Question about humidor and a cooler

[SmokinDuck]

It's still winter where I live and I've given up on trying to keep the humis at 65%. They are staying at roughly around 60%. It doesn't help that every 2 days I have to open them and add some water to the beads. I have added a little pill bottle with the top off to each humi with some distilled water to help out but still only can achieve around 60%.

My question is can I put the humidors with the lids closed in a cooler? Will that help stabilize the RH in the humidors so I don't have to open them every couple of days to add water?

I don't have the funds to make a full blown coolidor so I'm hoping that I can get by for now with what I want to do.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

Thats not really necessary. Just double up on your humidification. Assuming your humidor doesn't have a bad seal then adding supplementary humidification during the winter will handle it. I have more info here.
Cigar Primer

[md4958]

why not just take all your sticks and put them in the cooler for now? what are you using for humidification? I recommend Shilala beads for a hassle-free solution. He is a member here (Shilala), so just pm him and tell him the size of your coolerdor and he'll set you up right.

Also, have you calibrated your hygrometers? Changed the batteries recently?

Scott, I expect a kick-back for this

my advice would be to add just a little bit of CHEAP supplemental humidification. Water Pillows can bought for under $1 each. 1 or 2 per humidor should fix you up.

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by SmokinDuck

I don't have the funds to make a full blown coolidor

To set one up, just place cigars in cooler. That's it.

Originally Posted by RonC

my advice would be to add just a little bit of CHEAP supplemental humidification. Water Pillows can bought for under $1 each. 1 or 2 per humidor should fix you up.

These work very well!

[SmokinDuck]

Originally Posted by RonC

my advice would be to add just a little bit of CHEAP supplemental humidification. Water Pillows can bought for under $1 each. 1 or 2 per humidor should fix you up.

Are those the same as the Boveda pak or is it something different? Never heard of a water pillow before, how do they work, how long do they last and where do you get them?

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by SmokinDuck

Are those the same as the Boveda pak or is it something different? Never heard of a water pillow before, how do they work, how long do they last and where do you get them?

http://stores.cigarsolutions.com/Detail.bok?no=110

Different than the Boveda packs. They last for years. I have used several for almost 4 years with no problems.

Originally Posted by SmokinDuck

Are those the same as the Boveda pak or is it something different? Never heard of a water pillow before, how do they work, how long do they last and where do you get them?

they have the same material (gel) in them as does the Xikar unit. The container itself is just cheaper, and considered disposable. I sell a bunch, and use them myself in the winter for my desktops.

you can leave them in the little ziplocs that they come in, or you can remove the pillow from the ziploc, and your humidity will get boosted even further. If you do that, make sure that the plastic side of the pillow is touching your humidor or cigars

http://stores.cigarsolutions.com/Detail.bok?no=110

if you want to try a couple first without buying a dozen, PM me your name and address.

good info and thanks for the link. I'll be picking some of these up, good for PIF shipments as well.

[shilala]

You can put your humis in big ziplock bags or tie them off in a garbage bag.
That'll alleviate the situation immediately and effectively, even if it looks like hell.

If there's anything that should be 100% completely obvious, it's that you humidors are not airtight by any means. All the beads in the world can't make up for a lousy, leaky humidor. If you are adding water every two days, your humidors could be replaced by shoeboxes and yield much the same protection for your cigars.

Try the bag trick, but be very careful how much water you add to your beads. Rehydrate them properly making sure not to flood them. If you do flood them, once you've placed the humis in plastic bags the humidity will rise rapidly to 100% and you risk ending up with a forest of mold on your hands.

You may be able to do some work on your humis and make them airtight. If not, you'd be far better served by rubbermaid containers or ziplock bags.
Good Luck!!!