humidor media and humidity

camaroman · 01-08-2013, 12:23 PM

I was wondering if someone with more experience could assess my humidor situation and let me know what I can improve on. I have a cheapie humidor I found on craigslist. I have about 10 cigars in it and I am using exquisicat as my humidifier. my humidity says it is at 65%. it seems like a lot of times my cigars go out when I am smoking them and I usually have to relight atleast 4 or 5 times. only thing I can think of is my humidity is to high?

T.G · 01-08-2013, 12:37 PM

Few things...

What type of hygrometer do you have and and have you calibrated it recently?

How long have you had the cigars? Some vendors are known to ship cigars a bit on the moist side to protect them from drying out if they run across adverse conditions in transit. Also, some B&Ms keep their humidors too moist. If either of these conditions existed and you just recently received them, they might not have had time to lose the extra humidity.

Using exquisicat as a humidifier is akin to using a painters tarp as a parachute. It might work, but it's really not the ideal and if it does, it's not going to work as well or the same. You can get real humidification beads that are truly 2-way from either www.heartfeltindustries.com or www.HCMbeads.com

It's also possible that where you are smoking the cigar is too humid. Not much you can do about that other than find a drier place to smoke.

Sadden · 01-08-2013, 02:13 PM

If your local humidity is high it can be best to start them out on the lower end of the spectrum ( say (60-62rh) and experiment to see what works best. Where i live its very dry so i keep kine on the higher end (67-70) and that seems to work for me. But need proper humidification and verified hygro first.

jjirons69 · 01-08-2013, 02:36 PM

Follow step 2 at the bottom to test your hygrometer. Once you get it dialed in that's about all you can do. You can always drybox a few days prior to smoking it they're too wet.

As far as hygrometers, I got a very accurate one years a go but using 65% beads pretty much keeps me in the clear. The beads are dead one (within 1-2%) and I know longer rely on the hygrometer.

http://www.sciencecompany.com/-W136.aspx

Bondo 287 · 01-08-2013, 02:36 PM

Yeah definitely recalibrate your hygrometer first so you are not guessing.
In PA 62-64% is perfect RH for my smokes. .

camaroman · 01-08-2013, 04:15 PM

i see no way to calibrate my hygrometer, I have done the salt test and it reads 71% though. it is a digital unit from Cigars international called digital hygrometer #1
here is a link, let me know if I am able to calibrate it but I have looked very hard for some type of sdjudtment on it. http://www.cigarsinternational.com/p...ext=hygrometer the local humidity right now is pretty low, i think in the low 40's.

bobarian · 01-08-2013, 04:28 PM

IMHO it is helpful to be able to calibrate but not essential. I would salt test a second time and then you can confirm the +-. If it comes out at 71% just remember to add 4% to the Rh when it is in your humidor. Remember to retest your hygrometer every six months and change the battery every year.

jjirons69 · 01-08-2013, 04:55 PM

Now cigars going out is not uncommon and depends on lots of factors. Even my best kept gems will go out if I run my mouth too long with my buddies. If you have to light, puff a few times, then have to constantly relight within the next 1-2 minutes, something is up. I find if you allow the ash to remain as long as possible, it helps keep the fire going. Constantly raking the ash can cause premature extinguishing. If the draw is poor, it's hard to keep lit, so that could be a factor. Give some other info on your situation, i.e. what sticks are you smoking, how long do you wait between puffs, is the draw consistent, etc.? I expect a little relighting and touch up from time to time, but if it were every stick, I'd be concerned. Like I said earlier, drybox a few of the problem sticks and see how they work in a few days. If your salt test gave 71%, you're close enough and I'd be hard-pressed to think it's your humidity.

camaroman · 01-08-2013, 10:50 PM

punch pita and AB black market like to go out a lot on me. the gran habanos seem to stay lit. it seems to get worse the longer the cigar burns for. seems i usually puff once or twice a minute sometimes every couple and thats when they go out but seems the gran habano stay lit for 5 min sometimes.

01-08-2013, 12:37 PM	#2
T.G Grrrrrr Join Date: Mar 2009 First Name: The Other Adam Posts: 15,557 Trading: (37)	Re: humidor media and humidity Few things... What type of hygrometer do you have and and have you calibrated it recently? How long have you had the cigars? Some vendors are known to ship cigars a bit on the moist side to protect them from drying out if they run across adverse conditions in transit. Also, some B&Ms keep their humidors too moist. If either of these conditions existed and you just recently received them, they might not have had time to lose the extra humidity. Using exquisicat as a humidifier is akin to using a painters tarp as a parachute. It might work, but it's really not the ideal and if it does, it's not going to work as well or the same. You can get real humidification beads that are truly 2-way from either www.heartfeltindustries.com or www.HCMbeads.com It's also possible that where you are smoking the cigar is too humid. Not much you can do about that other than find a drier place to smoke.

