around them is at a lower RH than they are, assuming the beads have any at all to give.

Beads also absorb humidity when the air around them is at a greater RH than they are; again, assuming that the beads aren't totally saturated.

Thus, more beads will hold more water.
 
demiurgic said:
And yes 2/3rds are clear if not more actually. Pretty well distributed thru the box as well.



The humidity outside is in the upper 80-90% RH I am guessing. Fairly damp just like LA.
Click to expand...

Try the beads with less than half of them clear. They have a better chance of absorbing the excess humidity. With a higher humidity outside than you want, I would think that you would want the beads working more to pull out excess moisture than adding to it.
 
bobarian said:
Humidity=mold. Heat=bugs.
Click to expand...

Some things I have read recently (I think there was a post here and an article in a cigar magazine) suggest that humidity also relates to beetles in that they need a higher moisture content to hatch. So lower humidity protects against both mold and beetles!
 
I had the same humidity issue and it was an easy fix. add another tube puck or whatever you got and don't add any water. Only add water to your original humidifier. The beads are great for releasing water but not so great the other way around. Use double or 2/3 extra the amount needed with the smaller one wet the other dry.

If this still doesn't work the only hope you have is to do the same thing with 60% beads It "should" do the trick. Also try to find the coolest place in your house.

This was told to me by a Great BOTL on this board I wish I remembered who. If you remember you helped me with this I Thank you as you helped me and possibly another!
 
I don't put any stock in analog. Did you do the salt test on the digital? Most are off 2-3 % but can be off as much as 5%. I use the adjustable digital.
 
yup salt tested the digital hygro and the analog, they work and are pretty similar in reading.

My gut feeling was to add another half pound of 60% RH beads along with the half pound of 65% beads already there. sure it takes room but gets the job done.
Guess I'll keep the 60% beads totally dry, and slightly dampen the 65% beads.

The ambient temp AND humidity outside are both high where I am at.

And besides finding the coolest spot in the house, that should do it.

any more ideas?

One more thing, Shilala beads or Heartfelt are better for you?

thanks a lot for the support you guys, Feel better now.
 
If it were me, I would stick with only one RH on the beads. In theory, the 60% beads should pull the moisture out of the 65% beads. Try just drying out most of the 65% beads that you have.:2
 
Mixing different different Rh beads is not recommended by mfg.

A pound of beads in a 200ct humi is serious overkill. I use about 3/4 lb in each vinotemp without a problem. 2oz's in each 150 ct box.
 
Well I did it.
Moved the humi to the coolest spot in the house, um, its a sunny nd hot Hawaiian Summer that just began.

Second, dried out beads in a pan on a low fire.

cooked them suckers bone white then kept a couple slightly wet.

lets see if the RH goes down.

fingers crossed.
demi
 
I had the exact same kind of issue. I could not get my rh down.After spending a day reading the sticky on Viper's beads (heartfelt) (great product, and service by the way) I figured I had ALOT of beads, and they were too wet. I played with the wet v.s. dry qty., (by slowy adding completly dry beads) until it was exactly where I wanted it. I went overboard on beads too, 1/2 lb for 100 ct humidor, but now it's perfect.
 
demiurgic said:
That's news to me since Heartfelt website says that more beads are not an impediment in anyway. More can be better. Please let me know why this is not the case Bobarian.
And yes 2/3rds are clear if not more actually. Pretty well distributed thru the box as well.



The humidity outside is in the upper 80-90% RH I am guessing. Fairly damp just like LA. Yes, it finds it's was into the box which is why I put in the extra amount of 65% RH beads as a cushion for quick absorption and fast stabilization. Not working however, and R H is just too high inside the box and will not get into the mid sixties like the beads say they are.
I open the box as infrequently as I possibly can. 1-2 times a day at most.
Click to expand...
The beads will absorb excess water out of the air only if the are not totally saturated to begin with. If they are completely saturated with water to begin with there's no room left for them to hold any more water out of the air. Just my :2
 
Right now the beads a MOSTLY ALL DRY in there.
Tick tock, tick tock.
Cant wait to see if RH will go down.
 
My buddy had the opposite happen in the winter, he couldnt get the humidity over 55%. He dropped humidor in a small cooler and solved all his problems. The cooler is a sealed environment. See if it works for your situation. Heck...get rid of the humidor and just use the cooler. LOL!
 
been over 24 hours of putting in half pound of SUPER dry 65% RH beads and humidity is still prety stable at 73-74 % RH

OH :confused:crapola
 
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