My HCM beads just are not working anymore

[dwoodward]

Well, at least all is not lost yet. Just smoked one of the cigars to see if they still smoked fine. Smoked a La Herencia Cuban Oscuro Fuerte. Was decent, not top notch, but still tasty.

[CigarNut]

I have been working a lot of hours on my day job this week, so I have not been keeping up on CA and I have not read all te posts in this thread yet.

Please note: If you are unhappy with the beads, just return them to me and I will refund your money.

Having said that, I have every confidence that we can solve the problem -- if you want to do so. Just let me know how you would like to proceed.

[jmsremax]

Not that I doubt you could be having an issue with your beads but what about re-seasoning your humidor? I thought my beads were the issue so I contacted Mike and I went back and forth via email until I decided to take everything out of my humi, put it in my cooler, then put a bowl of distilled water in it for 2 weeks. In the meantime I recalibrated my hygro and put the hygro back in the humi alone and sure enough it was stable for over a week. Then I put my sticks back in and it's still at 64% months later.

Either way I'm sure it will be fine....Mike is a great guy to work with.

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by dwoodward

I came back from vacation to find my humidors at 59 and 58 RH. So I put my beads in bags with a hygrometer, sure enough they are at 59 and 58. I put them both in a bag with a bowl and sponge and let them sit for 2 days while the RH rises back up. I take the bowl out, 6 hours later the beads read 70 RH.

Now, I put them back into my humidors, and 12 hours later my RH levels are even lower than they were before, the beads didn't retain any of the moisture, the 70RH was just moisture in the bag, the beads are not taking in any moisture at all. I can't even charge them.

Waste of money? I'll get heartfelt next time.

As others have said the beads can easily be recharged and I did explain how do to that in a PM to you we we started this discussion in September. I am sorry that the online instructions are in a format that you can't read and I will make them a PDF this afternoon.

It may be that for you Heartfelt beads will be easier, because as you said you can easily spray them with moisture to raise the RH.

However, that does not solve your problem -- your humidor is not holding humidity. There are lots of posts on CA, discussion in my online FAQ and lots of other sources to help you find out how your humidor is leaking and how to seal it. It is more work up front to fix your humidor than it is to switch out to Hearfelt beads, but in the long run the effort you will expend in maintaining your beads will be far more work then fixing your humidor.

If you want to solve the problem with your humidor (regardless of which beads you end up with) let me know and I will work with you. If you want to return your beads and get your money back, let me know and I will do that too.

And finally, I do apologize again for the delay in responding to your post -- my day job has been extremely busy this week and my reading of CA has suffered as a result...

[hscmit]

^ topnotch service

[waffle]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

As others have said the beads can easily be recharged and I did explain how do to that in a PM to you we we started this discussion in September. I am sorry that the online instructions are in a format that you can't read and I will make them a PDF this afternoon.

It may be that for you Heartfelt beads will be easier, because as you said you can easily spray them with moisture to raise the RH.

However, that does not solve your problem -- your humidor is not holding humidity. There are lots of posts on CA, discussion in my online FAQ and lots of other sources to help you find out how your humidor is leaking and how to seal it. It is more work up front to fix your humidor than it is to switch out to Hearfelt beads, but in the long run the effort you will expend in maintaining your beads will be far more work then fixing your humidor.

If you want to solve the problem with your humidor (regardless of which beads you end up with) let me know and I will work with you. If you want to return your beads and get your money back, let me know and I will do that too.

And finally, I do apologize again for the delay in responding to your post -- my day job has been extremely busy this week and my reading of CA has suffered as a result...

Mike, can I make a suggestion and if you throw those in a pdf, posting a link in the FAQ on the site to them, it took me a bit to find the link and the first place I ran to was your FAQ section

What works easiest for me for seasoning them is that I have a Gel that stabilizes at 70% and my beads are at 65%. I keep the gel closed until I feel that my beads have gone too low. Then I just open it up to raise it to my desired RH%age. It's a bit slower but it gets the job done and gives me plenty of control.

[SLO_Smoke]

I have to say that I am completely satisfied with the Shilala/HCM product.
Currently I have 22lbs , yes that's 44 8oz bags in service!
In the 1 1/2 years I've been using them I have had to adjust humidity (+) one time after about 12 months.

I took 22 bags and put them into a cooler with a container of distilled water and a sponge (no cigars).
Monitored the hygrometer for a couple days got them where I wanted them.
Removed the water and sponge to let them stabelize for a couple more days.
Confirmed the RH and then swapped them out for the other 22 bags.
- Repeat

Put them all back into service and have not had to adjust again in the last 6 months.

I have recommended these to others with only positive results.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by itzfrank

What works easiest for me for seasoning them is that I have a Gel that stabilizes at 70% and my beads are at 65%. I keep the gel closed until I feel that my beads have gone too low. Then I just open it up to raise it to my desired RH%age. It's a bit slower but it gets the job done and gives me plenty of control.

That is a really slick way to do it, and it's the first time I ever heard of it.
Slower is always better. I'm gonna remember that idea and use it myself.

[waffle]

Originally Posted by shilala

That is a really slick way to do it, and it's the first time I ever heard of it.
Slower is always better. I'm gonna remember that idea and use it myself.

I'm picking that up now... I have some beads that were in a craptacular humi and have lost some RH... I need to recharge them a bit...

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by dwoodward

I can't view it because I don't have microsoft word.

Not sure why you cannot view it -- there is (and has been) both a web page and a PDF -- no Word document. I was getting ready to put a PDF up this morning and found that I had done so several months ago.

I did add a additional links to the "using your beads" page from several of the other pages.

Originally Posted by shilala

That is a really slick way to do it, and it's the first time I ever heard of it.
Slower is always better. I'm gonna remember that idea and use it myself.

It works great! All you have to do is add water to the gel when it's low and the gel was cheap. Granted, the beads are 100x better.

[n0Odle]

I know this post is old
But I've been reading different forums and people are talking about buying Pounds of these beads...

I bought 2 ounces for my 50count humidor... Why is there a huge difference in the sizes? Are the people who are buying pounds of these beads using it for cabinet humidors or did I missing something?
I bought my HCM beads from www.hcmbeads.com

[CigarNut]

The amount of beads needed is proportional to the physical size of the humidor. For example a 28 bottle wine cooler might have 2 lbs of beads.

[smitty81]

I'm probably wrong but if your humi's were down to 59 and 58 and you put your recharged beads back in, don't you think that the cigars absorbed all that moisture?

The beads may not be bad, the cigars are just absorbing the moisture. Maby recharge the beads again and put them back in?

(i'm sure I over read something)

[chippewastud79]

Originally Posted by smitty81

(i'm sure I over read something)

Like the fact the thread is over a year and a half old.

[smitty81]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Like the fact the thread is over a year and a half old.

Yes, like that.

It's going to be a long day. I should just quit now.........

[smitty81]

delete

[n0Odle]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

The amount of beads needed is proportional to the physical size of the humidor. For example a 28 bottle wine cooler might have 2 lbs of beads.

so 50count humidor ... 2ounces is fine? i wont lbs of it?

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by n0Odle

so 50count humidor ... 2ounces is fine? i wont lbs of it?

Correct.