01-08-2013, 02:13 PM	#3
Sadden Its only money... Join Date: May 2012 First Name: Colin Posts: 367 Trading: (0)	Re: humidor media and humidity If your local humidity is high it can be best to start them out on the lower end of the spectrum ( say (60-62rh) and experiment to see what works best. Where i live its very dry so i keep kine on the higher end (67-70) and that seems to work for me. But need proper humidification and verified hygro first. __________________ If you want to party with the boys , be prepared to get up and work with the men the next morning. -Colin

01-08-2013, 02:36 PM	#4
jjirons69 Haberdasher Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Jamie Location: Chucktown, SC Posts: 4,120 Trading: (94)	Re: humidor media and humidity Follow step 2 at the bottom to test your hygrometer. Once you get it dialed in that's about all you can do. You can always drybox a few days prior to smoking it they're too wet. As far as hygrometers, I got a very accurate one years a go but using 65% beads pretty much keeps me in the clear. The beads are dead one (within 1-2%) and I know longer rely on the hygrometer. http://www.sciencecompany.com/-W136.aspx __________________ Somebody has to go back and get a chitload of dimes

01-08-2013, 02:36 PM	#5
Bondo 287 Runaway Train Join Date: Jan 2013 First Name: Mikael Location: Unstable, PA Posts: 389 Trading: (0)	Re: humidor media and humidity Yeah definitely recalibrate your hygrometer first so you are not guessing. In PA 62-64% is perfect RH for my smokes. .

01-08-2013, 04:15 PM	#6
camaroman Just in from the Storm Join Date: Jan 2013 First Name: karl Location: Columbus ohio Posts: 4 Trading: (1)	Re: humidor media and humidity i see no way to calibrate my hygrometer, I have done the salt test and it reads 71% though. it is a digital unit from Cigars international called digital hygrometer #1 here is a link, let me know if I am able to calibrate it but I have looked very hard for some type of sdjudtment on it. http://www.cigarsinternational.com/p...ext=hygrometer the local humidity right now is pretty low, i think in the low 40's.

01-08-2013, 12:23 PM	#1
camaroman Just in from the Storm Join Date: Jan 2013 First Name: karl Location: Columbus ohio Posts: 4 Trading: (1)	humidor media and humidity I was wondering if someone with more experience could assess my humidor situation and let me know what I can improve on. I have a cheapie humidor I found on craigslist. I have about 10 cigars in it and I am using exquisicat as my humidifier. my humidity says it is at 65%. it seems like a lot of times my cigars go out when I am smoking them and I usually have to relight atleast 4 or 5 times. only thing I can think of is my humidity is to high?

01-08-2013, 04:28 PM	#7
bobarian Cranky Habanophile Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Wine Country Posts: 8,869 Trading: (51)	Re: humidor media and humidity IMHO it is helpful to be able to calibrate but not essential. I would salt test a second time and then you can confirm the +-. If it comes out at 71% just remember to add 4% to the Rh when it is in your humidor. Remember to retest your hygrometer every six months and change the battery every year.

01-08-2013, 04:55 PM	#8
jjirons69 Haberdasher Join Date: Oct 2008 First Name: Jamie Location: Chucktown, SC Posts: 4,120 Trading: (94)	Re: humidor media and humidity Now cigars going out is not uncommon and depends on lots of factors. Even my best kept gems will go out if I run my mouth too long with my buddies. If you have to light, puff a few times, then have to constantly relight within the next 1-2 minutes, something is up. I find if you allow the ash to remain as long as possible, it helps keep the fire going. Constantly raking the ash can cause premature extinguishing. If the draw is poor, it's hard to keep lit, so that could be a factor. Give some other info on your situation, i.e. what sticks are you smoking, how long do you wait between puffs, is the draw consistent, etc.? I expect a little relighting and touch up from time to time, but if it were every stick, I'd be concerned. Like I said earlier, drybox a few of the problem sticks and see how they work in a few days. If your salt test gave 71%, you're close enough and I'd be hard-pressed to think it's your humidity. __________________ Somebody has to go back and get a chitload of dimes

01-08-2013, 10:50 PM	#9
camaroman Just in from the Storm Join Date: Jan 2013 First Name: karl Location: Columbus ohio Posts: 4 Trading: (1)	Re: humidor media and humidity punch pita and AB black market like to go out a lot on me. the gran habanos seem to stay lit. it seems to get worse the longer the cigar burns for. seems i usually puff once or twice a minute sometimes every couple and thats when they go out but seems the gran habano stay lit for 5 min sometimes.