Re-Upped my Cigar Oasis (picture intensive)

[bobarian]

I still dont understand how you will be keeping humidity lower than ambient during the moist months. As Silhound said, he is using PG to accomplish this task. If ambient humidity rises to 80%, how will turning off the Oasis remove the excess humidity? During the winter your system should work great, but I am concerned with the warm humid months.

[Bear]

Originally Posted by bobarian

I still dont understand how you will be keeping humidity lower than ambient during the moist months. As Silhound said, he is using PG to accomplish this task. If ambient humidity rises to 80%, how will turning off the Oasis remove the excess humidity? During the winter your system should work great, but I am concerned with the warm humid months.

If I had to guess, the ambient humidity doesn't get too high where the OP lives (OH) even in the warmer months. I could be wrong though...
I wonder how big the humi is. Is this a cabinet or a desktop (a CO would be overkill for the standard desktop IMO)? If the seal is less then ideal, his set up should work no problem especially if he's in and out of it on a regular basis.
Bottom line IMO is that even if you put a glass of water in your cabinet humi, the RH won't spike like mad due to the lack of air circulation being forced over the surface of the water. I don't see how this would be any different.

Now, with that said, if the temp & ambient humidity gets high in the warmer weather you might run into problems keeping your RH low enough. In the OP you mention that beads weren't doing the trick for you... my is keep them in there anyways as they'll act as a desiccate should you ultimately need it.

[MikeyC]

Originally Posted by Bear

If I had to guess, the ambient humidity doesn't get too high where the OP lives (OH) even in the warmer months. I could be wrong though...
I wonder how big the humi is. Is this a cabinet or a desktop (a CO would be overkill for the standard desktop IMO)? If the seal is less then ideal, his set up should work no problem especially if he's in and out of it on a regular basis.
Bottom line IMO is that even if you put a glass of water in your cabinet humi, the RH won't spike like mad due to the lack of air circulation being forced over the surface of the water. I don't see how this would be any different.

Now, with that said, if the temp & ambient humidity gets high in the warmer weather you might run into problems keeping your RH low enough. In the OP you mention that beads weren't doing the trick for you... my is keep them in there anyways as they'll act as a desiccate should you ultimately need it.

I have the same humi as the OP and I run a hydra and I have a few ounces of beads in there as well. I never wet down the beads. They're just in there to mitigate any spikes in humidity and to keep the humidity down during the summer. I find the combination of the two work perfectly. Beads to keep the RH from getting too high and a hydra to keep the RH from getting too low!

[neoflex]

Originally Posted by bobarian

I still dont understand how you will be keeping humidity lower than ambient during the moist months. As Silhound said, he is using PG to accomplish this task. If ambient humidity rises to 80%, how will turning off the Oasis remove the excess humidity? During the winter your system should work great, but I am concerned with the warm humid months.

I use a Cigar Oasis in my cabinet too and I also keep beads in there just to help keep things regulated in the summer months just in case. More often than not if your dealing with a large capacity humidor and it's well stocked your Rh should not drive too far on the high side even in the summer months, but it is good to have a fail safe.
Thanks for the tip on the Oasis, I will have to try this mod over the holiday since I am due for a new cartridge.

[cbsmokin]

I have been running my two units full of gel for over 6 months now. They are much lower maintenance than the floral foam was. I am very happy with my results.

The pictures have been moved, but you can read about it here:

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=142963

[Silound]

bobarian:

Here's a post I made a while back on CS about silica gel and PG. Hope it helps to clarify about the effectiveness of combining them. And if the ambient RH is too high, dry gel crystals can always be added to wick out moisture.

Originally Posted by silound

Here's a brief rundown for you:


Propylene Glycol is a diol alcohol (a type of organic alcohol), meaning it contains two hydroxyl groups in it's chemical structure, and it has an asymmetrical carbon atom. Because of this, the liquid is hygroscopic, meaning that it has a natural ability to attract water molecules from the surrounding environment. Because PG is also fully miscible (term that means the property of liquids to mix in all proportions, forming a homogeneous solution), it will eventually release moisture into the air when the relative humidity drops below that of the PG solution's proportion of water.

Purchased PG solutions are mixed at approximately 60-40 distilled water/PG. Because there is already water in the solution, the PG has attracted and mixed with it. In other words, PG solution is water AND PG, so it sets a baseline for the PG to balance at around 70%. This is why if you add PG solution to an already well humidified environment (70+%), it takes a little more time to balance out than if you added it to an environment nearer 70% RH.

The gel (crystals in Xikar humidifiers) that you wet with PG solution is simply a silica that absorbs and extrudes water based compounds, hence organic alcohols like PG that are water based. When combined, the gel will absorb the PG solution, which will in turn attract water from the surrounding environment, or eventually give it up to humidify the air.

The silica beads are similar to the gel in function (chemically different though). They are also a desiccant, which means they will also absorb humidity from the air. Depending on the chemical bonding order of the atoms, various forms of silica have various absorption levels, rates, and capacities.


The one myth to debunk. Plan silica gel or beads do NOT "extrude" moisture. Rather when the ambient humidity drops below a point, the beads simply dry out as the humidity is wicked back out of them. The bonding order and surface area of the silica used determines how fast they lose humidity (or gain it).

Because of PG's natural willingness to "give off" moisture, silica gel and PG solution will help bring humidity UP faster, while silica beads will take longer to lose moisture. Dry beads will always trump dry gel to remove excess moisture, and that I don't have a real good answer to.


Anyway, hope that helps some!