Humidor ???

Originally Posted by JD11

Sorry for the slow reply , had oral surgery on Wed and I feel like I took Icehogs hockey stick in the mug.. thanks for the replies , this morning I buttoned up the seal with some painters tape and it feel a lot tighter. It held stable humidity all summer so I assumed the seal was good but its been a battle since I moved the humi (treasure dome).. the 150 ct is fine now after i added a drymistat tube...

I hear this SOOOO much. The crystal gel humidifiers are really a far superior way to humidify a desktop than beads. Beads are AWESOME for cabinets and coolerdors but not great for desktops. I use two large rectangular crystal gel humidifiers in my larger humidors and they work rock solid. Its probably the number 1 thing you can do to upgrade a humidor.

[bobarian]

For those having trouble with low humidity in winter. Do your sticks smoke differently? Do they seem dry? My Vino's and desktops are holding, but I have a glasstop that has dropped to 60, but everything seems to be smoking well so I have not messed with it.

[JD11]

pmp , I went even further and now have 3 xikar gel jars and a couple water pillows in the Treasure dome and 1 xikar jar and 2 drymistat tubes in the 100/150 ct .. I'll be keeping them closed for a few days and see if the rh stays consistent.

bobarian , I haven't smoked in about 2 weeks and I'll probably wait another week or so (oral surgery last Wed) , but prior to that they smoked OK..

Originally Posted by JD11

pmp , I went even further and now have 3 xikar gel jars and a couple water pillows in the Treasure dome and 1 xikar jar and 2 drymistat tubes in the 100/150 ct .. I'll be keeping them closed for a few days and see if the rh stays consistent.

bobarian , I haven't smoked in about 2 weeks and I'll probably wait another week or so (oral surgery last Wed) , but prior to that they smoked OK..

That oral surgery is the pits, it cut into my smoking last year for almost two months. Hope all heals well and faster than mine did.

Mike

I live in the northeast (dry winter due to forced air furnace).
Indoors RH is right now 30% and gets as high as 40%.
I have 2 vinos with Scott's beads in them that are solid as a rock.
I have 2 desktops, 1 - 50 count and 1 - 300 custom built unit. They struggle during the winter.
The only thing I have been able to do to get them to stay above 60% is add a small dish of kitty litter beads that I soak completely with water. I know they suck as a bead but they do keep the moisture in the box. I dont use them to regulate, just as a constant source of moisture. In the boxes there is also reg beads that absorb what extra moisture there is from the Kitty litter beads. When I see the RH drop to about 63% I spray down the Kitty litter beads again until completely saturated. I will do this until the furnace quits running and the indoors RH climbs back up.

Chas

Originally Posted by ChasDen

I live in the northeast (dry winter due to forced air furnace).
Indoors RH is right now 30% and gets as high as 40%.
I have 2 vinos with Scott's beads in them that are solid as a rock.
I have 2 desktops, 1 - 50 count and 1 - 300 custom built unit. They struggle during the winter.
The only thing I have been able to do to get them to stay above 60% is add a small dish of kitty litter beads that I soak completely with water. I know they suck as a bead but they do keep the moisture in the box. I dont use them to regulate, just as a constant source of moisture. In the boxes there is also reg beads that absorb what extra moisture there is from the Kitty litter beads. When I see the RH drop to about 63% I spray down the Kitty litter beads again until completely saturated. I will do this until the furnace quits running and the indoors RH climbs back up.

Chas

Chas you should reconsider soaking your beads. You can grow mold and mildew on them if they are over humidified.

Originally Posted by pmp

Chas you should reconsider soaking your beads. You can grow mold and mildew on them if they are over humidified.

From my post:

"..is add a small dish of kitty litter beads that I soak completely with water."

My reg beads are never touched in the winter.

Have you ever used kitty litter beads?

They absorb a ton of water and release it at a rather constant level. they suck as a way of "maintaining" RH but do wonders at adding moisture at a relativity controlled rate. unlike an open dish or shot glass of water they allow the water to evaporate into the air at a slower rate, but much faster than reg beads. The KL beads never stay totally wet for very long since the 2 humidors in question are the ones I pull my smokes from to smoke.

I struggled for 2 winters trying everything everyone told me to try with no success. The 2 humidors in question would plummet after a few days and I would spend days getting them back up above 60% just to repeat the process. This year I use the kitty litter beads to add the added moisture and the reg beads to maintain the RH I want.

Works like a charm

If it was a bad seal (like many suggested) I would be having the same problem this year. Since I'm not, I ruled out the bad seal and chalked it up to lack of water content present to stabilize after the humidors were opened.

The combination of reg beads and the KL beads solves that problem for me.

Like I said, I use Scott's beads in the 2 vinos and haven't added anything in the way of moisture to them in over a month and they stay right at 64% - 66%, but they are only opened once a week or so.

Chas