Mouldy Hydra Cartridge AGAIN???
- Thread starter Bear
- Start date
My son converted a nightstand into a humidor. He said the low water alarm went off at night after filling the tank for the first time. After a fews of days of having to top off the tank every morning he figured the upper part of the foam was probably drying out causing the alarm to go off. Sure enough, after he removed the foam he found that the upper 1/8" of it was dry, but the rest of it was full of water. He reasoned that because the fan blows across the top of the foam the upper part gets dry before water has time to work its way from the bottom to the top of the foam. The low water sensor sees dry air so it sets off the alarm. After removing the foam the alarm stopped going off. The tank only needs to be refilled every seven days now. He's careful closing the drawer so that water doesn't slosh out of the tank. He used weather stripping around the doors, added a piece of plywood to separate the lower cabinet from the upper drawer then caulked all of the seams. So far, the humidity is holding steady throughout the week.
68TriShield
no..not THAT Dave!
He will make it to match your cabinet.
Thanks :tu
Buy some Super Absorbant Polymer and replace the foam with them. They hold a lot of water and you will have no water sloshing around.
I've used this set-up for years with excellent results, search here or on other sigars forums (CF) for more info.
http://www.water-keep.com/catalog/
http://www.watersorb.com/
I've used this set-up for years with excellent results, search here or on other sigars forums (CF) for more info.
http://www.water-keep.com/catalog/
http://www.watersorb.com/
Tour De Cigar
No longer a community member.
The avallo acc. can develope mold problems too.. :hn unfortunate ..
Good question...:ss
I've already shared this with Bear, however for the benefit of others, here's my recommendation. Thoroughly clean the reservoir with a bleach/water solution - I recommend 1 part bleach to 20 parts water. Let the res sit in the water for awhile and then rinse VERY thoroughly. Replace the old moldy foam with brand-new "WET" floral foam (as pictured below). This stuff is about $1.50 per block from the dollar store, a single block is good for 2 or 3 Oasis or Hydra reservoirs. Next, use an 80/20 Propylene Glycol solution and saturate the foam completely, let any excess pour out. Some folks moan about never using PG with foam as they claim it clogs the foam up... whatever. The PG will keep the mold from ever starting. You need not spend silly amounts of money on pre-mixed PG from the cigar shop. The stuff is $3.00 a bottle in pure form from any pharmacy. That's enough to make about 10 bottles of the stuff you pay 5-10 bucks a bottle for at the cigar shop. You only need to use the PG mix every other fill. So for a cost of less than $2.00 you can be mold free. PG is the key here, just don't waste your money on the ready made stuff. :tu
chippewastud79
Wow, Bengals Suck!
In my opinion, PG is not the key, using distilled water and a properly humidifying environment will not lead to any mold. I think propoleyne glycol is a over emphasized point that people use as a cure-all for mold problems. PG, just like Boveda packs are completely un-needed if you use the proper steps and environment in setting up a humidor. Why spend any money on something extra to help with humidifying and preventing mold, that you can get the same performance for a $.97 gallon of distilled water and with half the headache? Standing water, over saturated foam and extra humidity will lead to mold. PG is not a cure all, although some people would lead you to believe this is true. :2:tu
You're missing the point. It's not a cure... It's prevention my friend. And of course you need to use distilled water... that's the "80" in the 80/20 mix. For three dollars, are you telling me its not worth the prevention? C'mon, give me a break. [EDIT] I say that in the sincerest form.
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chippewastud79
Wow, Bengals Suck!
You're missing the point. It's not a cure... It's prevention my friend. And of course you need to use distilled water... that's the "80" in the 80/20 mix. For three dollars, are you telling me its not worth the prevention? C'mon, give me a break. [EDIT] I say that in the sincerest form.
I am saying that you DO NOT NEED it to prevent mold. Pure bleach or Vodka solutions would also prevent mold. Problems with the PG also include clogging humidifiers and ruining sensors on active humidification devices. :hn
You just have to be aware of your humidor/humidifier and you should never have a problem. Personally I use beads, which are about the easiest solution to any humidification problem. :tu
Vodka appears to be busted as the OP was indeed using it. Though he could have been drinking it and 'thought' he had used some.
BTW PG does nothing to electronics despite some widely spread myth. It is completely inert and in fact forms the basis of stabilizing gels and is widely used with electronics. Sheesh, its primary use is to cut liquid medical drugs!
BTW PG does nothing to electronics despite some widely spread myth. It is completely inert and in fact forms the basis of stabilizing gels and is widely used with electronics. Sheesh, its primary use is to cut liquid medical drugs!
chippewastud79
Wow, Bengals Suck!
I am not here to argue with you. As I noted from your extensive humidity chart thread, you are clearly much more intelligent than most here. I was simply pointing out that PG solution is a ploy, it is over emphasized despite the fact that it is completely unneccessary if you are doing things properly. Thanks for the education on something I don't use, find to be pointless and have no need for :tu
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Absolutely agree.
I hope I didn't convey that it is only for those who don't know what they're doing. I know I used it in the beginning because I 'thought' it was needed - as you eluded to, many like to proclaim its useage like its liquid gold. Like you, I use beads in my smaller boxes, but use an active system in the cab (albeit with a hint-o-propylene glycol). :tu
Old Sailor
BOSUN - S.O.B. MEMBER
I've use an oasis for 2 yrs, just distilled water....no mold. It's gotta be something Bear, you'll figure it out.
