My first humidor experiance (seasoning, hygrometer, salt test, beads, cigars)

schind said:
Actually, Have you found that it's hard to keep humidity in this humidor? Maybe it's because it's new, but I find that the RH never really gets above 63% with the 65 beads. I went away for 48 hours last weekend and it was at 52% when I came back :confused:
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Yes, but, my $100 humi is also very maint intensive at this point. I added a jar of crystals. Works much better. 63 with 65 beads is close enough to be in the margin of accuracy.
 
Very informative thread, great for anybody setting up their first humi:tu

Only one thing that you have left out and could be causing a couple of you problems is the flashlight test to check the seal on the humidor. Its very simple just stick a flashlight in the humi(turned on)and turn the lights off. Ideally you don't want to see any light passing through the Lid and the base. There are many threads buried in the forums about fixing a poor seal.

For those of you looking for a alternative to a humidor consider a tuppidor. They have a great seal, are easy to transport and virtually maintenance free, not to mention cheap(leaving more money for stogies)

Finally the RH may have a hard time stabilizing if the humi is empty. So if you have an empty humi there is only one thing to do. BUY MORE CIGARS:dr

Just my two :2
 
Prefy said:
Very informative thread, great for anybody setting up their first humi:tu

Only one thing that you have left out and could be causing a couple of you problems is the flashlight test to check the seal on the humidor. Its very simple just stick a flashlight in the humi(turned on)and turn the lights off. Ideally you don't want to see any light passing through the Lid and the base. There are many threads buried in the forums about fixing a poor seal.
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I actually forgot to talk about that step. I actually did flashlight check the humi before I seasoned it. so i don't know what my problem is with losing humidity. I'll probably do a flashlight check again, just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
 
From my exp with 2 different wood humi's, I still believe it's simply the wood soaking up your moisture.
 
guy g said:
From my exp with 2 different wood humi's, I still believe it's simply the wood soaking up your moisture.
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This is what I thought was happening, but wasn't sure.

Question: Will this be constant, or will it soak up water for a couple of weeks and then stop?

Now my sticks feel dry and hard and my humidity keeps dropping so i am opening the humidity disk with the beads exposed instead of in the pantyhose baggie and sitting it on the floor of the humi. Hope this works!:hn
 
schind said:
This is what I thought was happening, but wasn't sure.

Question: Will this be constant, or will it soak up water for a couple of weeks and then stop?

Now my sticks feel dry and hard and my humidity keeps dropping so i am opening the humidity disk with the beads exposed instead of in the pantyhose baggie and sitting it on the floor of the humi. Hope this works!:hn
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Eventually the Ceader will become saturated to the point that it won't be drawing moisture out of the air as quickly. The amount of time it takes is not an exact science though as it really depends on the wood. You might want to toss your sticks into a tupperware untill the RH stabalizes just to be on the safe side.
 
David,

I know that you are using beads and I have never had any experience with them but I have The Puck-50 in my new humidor (same type from CI but with the Cigar Band Mosaic design). I seasoned it according to my post above and now I'm getting a 70/70 consistent reading. It took a few days to properly season but now all appears well. I know you said your funds were limited but The Puck might be something worth picking up.... it's about $15.00. A humidor full of ruined cigars are will cost more than that
 
So...I thought I'd give you guys an update on my humidor situation. Since I brought the humidor (the 5 Vegas in the original post) up to college, the humidity has been really off (like 59-60 with the 65% beads in), so I decided to get a better (and bigger) humidor that gets a better seal and can hold the huge bombs that some of those BOTLs sent me! (Billycigars - yours are almost here!) I got the Milano Imperfect from cheaphumidors (http://www.cheaphumidors.com/Mercha...-IMP&Category_Code=imperfects&Product_Count=0 ) and I will post pictures when I get it (after I go home from college on the 16th). This will be a good example of an "imperfect" from the above site. I also got a half pound of the 70% beads from www.heartfeltindustries.com and as usual, Viper was of great help with a question I had. Happy Smoking Y'all!
 
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schind said:
Actually, Have you found that it's hard to keep humidity in this humidor? Maybe it's because it's new, but I find that the RH never really gets above 63% with the 65 beads. I went away for 48 hours last weekend and it was at 52% when I came back :confused:
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I had a 50ct. that had the same problem. I think temp will play with your RH a little more in small humis.
 
I have found in the winter that keeping a shot glass of distilled water really helps when the rh gets down to about 28% in my house. Also, if the humi has a lock, use it, the seal is much better with it locked.
 
Nice humi selection! Keep us all updated on your progress with it (and how empty it will look after the holidays :ss)
 
Man I hear ya. Just got my first humi and the humidty is bouncing up and down and driving me crazy. The waiting is so hard, I want to start filling it already!
 
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