Humidifier Problems.

[dijit]

A few weeks ago my humidifier started going haywire. I have the Hydra it is about 5 years old so probably time to replace it anyway. The trouble started about a month ago the reading on the humidifier was set to 72% but all of a sudden my humidity was down to about 65%. I had to turn the humidity all the way to 85% to get to 70%. So imagine my distress when I see mild growing on my most prized cigars and the new humistat says the humidity is 81%. I have cleaned the mold off and only see slight signs of over humidification such as cracks or splits or even separating seams. My question is this even after a week the Humidity level in the humidor after removing all himidifiers is still 78% and I am starting to worry about my NC cigars. I have moved all the better sticks to my old humi but dont have room to fit everything. Any hints on getting the humidity under control would be appreciated.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by dijit

A few weeks ago my humidifier started going haywire. I have the Hydra it is about 5 years old so probably time to replace it anyway. The trouble started about a month ago the reading on the humidifier was set to 72% but all of a sudden my humidity was down to about 65%. I had to turn the humidity all the way to 85% to get to 70%. So imagine my distress when I see mild growing on my most prized cigars and the new humistat says the humidity is 81%. I have cleaned the mold off and only see slight signs of over humidification such as cracks or splits or even separating seams. My question is this even after a week the Humidity level in the humidor after removing all himidifiers is still 78% and I am starting to worry about my NC cigars. I have moved all the better sticks to my old humi but dont have room to fit everything. Any hints on getting the humidity under control would be appreciated.

If the ambient humidity is low where you live, you can just leave the door / lid of the humidor open for a few hours. You can also put a bowl of dry white rice in the humidor, it'll suck up some humidity.

As for Hydra / Humi-Care humidifiers going wonky, I don't know how common an occurrence it is, but this is certainly not the first time I've heard of it.

[CigarNut]

What is the ambient humidity in the room with your humidor? How big is your humidor?

If it is lower than the RH of the humidor I would shut off the Hydra and let your humidor sit for a few days that way. If the RH has not dropped after a day or so I would crack the door/lid so that the ambient air can slowly be exchanged with the air in the humidor (you don't want to make any radical or fast changes or you risk damage to your cigars). Don't worry, cigars are very resiliant.

After the RH has started to settle where you want, close it all up and then figure out what you want to do for humidification. I would toss the Hydra and get something new.

[dijit]

The house/room seems to stay about 60 to 62%. I think I will try opening the lid an inch or two.

[bobarian]

While lowering your Rh, I would rotate your cigars once a day. Roll them and move some from top to bottom. Dont rush the process, it will take up to a week to get everything down to 70%.

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by bobarian

While lowering your Rh, I would rotate your cigars once a day. Roll them and move some from top to bottom. Dont rush the process, it will take up to a week to get everything down to 70%.

Excellent advice! Bob is wise!

[dijit]

Thank you all I will put these words of advice to use today.

[Sadden]

Sounds like that hydra is at the end of its lifespan. From what im given to understand they only live for 2-3 years.

[crgcpro]

65% is about as high as you want it to get. I keep my Cuban at 62 and NC's at 64.

Get some 65% beads and forget it!

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by Sadden

Sounds like that hydra is at the end of its lifespan. From what im given to understand they only live for 2-3 years.

Curious as to where you've learned that.

[dijit]

Originally Posted by crgcpro

65% is about as high as you want it to get. I keep my Cuban at 62 and NC's at 64.

Get some 65% beads and forget it!

I dont think I can ever get mine down to low 60's the ambient humidity in the home stays near 65% or a little higher due to the reptiles in the kids rooms. I thought it was lower but took one of my old hygrometers and laid it on my desk since I started this and seems to stay around 68 and the salt test shows 76%.

[dijit]

I will be ordering a new Cigar oasis this weekend. Current humidity is down to 76% in there now and temp is 74

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by dijit

I dont think I can ever get mine down to low 60's the ambient humidity in the home stays near 65% or a little higher due to the reptiles in the kids rooms. I thought it was lower but took one of my old hygrometers and laid it on my desk since I started this and seems to stay around 68 and the salt test shows 76%.

Originally Posted by dijit

I will be ordering a new Cigar oasis this weekend. Current humidity is down to 76% in there now and temp is 74

If your ambient humidity is 65% or higher, do you really need active humidification? It seems like overkill to me. Just my

[dijit]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

If your ambient humidity is 65% or higher, do you really need active humidification? It seems like overkill to me. Just my

For the next few weeks probably not. Once the AC starts running all day long the house will dry out considerably and at that time yes I think I will need active humidification. Since I tend to be somewhat anal about charts and stats that I think are important I keep track of when I need to refill my humidifier and the hottest part of Summer and coldest part of winter are almost double the amount of water to maintain my preferred 68 to 72% RH

[CigarNut]

From the situation you describe it sounds like you need a better grade of humidifier than the Cigar Oasis (or Hydra). Both of those are good, but they are not great -- at least not in my personal experience.

I would suggest that you look at the Set-and-Forget from Bob Staebell (http://www.aristocrathumidors.com/electronic.htm) or the Avallo Accumonitor from Cigar Solutions (http://www.cigarsolutions.com/catego...o-Accumonitor/).

Both are very good -- much better than the Cigar Oasis -- and with the swings in ambient humidity that you are experiencing it sounds to me like you need a better solution than what you have today...

[dijit]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

From the situation you describe it sounds like you need a better grade of humidifier than the Cigar Oasis (or Hydra). Both of those are good, but they are not great -- at least not in my personal experience.

I would suggest that you look at the Set-and-Forget from Bob Staebell (http://www.aristocrathumidors.com/electronic.htm) or the Avallo Accumonitor from Cigar Solutions (http://www.cigarsolutions.com/catego...o-Accumonitor/).

Both are very good -- much better than the Cigar Oasis -- and with the swings in ambient humidity that you are experiencing it sounds to me like you need a better solution than what you have today...

Thanks I will check those out too

[equetefue]

^^ Agree. Just upgraded about 2 months ago from the Oasis to a Set and Forget, and simply there is no comparison. I swear my cigars burn better since I've got it.

[shilala]

I agree with Michael up there, but I'd take the advice a step further.
It sounds like you need a better grade of humidor that doesn't leak like a sieve. Or get to work on it and make it airtight and do away with the hydra.

When it takes a huge amount of effort to keep a humidor at the RH you want, it almost always suggests there's a big problem with leaks.

[CigarNut]

Scott is right!

I hate telling people that their humidors leak. Usually, they do not want to hear it and they shoot the messenger

The funny thing is that for smaller humidors often all it takes is a good seasoning (enough for the wood to swell a bit) to seal it up...

[shilala]

I never mind saying so, Michael, but "shoot the messenger" did make me smile.
Guys understand that humidity doesn't just disappear, it has to leak out. And if it's leaking from a desktop so rapidly that it takes a Hydra to replace it, that's just plain ridiculous.
I don't think Michael (dijit) is battling a desktop, it's probably something larger, but it's still got to be pretty big and pretty leaky to defy a Hydra.

If a Hydra is just sitting in a nice, tight desktop, it's going to overhumidify it by equalization. So there's that, too.