Cabinet humidor advice

[paris1129]

So I got a really nice temp + rh control Mxt aristocrat cabinet back in October with dual humidifiers on the bottom shelf and twin peltier coolers. I moved my cigars into it as well as purchased some additional boxes. Needless to say, I may have gotten a bit over jealous in my purchases, as I have had some trouble getting the last few boxes in there (I was eventually successful with some creative tetris). It is worth noting my last reorganization of the boxes was after Christmas, before NYE. So the pictured arrangement has been this way un-rotated for about a month.

I smoked many cigars in Nov and December (before I had to jam so many in there), and they were all wonderful. I had one around New Years (early January) and it was fine, but didn't have for a few weeks after that until this week. Well, I've had 3 cigars this week, and they have all been unpleasant and dry! The cabinet temp has always been set at 68 degrees, and the hygrometer seems rock solid, set at 63rh. I also have additional rh sensor units on each shelf that all read 67rh or 68rh, so I would think the rh in the cabinet is good. However, I opened several random boxes from each shelf and many of them are just dry, regardless of top shelf or bottom shelf.

I can of course just turn the rh settings up a couple of points, but am confused given the readings I see, as they don't align with the actual cigar dryness I am observing. Do I have it stuffed too full? Can that affect the airflow so much that even though the rh reads good, they are really drying out quickly?? I always heard that if it was full it was more consistent and easier to maintain!

I am new to large cabinets like this, so any advice or insight from those with experience would be much appreciated!!

[icehog3]

I'm at a loss. Are the secondary hygromteters all calibrated? If so, I'm stumped as to why the cigar seem dry.....

[paris1129]

I have put them all together on the same shelf to test them in a few months back and they were all within 1% of each other, so I am confident that cannot be TOO far off.

My fear is I just have too much stuffed in there and am inadvertently blocking airflow. But maybe all you guys have cabinets that look like this too...

[icehog3]

I have an MTX with the same humidifier, pretty much stuffed to the gills, and no issues with dryness. Set at 61RH, Matthew.

[markem]

Originally Posted by icehog3

I have an MTX with the same humidifier, pretty much stuffed to the gills, and no issues with dryness. Set at 61RH, Matthew.

My cabinet, setup, and RH is the same as Tom's. My advice is this: time. That's a lot of cigars and boxes to humidify, so let it sit for a good long time. Use desktops to hold the cigars you plan to smoke and just leave the mtx door closed (I should follow my own advice!).

[AdamJoshua]

I had a Aristo as well and never had problems.

Were the cigars dry before you started, it seems if they were a bit dry when you put them in then I can see where the humidity might not have a chance to get them all up to part, but I suppose in that case it would be running constantly. So why am I posting here, I have no idea, but hi, how you dewin?

[paris1129]

Yeah they were all great when they went in at various times since October. Smoked fine until this week, I guess they reached that tipping point in the past 3 weeks....

[AdamJoshua]

Ah rule of 3s....


Wow that's really only a couple months, with that many boxes and that tightly packed even if it wasn't running at all it's hard to imagine them all getting that dry.

[paris1129]

I just thought of something else. I have quite a few boxes I have acquired from others that were sealed in foodsaver bags. I have them throughout the humidor mixed in with non-sealed boxes. Is it possible the excess plastic sticking out around those boxes (I can hear plastic gently scraping against the sides and doors when I open / close humidor) could be blocking air flow? Isn't that plastic non porous?

Anybody else store any boxes sealed in plastic in their humidors?

[dijit]

I have a small cabinet and have had it stuffed so full I was surprised any circulation was possible and didnt have this happen. I would recommend recalibrating the hygrometers and watch the RH after that.

[markem]

Originally Posted by paris1129

Anybody else store any boxes sealed in plastic in their humidors?

I do. If I do not know for certain that the source freezes, then I freeze and leave them in the plastic for a long time. Doesn't hurt airflow.

[Porch Dweller]

I think he's referring to leaving them in food saver bags vs. keeping them in the plastic the manufacturer wraps the boxes in.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by Porch Dweller

I think he's referring to leaving them in food saver bags vs. keeping them in the plastic the manufacturer wraps the boxes in.

Still shoudln't affect the humidity of the uncovered boxes.