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Leaky Humidor

J

Juan

New Member
Joined
May 14, 2014
Messages
6
Hello all,
 
I recently bought a Regent Humidor and got it ready for use.  I prepped like I understand your supposed to, wiped it down with distilled water one night filled the humidifier and let it sit for a night, did again the next night and let it sit, then left a damp paper towel inside over night.  It has gotten over 74 but always goes back down to 68.  I looked for a leak and found one on the top drawer.  When the drawer is closed there's crack between the top of the outside of the drawer and the top of the humidor that's maybe 1/16.  So i put a piece of weather stripping on there to try and seal that up.  And its still not keeping its humidity.  Any tips on tracking down the leak or does anyone have any experience with that type of humidor????
 
Thank you!
 
Welcome Juan,
 
People generally do not recommend wiping down or wetting the inside of humidors. Instead, try a damp sponge on a saucer, closed inside for a few days. For your question, it is hard to answer. The "leak" could be a lack of conditioning, quality of the humidor, environmental, etc. FWIW, I like 68% RH in my humidors.
 
Good luck.
 
-Mike
 
2 weeks, minimum with a flat, re: plenty of surface area, open vessel filled with distilled water. Do that first. Make sure humidor is on a very stable surface that won't jostle the water over the edge of vessel, if bumped. Keep humidor closed and resist peeking. See you in 2 weeks.
 
^ What Master Monk said.
 
And while you're waiting the two weeks:
  • Is your hygrometer digital or analog?
  • If the answer is analog, buy a digital one
  • Once you have a digital one in your hands, has it been calibrated?
If those steps aren't completed, it doesn't really matter what your hygro is reading. You have no idea if it's accurate or not. 
 
Return the damn thing while you are able.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys.  I'll try the saucer for two weeks and recalibrate the hygrometer, its an analog by the way.  Is there anyway I can the cigars in there while i do that?  I've got a box of Hemingway's I REALLY don't want to see go to waste.  
 
Juan said:
Thanks for all the advice guys.  I'll try the saucer for two weeks and recalibrate the hygrometer, its an analog by the way.  Is there anyway I can the cigars in there while i do that?  I've got a box of Hemingway's I REALLY don't want to see go to waste.  
Click to expand...
I think you are lacking a verb.
 
I am assuming you need a way to keep the cigars for the time being. An airtight Tupperware or a ziploc bag with a boveda pack will work nicely.
 
Juan said:
Thanks for all the advice guys.  I'll try the saucer for two weeks and recalibrate the hygrometer, its an analog by the way.  Is there anyway I can the cigars in there while i do that?  I've got a box of Hemingway's I REALLY don't want to see go to waste.  
Click to expand...
 
 
tomthirtysix said:
And while you're waiting the two weeks:
  • Is your hygrometer digital or analog?
  • If the answer is analog, buy a digital one
  • Once you have a digital one in your hands, has it been calibrated?
If those steps aren't completed, it doesn't really matter what your hygro is reading. You have no idea if it's accurate or not. 
Click to expand...
 
So here's the latest.  It looks like the weather stripping did the trick. I put it on the top of the front of every drawer and over the last couple of days she had leveled off at 66. So I decided to give one last shot to wiping her down and leaving a damp towel in there over night before doing the two week plan.  Meanwhile the Hemingway's are hanging out in a ziplock bag.  I'll let you guys know what happens.  
 
Juan said:
So here's the latest.  It looks like the weather stripping did the trick. I put it on the top of the front of every drawer and over the last couple of days she had leveled off at 66. So I decided to give one last shot to wiping her down and leaving a damp towel in there over night before doing the two week plan.  Meanwhile the Hemingway's are hanging out in a ziplock bag.  I'll let you guys know what happens.  
Click to expand...
 
You're not going to listen to one single piece of advice given in this thread, are you?
 
I'm stubborn.  And all I managed to do is turn it in a very slow leak.  Had it up to 71 on Sunday, now four days later its down to 69. So saucer and resetting the hygrometer until I can buy a digital one it is. I had my hopes up there for a sec that it worked but oh well.
 
This process Thales time. There are no cutting corners. Trust us we have tried it all. You have received some great advice. Be patient and follow it and results will follow. Then enjoy smoking your properly humidified smokes.
 
So here's the latest.  It looks like the weather stripping did the trick. I put it on the top of the front of every drawer and over the last couple of days she had leveled off at 66. So I decided to give one last shot to wiping her down and leaving a damp towel in there over night before doing the two week plan.  Meanwhile the Hemingway's are hanging out in a ziplock bag.  I'll let you guys know what happens.
Click to expand...
A couple thoughts:
1 - In regard to the underlined and bolded text above, I would say mission accomplished. If it has, in fact, leveled off at 66 your good to go. My humidor never gets above 65 unless the ambient humidity is high and even then its only temporary. If it has leveled off at 66 I say throw your sticks in there, give them time to acclimate to that humidity level then try them and see what you think. I'm not the only one who thinks 66 is on the high side of ideal.
2 - Once you get some sticks in there it will help regulate humidity levels.
Good luck, A 2% swing either way of 66 will have little impact on your cigars.
 
Thanks for the reply Mik! I finally took tomthirtysix advice and got a digital hygrometer today and its reading 76.  So how do I bring down the humidity in there?  I would take out the humidifiers but the beads in there are dry.  I read somewhere that putting in a dry paper towel would help.  Any thoughts on that or any other thoughts?
Thank you
 
You should say test/calibrate your digital hygrometer (as Tom recommends in step 3) before deciding your humidor is over humidified. I have one that is 4% higher than true and another that is spot on so they can vary a lot.
 
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