Humidor Problem

[iDad]

Hey guys, new to the site. I haven't made my way to an intro thread but that will be my next stop.

I have a problem with my humidor. My wife got me the seven shelf humidor from Thompson for $99 last year for fathers day. We moved from Tennessee to Indiana and all of a sudden I can't get my humidor back to where it usually is. I don't remember the temperature off hand but I usually have it at 68-72% humidity. All of a sudden I can't get it above 56% and my cigars are drying out.

Please help tell me what I need to do. I have two Xycar trays in the top shelf, filled with xycar solution. I have another try in the middle of the humidor that I thought would help raise the percentage. Nothing is helping. I also have two little cups of Dr. PH solution crystals and still....no luck.

Lend me your assistance please.

[big_jaygee]

first thing you might want to do is check the seal on the door, alignment might have shifted during the move. second IIRC that humi has a analog hygrometer which are not very accurate, have you calibrated it lately? might want to invest in a digital one.

might want to pull out that bottom shelf and throw some beads in there...way better then the foam trays

HCM BEADS is what i use

Heartfelt Beads and some people use these

hope this helps a little. i know more people with more experience will offer more tips to help you out.

[longknocker]

Originally Posted by iDad

Hey guys, new to the site. I haven't made my way to an intro thread but that will be my next stop.

I have a problem with my humidor. My wife got me the seven shelf humidor from Thompson for $99 last year for fathers day. We moved from Tennessee to Indiana and all of a sudden I can't get my humidor back to where it usually is. I don't remember the temperature off hand but I usually have it at 68-72% humidity. All of a sudden I can't get it above 56% and my cigars are drying out.

Please help tell me what I need to do. I have two Xycar trays in the top shelf, filled with xycar solution. I have another try in the middle of the humidor that I thought would help raise the percentage. Nothing is helping. I also have two little cups of Dr. PH solution crystals and still....no luck.

Lend me your assistance please.

Welcome To The Asylum!

http://www.bovedainc.com/store/

This Is What I Use In All My Humidors. 65% Boveda Packs & "Beads" Should Take Care Of Your Problem, But The Boveda Packs Work More Quickly. Other People Use Different Levels Of Rh In The Boveda Packs, But I Prefer 65%.

Good Luck!

[iDad]

Cool, my humidor is suppose to hold up to 200 cigars. Would that still be affective to use in my humidor?

[longknocker]

Originally Posted by iDad

Cool, my humidor is suppose to hold up to 200 cigars. Would that still be affective to use in my humidor?

Definitely. Use The Size Dimensions Recommended On The Site To Determine How Many Boveda Packs You Need & Put Them In. I Order On The Autoship Program From That Site Every 3 Months.

[longknocker]

For A 200 Size Humidor They Recommend "8" Large Boveda Packs Or "2" Packs For Every 50 Count Humidor Whether It Is Full Or Not.

[iDad]

Cool Deal, yeah I looked it up after I posted the follow up question but thanks for looking it up as well. I will definately have to order me some on payday!

Thanks for the help!

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by big_jaygee

first thing you might want to do is check the seal on the door, alignment might have shifted during the move. second IIRC that humi has a analog hygrometer which are not very accurate, have you calibrated it lately? might want to invest in a digital one.

might want to pull out that bottom shelf and throw some beads in there...way better then the foam trays

HCM BEADS is what i use

Heartfelt Beads and some people use these

hope this helps a little. i know more people with more experience will offer more tips to help you out.

I think Jason hit the nail on the head. The part in red is the first thing I thought of; it just sounds like it's not sealing properly. I also second the part in green.

[CigarNut]

Have you seasoned your humidor recently? A good seasoning fixes a lot of problems. The wood soaks up moisture, expands a bit and then seals much better. Sometimes that's enough to fix everything and sometimes it's not.

I would recommend taking all your cigars out of your humidor and putting them in a Ziploc or Tupperware container -- they will be fine for a few weeks.

Next, thoroughly season your humidor. Use a wet (distilled water) sponge. Let is season for at least two weeks. If you have a good hygrometer you can throw the hygrometer in the humidor and watch the RH. After the seasoning you can check the seal around the lid, in the corners, around any glass or embedded hygrometers and fix them.

Finally, pick up some beads or Boveda packs or whatever you choose and the put the humidification device and your cigars back in the humidor. Let it all sit for a couple of weeks.

