Why do I need beads and an Oasis?

[HB Toaster]

After many years of living out of small humidors and a cooler I just purchased a Montegue end cabinet humidor. It hasn't arrived yet, but I am planning on also buying an Oasis Magna humidifier to go with it. Do I really need beads to go with this setup also? What do they provide and if I do need them how many?

[yourchoice]

First and foremost, welcome to the Asylum, Walt!

I have a Montegue and I hope you enjoy and have as much luck with yours as I have mine.

Instead of reposting my thoughts, I want to send you to a link that states them but also has a lot of other useful information, specifically about the Montegue. I took Barteur's advice from that thread and improved my setup.

Good luck with yours!

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showth...eal#post699580

[HB Toaster]

Thank you Joel, I will check it out, and thanks for the welcome!

[AdamJoshua]

I purchased a cabinet like that awhile back, I would suggest you pick up some food grade unscented silicon and go over all the joints and corners of your cabinet and let it dry right off the bat, that will help with any problems with leaks, not sure how the door seal is but on my Lauderdale I also picked up some weatherstripping and put it around the door to make sure I got a good seal there as well.

Good luck and hope you have many years of happiness with your cabinet!

[HB Toaster]

Thanks! In reading about the cabinet humidors it seems that air leakage is a problem.
I will go to my local ACE and see if they have the weatherstripping. I know they have the silicon. Still not sure about the beads though, it seems that some people do fine without them and others swear that they need lots of them. It would seem that the humidifier would do the job by itself. Will the beads keep it more stable?

[bobarian]

After sealing with silicone(be sure its food grade), use the Oasis for a month or two to see if things stabilize. In California, its usually fairly easy to maintain Rh. The more cigars/boxes, the easier it will be to maintain.

[icehog3]

Living io California, what's the relative humidity like in summer and winter, Walt?

The Oasis will create humidity...the beads will come in handy when the humidity needs to be lowered.

I had two Montague cabinets before moving to a larger cabinet, and I had good luck with beads only....which is good in Chicago where the humidity changes are vast between summer and winter indoors.

[HB Toaster]

I have a fair amount of boxes to move from my cooler, so that should help.

You are correct the humidity when I live is about 30 - 50 percent most of the time so I am not trying to lose humidity I am usually trying to add it. In winter when it rains the humidity will go up, but we only get 13 inches of rain... in a good year.

Thanks for the thoughts I will start without beads and I can always add them if I need to.

[yourchoice]

I think the flashlight test is a great way to check the obvious problem areas....I wouldn't skip that step.

[AdamJoshua]

Originally Posted by yourchoice

I think the flashlight test is a great way to check the obvious problem areas....I wouldn't skip that step.

I did the water test, I drilled a hole in the top and filled it with water, distilled of course, then looked for leaks. The flashlight test is taking the easy way.

[shilala]

It's super important that it's dead level, and not sitting on carpet.
And avoid sitting stuff on top of it.
That's in addition to the other great stuff guys told you.

[HB Toaster]

Thanks to you all. My Montegue is supposed to ship tomorrow and I am excited to get it.
Once it arrives I will be ready to weatherstrip and get it set up.

[HB Toaster]

Just a close out to this thread... My Montegue arrived, I seasoned it for about 4 days at high humidity with my Magna humidifier and now I have almost all my cigars in it. Still have about 50-60 left in a nice 200 count humidor my wife gave me that I still want to use. I did not need to weatherstrip it as it seems to be holding humidity just fine.
Thanks again for the advice. When I need advice/suggestions this site is the best.

[AdamJoshua]

Congrats on getting your new box, now you need to post pictures over in the "show us your humidor... / " thread

Did you do the silicone on the inside ?

[HB Toaster]

Adam, I will take some photos and post them. The only place that I siliconed was around the electrical outlet as I could see that there was air coming through that seal. I did the flashlight test which seemed to work pretty well. My Magna unit is only running a few times a day for short periods of time, that makes me think it is fairly tight. That stated, it has not been overly dry lately and the real test will come next summer when the humidity drops to it's lowest. I'm keeping it at 67 -68% humidity as that is my preferred % to smoke and store.