Losing Oils

C

ChannelBlue

Newbie in the jungle
Hi all. I've been a reader of here for a while, and finally decided to join your forum. I hope to learn a lot from you all, as I already have learned a great deal.

I have a question regarding my humidor. It leaks, staying at 60-61% with a 65% boveda bag (25 count). This gives me the impression that it is constantly letting out moisture that is constantly sucked out of the box. That the same humid air never just sits on the cigars. Would this constant exchange of air from the humidity leaving the box 24 hours a day take oils with it? I know they wont dry out at 60%, but could oils from the cigars be dissipated and lost with the air in the box constantly changing and being sucked out due to humidor leaks?
 
I would instinctively say no, but I am no expert either. If it is holding at 60-61% constantly, my first knee-jerk reaction would be to start with a few obvious things:

1. What type of hygrometer do you have(digital or analog) and is it calibrated?
2. Have you tried the light test? (place a flashlight on inside the humi and see if light seeps through)
3.Are you sure the Boveda packet is a big enough humidifier for your humidor?

Just a few thoughts.
 
Thank you for the quick reply.
1. I am using a digital hygrometer that is dead on when calibrated in a boveda calibration bag.
2. The flashlight test shows no light, however the dollar bill is somewhat lose and it doesn't whoosh when closed. Its not a serious leak but definitely there.
3. Its a 20 count humidor, so one pack is sufficient.

I really don't mind 60% humidity, and feel no need to fix the leak or seal it if the cigars and oils should be fine even as the air is constantly being sucked out and exchanged with the outside air.
 
It seems as though you have your bases covered. I don't think the air is really moving out that fast because if it was, I would think that you would be unable to keep that humidity at all. Interesting question. However, if it does begin to bother you, a simple way to tighten up that humi is with a few draw catches from Lowe's. Just screw them to the front and when you close them, it will cinch the lid down nice and tight. They look like this:


lockable_draw_catch_n208-579.jpg
 
I may go ahead and attach two of those. I just figure the boveda packet is even doing that good because its such a small humidor. The dollar bill test does make me pretty sure that it leaks.
 
I'll chime in on this. I would think that if your humidor has a leak, not only would it let air out but also let it in. Which means that whatever the humidity is outside will also read inside your humi...so you'd would expect different readings from day to day rather than a 'constant 60%-61%'.

I'm wondering how long you have had your boveda in the humi.? How often you open the lid? Have you added any new cigars recently? All of these things can affect your humidty readings.

Before drilling and attaching clamps, I would make sure that this is the problem and that this is going to solve it. I personally would not drill holes into my humidor only to find out that this isn't the solution. Perhaps something heavy, like a book, on top would give you the same results, although temporary, to see if this is affective. My :2


By the way....Welcome to Club Stogie!
 
You should be using 2 packs. The rules is one pack for every 50 cigars, plus one additional pack, so the minium should be two.
 
I don't think for a 20 count humidor with 15 cigars in it 2 is necessary. Its been stable at this range for 2 weeks now. It doesn't have to be a leak, but a 60% reading with 65% boveda bag would have to signify atleast a slight leak. Its such a small humidor a boveda pack could probably keep up with the demand for constantlhy putting out humidity.
 
Blake Lockhart said:
I'll chime in on this. I would think that if your humidor has a leak, not only would it let air out but also let it in. Which means that whatever the humidity is outside will also read inside your humi...so you'd would expect different readings from day to day rather than a 'constant 60%-61%'.
Click to expand...

The humidity inside a house will likely not vary too much per day. A house is a lot like a humidor as well -- we have threshholds and weather stripping at the doors to prevent drafts, and windows are sealed as well. I doubt the RH in a house moves more than a couple % in a day, as a matter of normal daily fluctuations. I'm sure a big rain storm will affect it more.

So even if his house's ambient RH is 50% +- 3%, if there is a leak in his humidor, it will trend down to 50%. But if his Boveda pack is trying to re-hydrate the air, it's going to even out at some point -- basically whereever the break-even point is for how much humidity the humi pack can put out vs. how much is lost to the leak.

If the leak was larger, there would be more humid air leaving the humidor than the humi packs could rehydrate and the RH would trend lower. If the leak were smaller, the humi packs could keep the RH higher.

However, I agree with the rest of your post. You wanna be certain that there is a leak, and that you know how to fix it. Otherwise, you're going to do more damage than good.
 
ChannelBlue said:
I don't think for a 20 count humidor with 15 cigars in it 2 is necessary. Its been stable at this range for 2 weeks now. It doesn't have to be a leak, but a 60% reading with 65% boveda bag would have to signify atleast a slight leak. Its such a small humidor a boveda pack could probably keep up with the demand for constantlhy putting out humidity.
Click to expand...


You need two Boveda packs.
 
Also remember: Boveda Humidity Packs are a revolutionary product that will maintain humidity in your humidor within +/- 2.5% Rh.

So this pack may be on the lower side which would put the 65% down to 62.5%...again the same should go with the calibration packs....I have a hard time believing they are dead on....so your hygro may be point or two below even with the calibration.

I would say you are fine. If the cigars are smoking fine, then the hygrometer and humidity are fine.
 
If it does not fluctuate out of a +/- 2% range, it's not a seal issue.


The big thing to remember here is that wood and cigars will both absorb moisture from the air. A LOT of it in fact. I've had new humidors that seasoned for over a week and still were sucking moisture out of the air. What happens is that, when dry, a lot of the humidity escapes until the wood expands enough to seal properly. This is one of the reasons why you season humidors.


Those humidity packs only have so much moisture to give out, and if the wood of the humidor and the cigars in it absorb a lot of that while trying to balance inside of the humidor, it will read low.


Get a fresh pack and place it in the humidor, and leave it shut for a day or two, they check it. I wouldn't be surprised if you were closer to the 65 you desire.
 
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