If mold is already present, the Hydra is going to filter spores from the air beautifully.
If you live in the woods, your house is chronically moist, the basement is wet, etc., mold spores will be present in more than enough quantity to defile your cartridge.
I don't have the answer to the above questions, but if you haven't notice active mold in your humi, the spores have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere has to be outside the humi.
I'm sensitive to mold, so I run an ionizer and air cleaner. I run two humidifiers in the winter (a bottle of bacteriostat sits on each one and is used regularly) and a couple air conditioners in the summer. All those things clear the air of mold spores.
As a result, I don't have a problem.
So long as the level of spores exists, your Hydra will mold.
PG solution is a bacteriostat. It's cheap, edible, flavorless and odorless. It's ideal for the humidor because of those qualities, and is a BRILLIANT and inexpensive tool for preventing mold in humidifiers.
The cool thing about it is that it doesn't easily evaporate and go airborne as easily as most bacteriostats. It's also oily by nature and captures all sorts of airborne crud. Rinse the crud away and you're actively cleaning the air inside your humidor, which is also good.
Now that you know what's going on, you can attack the problem at whatever level you feel you can control. A HEPA filter in the room with the humi would make all the difference in the world, but the humi is already laden with spores. So you'll need to clean it somehow. Extra fans in the humi and a little glycol in the Hydra would do that, but you'd need to tend to the cartridge daily.
You may not want to tend to the high spore count at all, and it's really not necessary if it's not causing a health problem. If you tend to have "allergies" or anyone else in the house does, the Hydra is proof positive of the high spore count, and it probably has a lot to do with those "allergies" existing if they do.
Point being, you can go crazy and do a lot of things to tend to the spore count, or just use PG in the Hydra.
Hope this helps!!!
If you live in the woods, your house is chronically moist, the basement is wet, etc., mold spores will be present in more than enough quantity to defile your cartridge.
I don't have the answer to the above questions, but if you haven't notice active mold in your humi, the spores have to come from somewhere, and that somewhere has to be outside the humi.
I'm sensitive to mold, so I run an ionizer and air cleaner. I run two humidifiers in the winter (a bottle of bacteriostat sits on each one and is used regularly) and a couple air conditioners in the summer. All those things clear the air of mold spores.
As a result, I don't have a problem.
So long as the level of spores exists, your Hydra will mold.
PG solution is a bacteriostat. It's cheap, edible, flavorless and odorless. It's ideal for the humidor because of those qualities, and is a BRILLIANT and inexpensive tool for preventing mold in humidifiers.
The cool thing about it is that it doesn't easily evaporate and go airborne as easily as most bacteriostats. It's also oily by nature and captures all sorts of airborne crud. Rinse the crud away and you're actively cleaning the air inside your humidor, which is also good.
Now that you know what's going on, you can attack the problem at whatever level you feel you can control. A HEPA filter in the room with the humi would make all the difference in the world, but the humi is already laden with spores. So you'll need to clean it somehow. Extra fans in the humi and a little glycol in the Hydra would do that, but you'd need to tend to the cartridge daily.
You may not want to tend to the high spore count at all, and it's really not necessary if it's not causing a health problem. If you tend to have "allergies" or anyone else in the house does, the Hydra is proof positive of the high spore count, and it probably has a lot to do with those "allergies" existing if they do.
Point being, you can go crazy and do a lot of things to tend to the spore count, or just use PG in the Hydra.
Hope this helps!!!
You're missing the point. It's not a cure... It's prevention my friend. And of course you need to use distilled water... that's the "80" in the 80/20 mix.
I like it. Sound & sage advice and all for about 3 bucks... doesn't seem like I can go wrong with this bit of shared knowledge.
Live in the city, humi in the livingroom where the RH is in the low 30s... No mould on the 'gars (touch wood) and have been using this setup for several months now.
To hear you echo the thoughts of DonnieW tells me this new guy (DonnieW) might not be such a "new guy"! :tu
The wife has asthma triggered by allergies and she hasn't noticed anything in the 4 years I've been in the house so what ever caused this must be from within the cabinet. It's about a 100 year old piece of furniture so I guess just about anything from mould spores to the black plague might be in there (I keed, I keed!)
Ding ding ding! We have a winner.
I'm going to go the cheaper simpler route for now. If however I see anything that resembles mould on anthing other than the foam I'm pulling everything out of the cabinet and going back to the drawing board.
Once again I tip my hat to the wisdom of the Jungle and thank you all for your advice.
Old Sailor
BOSUN - S.O.B. MEMBER
Hope ya get it straightened out :tu:tu
chippewastud79
Wow, Bengals Suck!
In theory, it should. I would not recomend using it any way but upright though. :tu
BillyCigars
Davidoff Stalker
shilala said:
Can't believe I didn't see this post until now - I too can vouch for the PG solution fix for the mold problem. I had this problem about a month back. I snapped open my cartridge, washed it/cleaned it out, replaced the foam, & added the PG.
Bear, this is definately a workable solution to the problem - I haven't had any problems since. :tu:tu