Coolerdor Bead Problem

I have a 50 qt cooler that I'm trying into a coolerdor. I've purchased 1lb of 65% Heartfelt beads in 2 of the mesh bags. The cooler is about 1/2 full of smokes in about 3-4 old cigar boxes. I've been keeping it in the basement but I can't seem to get it to maintain humidity. The humidity in the room is about 75-78% and the lowest I can get it inside the cooler is about 71%. I've tried drying out the beads to get them to soak up some moisture. I've also brought the cooler upstairs for a few days where the outside humidity is about 63% and the cooler stays at a nice 64-65%. I'm measuring witha brand new calibrated hygrometer. What do you think the problem is? Could I have a leaky cooler and the beads just can't keep up with the leak? Any ideas on how to fix this? Should I get a new cooler, seal the one I have or just move it?

A few questions
1. How long are you letting it set at each location when you move it to check the humidity?
2. Is there an obvious reason why you think you might need a new cooler, is there a crack, have you put a light in the cooler and checked for gaps?
3. While its downstairs, have you tried just placing a extra dish of dry beads in the cooler to lower the humidity?
4. What kind of hydro, and how did you calibrate it?

These are just a few of the things that I would look into first. I AM A NOOB, so please wait for the others to chime in as well, you will get sound advice from the more experienced members.

Thanks
Tim

MX said:

A few questions
1. How long are you letting it set at each location when you move it to check the humidity?
2. Is there an obvious reason why you think you might need a new cooler, is there a crack, have you put a light in the cooler and checked for gaps?
3. While its downstairs, have you tried just placing a extra dish of dry beads in the cooler to lower the humidity?
4. What kind of hydro, and how did you calibrate it?

These are just a few of the things that I would look into first. I AM A NOOB, so please wait for the others to chime in as well, you will get sound advice from the more experienced members.

Thanks
Tim

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1. 3-4 days
2. I don't see anything. The id closes firmly and when I put a light in there I don't see anything. I was going to try filling it up with water and seeing if it leaked anywhere.
3. I only have 1lb so I don't have any more to try.
4. I'm using this hygro and calibration kit. I also have another hygro for my little humidor and the readings are the same.

I wouldn't bother filling it up with water..... if you placed a strong flashlight inside in a completely dark place..... you know, dark enough that you have to stick your arms out to feel for things because you can't see anything :laugh: ...... and you didn't see any light I would believe the cooler is OK. The key words here are "strong flashligh" and completely "dark room".

If the beads are not keeping you at 65% than they have absorbed all the moisture they can hold. Since your basement is at a higher humidity level...everytime you open your cooler you are introducing humidity for the beads to absorb. Once they reach capacity they absorb no more.

I advise anyone when trying to regulate the humidity only change one thing at a time and see what happens. Some times there are multiple problems creating the situation and you can only discover this by addressing one area at a time. Since you have a hygro calibration kit we will assume the hygro is not your problem.

I know you said you tried drying out the beads.... don't know if that means placing them under a hair dryer or just leaving them out...... I would place them in the over on the lowest setting you have for 10-15 minutes being careful with the mesh bag. (maybe suspend it from one of the oven racks) Since you have too much humidity you want the beads to absorb and they will work better for your situation if completely dried IMO.

The only other thing I can add is that you aren't placing your hygrometer right next to the beads. This will give a higher Rh reading because the sensor will be so close to the humidity source. I try to put my hygrometer in a more neutral position in the humidor (or cooler in your case).

That being said, it still sounds like the beads are too hydrated, especially if you're outside reading is in the upper 70%, and the inside coolidor is in the lower 70%. Have you tried removing the beads altogether while the cooler is in the basement to see what the natural humidity reading will be inside the cooler?

If I'm not mistaken but isn't 1lb of beads a little much for a 50qt as well? Try putting only 1/2lb of 50/50 dry/wet beads in there and see after a day.

KeyserSoze said:

If I'm not mistaken but isn't 1lb of beads a little much for a 50qt as well? Try putting only 1/2lb of 50/50 dry/wet beads in there and see after a day.

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I'm not sure there is such a thing as too many beads. I have about double what is recommended in my coolador and I have had no problems.

Because his problem is high humidity I think he would be better off putting completely dry beads in rather than a dry/wet mix.

KeyserSoze said:

If I'm not mistaken but isn't 1lb of beads a little much for a 50qt as well? Try putting only 1/2lb of 50/50 dry/wet beads in there and see after a day.

Click to expand...

From what I understand there's no such thing as "too many" beads. More beads will maintain humidity, better, longer. Use of more beads than "required" won't degrade their performance....quite the opposite. And, in a situation where the beads are required to "soak up" humidity, this may be the way to go.

I'll echo what the others have said; dry the beads out very well and try again. Also, have you salt tested your hygrometer....?? I have found the little hygrometers very accurate with respect to relative changes, but often times they are half a dozen points off in absolute measurement. When working on getting your humidity to regulate, a couple of days of unopened time is required to really show you what's going on.

Last but not least.....don't stress out over a couple of points either way like I did when I was getting started. Cigars are good buffers of humidity; I like to run my coolers around 65% for storage, and my desktop around 62% for smoking. In the real world that means 62-68% for the coolers, and 59-65% for the desktop. The beads usually keep my coolers rock solid at 65% but if they start going down and they get to 62%, I know it's time for the distilled water. Expect things to go up and down a couple of points, day to day.