The biggest thing you need to learn with cigars is that you need patience. Lots of patience. Nothing happens fast with cigars -- and you don't want it to happen fast (fast changes result in damaged or split wrappers).

So let things happen slowly -- give each step weeks to settle out.

BTW, now you should have a cigar !

[SvilleKid]

Terry, I have two of the "Lucky Seven's" from Thompson. First thing I'd check would be the seal around the plexiglass in the front door. It is probably loose enough to wiggle back and forth, which means it loses humidity around the glass. The analog gauges on mine run 10-13 rh below what the actual humidity is, so I use digital ones. I use a combo of drymist sticks and 65% heartfelt beads to keep mine in line, and could probably get by with less if I took the time to seal around the plexiglass. But since I have mine so I know what is needed, I haven't gone to the trouble of unloading it to seal around the glass. But the Lucky 7's do take more active humidification than ANY desktop type for the same reason chest-type freezers maintain temperatures better than upright freezers. Humidity, like cold air is heavy. When you open a door, that humidified air ALL flows right out of the door. When you open a chest type humidor, the heavier air doesn't all flow out. And, when you open the Lucky 7, and rummage around several or all of the drawers, you humidity for a good period of time. So, with this type of humidor, you just need to expend more effort in adding humidity back into the unit. I do this by having multiple drymist sticks to add humidity, and then the 65% beads to regulate that humidity.

As for 200 cigars..... Yeah, right!!! The claimed capacity is for robusto or smaller RG sticks. I probably maintain 125-150. One of the benefits of the drymist sticks for me is they are the size/shape of cigars, so it's easier to work them into the drawers and not lose as much space as with other forms of humidifiers.

Good luck.

[cmitch]

You can tap an analog hygrometer with your knuckle and it will change 3 to 5%.

[iDad]

First I want to apologize to Big J up there, when I made the post this morning, after being up all night from night shift, I did not realize that he left a comment. So let me address that.

I have made sure multiple times that when I shut the door of the humidor that it is actually closed, with a good seal. But after reading sVille's comment, I will now have to look at the front plexiglass to make sure it isn't "wiggling"

I will definately look into the beds and come payday I will have to invest in something to help this along.

As for CigarNut, brother, I completely understand and agree that nothing happens fast when it comes to cigars. I am also a saltwater tank enthusiast so patience is no problem, haha! Nothing happens right, in either hobby, without a little time . I have also transfered all of my cigars into a ziploc bag and the travel humi that I have as well.

I have also invested in a digital hygrometer. I wasn't trusting the analog one. I am just happy that my wife bought it for me as well so I didn't have to go out and get one.

She seems to be coming around. She broke out one of the Drew Estate Java cigars I had in my humidor, seemed to like it so we will see how that goes.

Guys thanks for all of the comments and suggestions. I am really digging this forum and can see me sticking around quite a while.

[SvilleKid]

Terry.... Good move by your wife, but salt test the digital also, and they are also not guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Do a search on the forum for "salt test" and you will find how to do that! Good luck with the humidor. If you get it "dialed in, it should do you fine!

[iDad]

Yeah I was looking around a little bit this morning before I was getting ready to leave work and I saw some of the calibration threads. I hadn't checked them out yet but I will defianately be doing so tonight.

After of course I go hide and smoke the MX2 I brought with me :P

[dwoodward]

A thin bead of aquarium silicone or something with low fumes would work great around the edges of the plexiglass front, just to be sure it's got a good seal.

On that subject tho, there are tons of threads on how to seal up a humidor.

Shilala had an amazing one last year where he sealed up a leaky humidor to the point it could hold water.

Search around these forums, the threads are everywhere. (I'd look myself if I wasn't out to door to run errands before work in 2 minutes lol)

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by dwoodward

A thin bead of aquarium silicone or something with low fumes would work great around the edges of the plexiglass front, just to be sure it's got a good seal.

The main thing here, Terry, is that when you seal the seams, with even low odor silicon (which seems to be the preferred method), you need to leave the humidor open for several days to let the odor completely dissipate. This means putting your cigars somewhere else for several days while you do this. Might be a good time to re-season the humidifier while you are at it! (after leaving it open for several days to let the silicon odor go away, it will probably need re-seasoning anyway.)

[equetefue]

It might also be a good time to freeze your cigars while they are out