Wineadore strange behavior

[TheGiver]

Short story:
It's holding 70% with only 1 small boveda bag. The humidor is 70% full, and all boxes 1/2 of which are sealed. Most of these that I have seen use a minimum of 1-2lbs of HF beads. Should I be concerned as this is very odd, or.... "if it's not broke don't fix it"?

Not as short story:
Time to upgrade the humidor size AGAIN. Recently picked up a Vinotemp 28 off CL(for free even). For free because the board was making a noise. The board is shot but that doesnt matter because I have no use for the cooling part. I live in a very stable climate and the temp is almost always a constant 70 deg inside. So I disconnected everything from the circuit board except the inside fan.

I aired it out, plugged the drain and moved all my boxes from my other humidor into the Vino. Using the same amount of humidification it was holding at about 76%. I prefer mine at 70/70%. So I took all humidifiers out except (1) 70% Boveda bag and the damn thing is holding steady @70% now for 2 days. I believe there is plenty of cedar in there, with all the boxes and 1 small tray.

Does this seem very odd to anyone else that a large wineador is holding humidity with only 1 Boveda bag? Is there a down side to this?

Got allota $$$ in them boxes, so I want to make sure I have everything covered.

Thoughts?

--TG

[AdamJoshua]

Well it seems that the humidity there is pretty close to that, like putting ceegars in ziplock bags, the RH isn't really going to changed when they are sealed in there, but opening and closing will change the RH and that one pack is going to get burnt out really fast.

Are you certain your hygrometers are accurate?

I'm sure more experienced people will chime in but i don't know why you would risk it if you have a lot of $$$ in sticks in those boxes. Same reason people use so many beads, to protect their investments and a benefit of using more than recommended is that it helps your box recover much faster and hold the RH steady without fluxing.

[TheGiver]

Thanks for the reply. Yea..Hygros are dead on. Couple of Diamond Crowns and are calibrated.

Originally Posted by AdamJoshua

Well it seems that the humidity there is pretty close to that and that one pack is going to get burnt out really fast.

Are you certain your hygrometers are accurate?

I'm sure more experienced people will chime in but i don't know why you would risk it if you have a lot of $$$ in sticks in those boxes. Same reason people use so many beads, to protect their investments and a benefit of using more than recommended is that it helps your box recover much faster and hold the RH steady without fluxing.

[Wharf Rat]

Try putting one of the hygros in the room, nearby. See how much humidity control is needed.

[bobarian]

The Boveda pack is doing very little if anything to regulate your Rh. If your cigars were stored for a period of time at 70%, then they will maintain their Rh for some time unless you are constantly opening your Vino. If your ambient Rh is lower than 70% then eventually your cigars will slowly drop as well. The opposite is also true. I use a pound of 65%Heartlfelt beads in each of my Vinotemps, but I dont have a working hygrometer. I judge more by the way my cigars are smoking than anything else.

[kelmac07]

I'm with Bob on this one except that I use "shilala" beads in my three vinos.

I stopped putting faith in hygrometers a long time ago and go by how my sticks are smoking. Beads are set at 63%H and vinos are at 65 degrees (which is how I enjoy mine). No canoeing, funnelling, all straight and rock solid.

[lilninjabuddy]

I dunno bob, but he's right on the money.

[TheGiver]

Thank you again for your replies. They all make sense. So I've waited a bit before posting again to make sure I am getting accurate info.

(I understand Heartfelts are the ideal solution, just not right now)

So the wineador is nearly stuffed and I have a medium size(2"x2"x5") humidifier inside and it's keeping the humidity at around 73-74%. This is 4% too much for me. Taking it out and the humidity slowly drops. About 1% per day. Put in 1 small humidifier and it holds at 70%. How is it that a small (1 disc)humidifier is sufficient for a 28 bottle wineador when most guys are using 1-2lbs of beads?? It just doesn't seem right at all. My RH is 50%, so outside humidity is a non issue. Again, no temp control running, just the inside fan.
a) something is up .... or
b) use a small humidifier and dont worry about it.

just opened it so it dropped from 70%

[Zane]

Originally Posted by TheGiver

Thank you again for your replies. They all make sense. So I've waited a bit before posting again to make sure I am getting accurate info.

(I understand Heartfelts are the ideal solution, just not right now)

So the wineador is nearly stuffed and I have a medium size(2"x2"x5") humidifier inside and it's keeping the humidity at around 73-74%. This is 4% too much for me. Taking it out and the humidity slowly drops. About 1% per day. Put in 1 small humidifier and it holds at 70%. How is it that a small (1 disc)humidifier is sufficient for a 28 bottle wineador when most guys are using 1-2lbs of beads?? It just doesn't seem right at all. My RH is 50%, so outside humidity is a non issue. Again, no temp control running, just the inside fan.
a) something is up .... or
b) use a small humidifier and dont worry about it.

just opened it so it dropped from 70%

The other thing is what is your outside humidity? Do you use a whole house humidifier?

[TheGiver]

50%