New Savoy Desktop Humidor Humidity Question (Thanks in Advance)

I purchased a Savoy medium desktop Zebrawood humidor yesterday.

I decided NOT to wipe down the inside with distilled water and instead I filled 2 shot glasses with distilled water and placed them inside along with a cigar mechanic gell bead humidifier, the stock humidifier and a boveda 72% bag.

I placed 19 cigars in the box (they had been purchased 2 days ago from a shop so they were in a humidor and I placed them in an otterbox cigar caddy during transport.

I have a digital hygrometer which is showing humidity at 72%.

My question is- when I open the box I'll see a drop from 72% down to 64% (kept open for maybe 4 minutes). Is this normal?

Is there anything else I should be doing??? I feel that the number one answer is KEEP THE HUMIDOR CLOSED!!!!

I did do a flashlight test and no light leaks out so that's a good thing...

Thanks in advance for the advice to a new humidor owner and I can already tell I'm going to be addicted to this!

-RR

[Hem]

I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure you should store your cigars outside of your humidor (maybe in some tupperware) until the humi is properly seasoned. This could take up to a week.

[CigarNut]

You need to give your humidor alot more time to season properly. There are lots of threads in the Asylum that can help. Search is your friend! You can start here: http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=620.

So, season your humidor, salt-test your hygrometer (even if it is new) and most of all be patient. It will take time for everything to settle in properly. You can keep your cigars in a Ziploc bag until your humidor is ready. Your cigars will be fine!

Finally, please go to the new inmate forum and introduce yourself: http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=7.

[dwoodward]

Seasoning should take a week minimum. 2 weeks is best. I know it seems like forever (it really is) but it's worth it in the end.

[joeobx]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

You need to give your humidor alot more time to season properly. There are lots of threads in the Asylum that can help. Search is your friend! You can start here: http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=620.

So, season your humidor, salt-test your hygrometer (even if it is new) and most of all be patient. It will take time for everything to settle in properly. You can keep your cigars in a Ziploc bag until your humidor is ready. Your cigars will be fine!

Finally, please go to the new inmate forum and introduce yourself: http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=7.

This. And toss the foam that came with it. Put a dish with distilled water in and let sit for a week or so. Buy some beads. Put your smokes in a Ziplock or Tupperware untill the humi is ready.

[dwoodward]

Originally Posted by joeobx

Put a dish with distilled water in and let sit for a week or so.

I like to complement this with a sponge. The added surface area should help.

I don't know where the Shot Glass idea ever came around, but tbh, a bowl or dish with water is A LOT more water than a shot glass lol... You can never saturate too much.

[joeobx]

Originally Posted by dwoodward

I like to complement this with a sponge. The added surface area should help.

I don't know where the Shot Glass idea ever came around, but tbh, a bowl or dish with water is A LOT more water than a shot glass lol... You can never saturate too much.

I'm lucky when I bought my first one from a B/M they let it sit open it the walkin for about 10 days. When I bought my end table I put 4 dishes with sponges in them for almost 2 weeks and wiped down the inside every other day .

Originally Posted by joeobx

This. And toss the foam that came with it. Put a dish with distilled water in and let sit for a week or so. Buy some beads. Put your smokes in a Ziplock or Tupperware untill the humi is ready.

So, I took the shotglasses out and placed a larger dish in with more distilled water.

Also, I'm doing a hygro test using my digital and analog hygro... I've read leave it in a bag with salt in the cap for 4 hours AND another saying 24... which is it?

It sounds like I should just leave the dish of water in the humidor for 2 weeks (to season) and THEN take out the water and put the cigars in...

The B&M I bought it from did offer to let me leave it in their humidor if i wanted... should I take him up on that?

-RR

Thanks so much for all your help.

Here's where I'm at.

I had purchased an otterbox 15 count cigar caddy so i put all my sticks in zip lock bags (each brand in it's own) and placed them all in the caddy. I figure this would be as air tight as I could get them (my tupperware sometimes leaks liquids so not air tight).

I put my digital and analog hygro in a bag and did a salt test. Started at 8pm last night. The digital is stablized at 76%. The analog was reading 70% so i calibrated (has a screw in back) and it's now reading 74% stable (it's off a few but still not bad).

The humidor itself is just sitting shut. I've got a boveda 72% bag in it (i had bought it the first day so might as well use it). Also, I have a bowl filled with distilled water in it with a paper towel. The 2 humidification devices (one gel beads one stock) had been filled with a propylene glycol solution at the store and those too are in the humidor.

Will i notice much difference in seasoning if I leave it for 2 weeks compared to a week??

Once it's been a week, I should take out the water dish, put in my hygrometer and see if the humidity stabilizes. I should also probably refill the 2 humidification devices at that time too.

Again, thanks for all the help on this new hobby, my GF hates it already!!

-RR

[dwoodward]

2 weeks is best in my opinion. Keep the water dish in there for that long as well, don't remove anything, a sponge will help, rotate the sponge in the water every couple days to make sure it's saturated.

Don't worry about the GF, mine hated it too at first.

A little tip for that, convince her to take a few puffs when your smoking, mine ended up liking a Perdomo Grand Cru and started experimenting, now she's already claiming my old humidor when I get my new wineador all set up.

Originally Posted by dwoodward

2 weeks is best in my opinion. Keep the water dish in there for that long as well, don't remove anything, a sponge will help, rotate the sponge in the water every couple days to make sure it's saturated.

Don't worry about the GF, mine hated it too at first.

A little tip for that, convince her to take a few puffs when your smoking, mine ended up liking a Perdomo Grand Cru and started experimenting, now she's already claiming my old humidor when I get my new wineador all set up.

While staying at the Shangri-La in the Philippines, I got her to try a Cuban Montecristo no. 4 which she liked.

When you say sponge, I'm guessing you mean just a straight SPONGE, not the one with one side that has the rough side, or would that be fine too?

Thanks!