Rehumidifying Bovida packs? (seems to be working...)

[spectrrr]

Last month I had a few 65% Bovida packs that were almost entirely dried up. Took em out of the traveldor's, put in fresh ones... and then on a whim, I through them in a tupperware container with a bowl of distilled water and forgot about it. 6 weeks later (when I remembered), they seem to be full and ready to go to work!

I put one alone in a 15ct with a couple hydrometers, and the case appears to be holding steady at 65%. In other words, working perfectly.

So does anyone have any experience with this? seems like we could save a few bucks on Bovida's if we did this 2-5 times before throwing em out and buying new ones. Surely there must be a "con" I haven't found yet?

[emopunker2004]

I have seen around here where people have been doing this for a while with great results

[hotreds]

Yes- takes time but DOES work!

[T.G]

Originally Posted by spectrrr

So does anyone have any experience with this? seems like we could save a few bucks on Bovida's if we did this 2-5 times before throwing em out and buying new ones. Surely there must be a "con" I haven't found yet?

I've been using and recharging the same 4 humidipak/boveda packs for about 5 years now, no problems or issues yet. At one point, I accidentally let one become fully dried up and even it came back to normal, it just took awhile.

[ArgusP2]

Originally Posted by T.G

I've been using and recharging the same 4 humidipak/boveda packs for about 5 years now, no problems or issues yet. At one point, I accidentally let one become fully dried up and even it came back to normal, it just took awhile.

Yeah, what he said!

[longknocker]

Works Very Well For Me; Just Remember It May Take At Least 6 Weeks For A Totally Dried Out Pack To Reabsorb And You May Have To Add Distilled H2O Several Times To The Sponge.

[spectrrr]

AWESOME! Won't be buying Bovedas again for a long while then!!

I guess forgetting about them for 6 weeks was a good thing

[kelmac07]

Learn something new every day. When they "hardened", I figured they were done and I tossed 'em.

[rizzle]

Originally Posted by kelmac07

Learn something new every day. When they "hardened", I figured they were done and I tossed 'em.

You and me both, bro.

[MajorCaptSilly]

I found 8 that i hadn't thrown away. They've been in a sealed container with a cup of distilled water for 5 days. They are about 80% moist again with a few clumps of hard stuff in each pack.

MCS

[shilala]

They're made of a semi-permeable osmotic membrane that's tough as nails. You should be able to rehydrate them for years, as Adam has already proven.
I'm not so sure all the ink will stay intact, not that it matters, I was just wondering. A guy could pretty easily gather up the membrane and salts to make these himself, were he so inclined.
When I developed the HCM beads I also created a salt permeated SAP that I intended to offer as a recharging device, but couldn't find a readily available PVC container that would keep the salt-creep in check. If you've ever had a saltwater fish tank, you're familiar with salt creep. Salt will climb right out of any kind of container when it's in solution, given enough time. It makes a huge mess. PVC is the only surface material that salt can't climb (that I know of). I made containers of PVC pipe fittings and screw caps, but they looked like crap. Plus the salt would crust on the surface of the SAP and required regular stirring.
The whole idea was sound, but the implementation sucked and I soon gave up on it.

[shilala]

One more thing...
I use a bag full of 65% Boveda packs to calibrate my hygrometers. It makes a lot more sense than the salt test (from a scientific calibration calibration range standpoint), is zero mess and super simple. I have about 6 of the big ones in a gallon bag and it's where I store all my extra hygrometers.
Another thing it'll do is "train" those cheesy, inaccurate brass analog hygrometers. Once they're in the bag for a few months I've had them go from off by ten points all the way to perfectly accurate just by retentioning the crust on the spring (or something). It's really pretty amazing, I discovered that one by complete mistake.

[spectrrr]

, LOTS of great info, thanks Scott!

I've been doing this for a while now. I have some boxes that won't fit in the vino, so I se Boveda packs in them. When they start to dry up I just swap them out and rehydrate them. I keep telling my brother to bring back the larger packs I send him with for his desktop so I can recharge them, but he always forgets.

[MajorCaptSilly]

Thanks for posting this. I use the Boveda packs in the winter to help with the humidity. I think I have some dried packs that I haven't pitched yet.

MCS

[DPD6030]

This is great news! Rep coming

[OLS]

I have a dozen or more that I got from Ravi, and they are all still gushy and moist.
I let em get dried up in my horrifically drafty cheap humidor and I thought "5hit, I
don't want to LOSE this thing. Put it in a cedar box with some water and voila!
Gushy and floppy in a few days. Yes, you accidentally discovered the greatest
feature of the Boveda pack. I have em thrown all over my various ice chests and
they are just fantastic little dealli-os.

For a little perspective, many of mine are a decade old now, and still going strong.

And ANOTHER warning, from my own story, for the general newbies who may read this,
don't get some doofus-box cheap humidor online, they leak like seives. Save up a little
scratch and get yourself a nice custom from one of our woodworkers here at the asylum.
Til then, an ice chest is better than these cheap POS items you get for 50 bucks online.
A boveda pack should not dry up like a mummy in a humidor in a month. Mine did.

[bdgile]

I have been doing this for a while. It does wear out over time though...

I've recharged my bovedas in the past as well. Takes a while but seems to be effective.

[hotreds]

Seems to work much better on the bigger size than the little guys, however.