Good Luck - B.B.S.

Thanks for all the replies. I chose to get more beads for just this reason that I knew I was going to need them to absorb and wanted them to be able to recover quickly. I have the bead split in half at each end of the cooler and the hygro in the center. I've tried drying both mash sacks with a hair dryer until they were just about all white. If they are white, that means that they have capacity to absorm humidity, right?

I'll try to dry them out some more, do another light test and if I don't have any results, just move the cooler.

Try putting a few more empty boxes in there to absorb any extra %.

I'd be afraid to over humidify the smokes and have the wrappers start to split. Check the foot end of the smokes, if the cut end is protruding slightly out from the cut or it the end is starting to expand slightly, get the smokes somewhere dry before you lose them all.

BTW as suggested by someone else, putting empty boxes in a coolerdor is a great idea. Until you fill the cooler, you need mass that will retain moisture.

BlindedByScience said:

KeyserSoze said:

If I'm not mistaken but isn't 1lb of beads a little much for a 50qt as well? Try putting only 1/2lb of 50/50 dry/wet beads in there and see after a day.

Click to expand...

From what I understand there's no such thing as "too many" beads. More beads will maintain humidity, better, longer. Use of more beads than "required" won't degrade their performance....quite the opposite. And, in a situation where the beads are required to "soak up" humidity, this may be the way to go.

I'll echo what the others have said; dry the beads out very well and try again. Also, have you salt tested your hygrometer....?? I have found the little hygrometers very accurate with respect to relative changes, but often times they are half a dozen points off in absolute measurement. When working on getting your humidity to regulate, a couple of days of unopened time is required to really show you what's going on.

Last but not least.....don't stress out over a couple of points either way like I did when I was getting started. Cigars are good buffers of humidity; I like to run my coolers around 65% for storage, and my desktop around 62% for smoking. In the real world that means 62-68% for the coolers, and 59-65% for the desktop. The beads usually keep my coolers rock solid at 65% but if they start going down and they get to 62%, I know it's time for the distilled water. Expect things to go up and down a couple of points, day to day.

Good Luck - B.B.S.

Click to expand...

You are correct, there is no such thing as too many beads. The additional beads will not effect the rh level that is maintianed in the humidor. The extra beads will give you more moisture storage for longer period of time between hydrations and it helps the humidor recover quicker after the lid is opened.

Cira said:

I have a 50 qt cooler that I'm trying into a coolerdor. I've purchased 1lb of 65% Heartfelt beads in 2 of the mesh bags. The cooler is about 1/2 full of smokes in about 3-4 old cigar boxes. I've been keeping it in the basement but I can't seem to get it to maintain humidity. The humidity in the room is about 75-78% and the lowest I can get it inside the cooler is about 71%. I've tried drying out the beads to get them to soak up some moisture. I've also brought the cooler upstairs for a few days where the outside humidity is about 63% and the cooler stays at a nice 64-65%. I'm measuring witha brand new calibrated hygrometer. What do you think the problem is? Could I have a leaky cooler and the beads just can't keep up with the leak? Any ideas on how to fix this? Should I get a new cooler, seal the one I have or just move it?

Click to expand...

It really sounds like the cooler does not have a great seal and the moisture that is in the basement is getting into the cooler. Try adding a little weather stip to the lid of the cooler and see if this improves the seal.

I am about to run this same set up, but with a 54qt cooler, I am going to be using a pound of beads from viper as well. I only have 2 boxes right now, but I will be keeping my ammo can humi and the humi that was gifted to me from Brewmiester in there as well. My plan is to divide the beads in half and only wet on half of them. I will keep you guys updated if anything goes crazy.

Sorry if this a thread jack, but i thought that another source of input and data might be helpful

Tim

viper139 said:

It really sounds like the cooler does not have a great seal and the moisture that is in the basement is getting into the cooler. Try adding a little weather stip to the lid of the cooler and see if this improves the seal.

Click to expand...

I will be posting pics of my new coolidor soon. I had some leakage probs and this is what I did with it.

I found some weatherstripping at Home Depot and I also substituted the cooler latch with a draw tight sash lock. See pics below. These two changes made a huge diff in my cooler.

Linky 1

Linky 2

I'll try to have the full post out there later this week.

Hope this helps.

I wanted to add that if you have a lot of open space inside the cooler (as I did when I started up my first cooler), bubble wrap makes a great way to fill space in a humidity inert way. When my first cooler started, I had about half of it filled with bubble wrap and it worked great.

Good Luck, gents - B.B.S.

Just a quick update on this. I tried the weatherstripping, drying the beads and some empty boxes in my first cooler and I still couldn't get it to drop below about 72% in a 75% room. I tossed that cooler and bought a new one and same deal, couldn't get the beads to suck the humidity out. So I went cursing down to Target and bought the Vinotemp wine cooler. I cleaned it out and put my beads and empty boxes in there and in just 8 hours the humidity is sitting at 65% and 62 degrees. It's been rock solid for about 24 hours now. I'll give it another day and start filling this sucker up! I'm going to assume that both of the coolers I got were just leaky.

Thanks Heartfelt for your great product, I'm sorry I ever doubted your beads!