Humidor ???

[JD11]

I , along with everyone else in the frozen north am battling with humidity issues... I have 2 humidors 1) Treasure dome and 2) a 100/150 ct desktop. Both being about 50 %to 60% full .. My ?? is where do you keep your Humidifiers / beads / gel jars or whatever you are using , in the bottom or on the trays ? and if I supplement my beads with a shotglass of distilled water to help fight the fight , where should I put it in the bottom or on the trays?? I tried searching for answers but came up with nothing solid...

[icehog3]

Some recent info here.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8788

[Mugen910]

Show up to Churchill's tomorrow night and the M@sshole crew will give you the info in person.

[JD11]

Thanks Icehog , I read that earlier .. maybe a better question is should I move all my sticks to the bottom and put the beads on the trays or the other way around?? or Option 3 , Tell me not to be so paranoid noob...



Mugen , I'd love to but unfortunately after working outside all day tomorrow , I'll be in a hockey rink from 4:00 till 9:30 (2 games + practice)

[NCRadioMan]

Bottom-center. Humidity rises.

[SmokinDuck]

I too am dealing with the humidity bouncing all over so I hope I'm not threadjacking.

So, I've got some Heartfelt tubes and if I place them in the middle of my cigars wouldn't the sticks closest to the tube receive more moisture than the ones farther away? Would I have to be rotating cigars every few days?

This would be in a desktop type humidor.

For troulble boxes I recommend two humidity sources during the winter. Keep 1 in the bottom and 1 on top. I mostly recommend/use gel for desktops but I also have a lot of beads so I use them where its convenient.

Basically, in winter time double up on your humidification. I wouldn't recomment a shotglass of water because the tall skinny shape tends to point humidity upward in a concentrated column. This can cause mold on the walls above where the shotglass is sitting. I've seen it a few times.

For either a treasure dome or your 150 count I recommend 2 rectangular gel humidifiers. Or 1 rectangular humidifier and 1 jar or a couple drymistat. Keep one on top and the other(s) on bottom. If you still have a problem then consider whether your humidor is maintaining a good seal because this in itself is a bit of overkill.

[big a]

I am not having a hard time keeping it at 65% i am just going through a lot of distilled water. I know heartfelt says not to use any other humidification with their beads but the other day i wanted to try something. So i put in one of the junk humidifiers that was well soaked to see what would happen. Where i was adding water every couple days i'm going on over a week with out having to add any water yet.

And as for seals i have seen people using masking tape on the "tongue" of the lid to help make a better seal. Not saying yours isn't sealing just something to try if you believe that could be it.

[JD11]

Sorry for the slow reply , had oral surgery on Wed and I feel like I took Icehogs hockey stick in the mug.. thanks for the replies , this morning I buttoned up the seal with some painters tape and it feel a lot tighter. It held stable humidity all summer so I assumed the seal was good but its been a battle since I moved the humi (treasure dome).. the 150 ct is fine now after i added a drymistat tube...

Originally Posted by JD11

Sorry for the slow reply , had oral surgery on Wed and I feel like I took Icehogs hockey stick in the mug.. thanks for the replies , this morning I buttoned up the seal with some painters tape and it feel a lot tighter. It held stable humidity all summer so I assumed the seal was good but its been a battle since I moved the humi (treasure dome).. the 150 ct is fine now after i added a drymistat tube...

I hear this SOOOO much. The crystal gel humidifiers are really a far superior way to humidify a desktop than beads. Beads are AWESOME for cabinets and coolerdors but not great for desktops. I use two large rectangular crystal gel humidifiers in my larger humidors and they work rock solid. Its probably the number 1 thing you can do to upgrade a humidor.

[bobarian]

For those having trouble with low humidity in winter. Do your sticks smoke differently? Do they seem dry? My Vino's and desktops are holding, but I have a glasstop that has dropped to 60, but everything seems to be smoking well so I have not messed with it.

[JD11]

pmp , do you think the large rectangle gel humidifiers would be better than the jars due to more surface area??

Originally Posted by JD11

pmp , do you think the large rectangle gel humidifiers would be better than the jars due to more surface area??

Yes but it certainly sounds like you have enough humidification in there. At this point if you don't see a rise its probably a bad seal.

Has anyone considered using those little clay blocks (that are meant to be thrown into the brown sugar bag to keep it soft and muushhy) as humidifiers? Just wondering. I imagine they may dry out too quickly but can't be certain that would actually happen though.

Cheers

Cyanide

[spectrrr]

hmmm... I like the idea of the kitty litter beads... I might have to try that in my 100ct humi... what kind of beads do you use? anything special? Certainly not the scented

Originally Posted by spectrrr

hmmm... I like the idea of the kitty litter beads... I might have to try that in my 100ct humi... what kind of beads do you use? anything special? Certainly not the scented

Just stay away from the ones that are scented or have the little blue balls in them.

I think the brand I bought was exquisacat or something.
Search Kitty litter on the other site and be prepared for lots of KL haters

Chas

[Thrak]

no kidding.. apparently the topic of kl beads will get you vilified around here too... see my recent thread 3 or 4 below this one.

[JD11]

Seems like the tape did the trick .. checked last night and this afternoon and both are now holdin a steady 62-63%.. thanks for all the help.. looks like what most of you said I just have to plan on supplementing xtra humidity in the winter..This being my first winter smoking and storing cigars your help and suggestions are invaluable .. Thanks John

Originally Posted by JD11

Seems like the tape did the trick .. checked last night and this afternoon and both are now holdin a steady 62-63%.. thanks for all the help.. looks like what most of you said I just have to plan on supplementing xtra humidity in the winter..This being my first winter smoking and storing cigars your help and suggestions are invaluable .. Thanks John

Awesome! Yeah winter time is a pain for cigar smokers. Can't even smoke all my favs because its too cold.

[JD11]

Originally Posted by pmp

Awesome! Yeah winter time is a pain for cigar smokers. Can't even smoke all my favs because its too cold.

The cold I can deal with , as long as my mouth heals pretty soon...As soon as it does I'm gonna go to my B M and pick up a couple LGC Serie R. A guy at work smokes em and I'm dyin to try 1 . I hope it will be what I built it up to be in my mind.. but thats another thread , I'm just glad I got my humi stabelized at a rh I'm comfortable with.. thanks again...