if the humidity is to high the beads should be put in mostly white or dry. If you wet most of them it can’t absorb any more moisture
Agreed.
After a few months of them not absorbing anything I wet them and then let them dry for a few weeks in the open air. When they originally went into the humidor they were fresh, white, dry, hard as a rock and not containing any moisture having just arrived. Exactly what I wanted.
But they never absorbed anything being in a 73% closed humidor for a week or two the humidity was always 73% and I was using three TempSticks and one Zikar inside to monitor the humidity. The active humidification never turned on as it's set for 67% and id usually unplugged anyway. There were 4 big "socks" worth of beads. Each sock weighing about 2-3lbs filled with the beads.
It is a cabinet humidor, not a tiny desktop but it's kinda full, not a lot of free space/air inside, about 5'x3.5'x3.5'. I did expect after a while for the beads after having absorbed moisture after two weeks to change in size and feel and be a bit bloated. These looked and felt exactly the same as when I put them in.
Then I soaked them in distilled water for a few days then let them dry out and tried again, no dice. Isn't soaking them what everyone does, charge them up so they humidify? These are humidification beads used instead of that green foam/sponge. They make little humidifiers that have these beads already in there, you're supposed to soak them with distilled water, no?
Obviously where this humidor is located humidity is a constant problem all year round. I'd rather have something inside absorbing @ >70% rather than having to humidity control the entire room.
that being said they have been inside this humidor which is constantly 73% and when removing them after a few months (I travel a lot) the humidity is still 73%.
I have 4 hygrometers all calibrated together in tupperware using Bovada packs.
Maybe I got a bad batch? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.