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Help, Mold!

E

EricNord

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2001
Messages
59
Was going through my 4 drawer wineador today and came across the picture below. It is worse in my Cuban drawer which is two from the bottom, but there is some in the drawer above and below it now as well. None in the top drawer or the shelves at the top.
 
I keep my Humidor at 65-68% humidity and 68-72degrees. I have a PC fan at the bottom that comes on a few times a day to keep things circulating.
 
Two questions:
1. what do I do to get this mold in check? Do I throw out all the sticks that have a sign of mold, or do I rub it off and freeze them? anything else?
2. why did this happen and how can I keep it from happening again?
 
Thanks!
 
mold.jpg
 
An RH above 70% oxygen and something to grow on. Once the spores are in your humidor they will continue to spread unless you clean it out. I have never attempted to clean a cigar that had mold. Maybe someone else has better information regarding that.
 
The onew with mold on/near the foot, toss. Chances are the mold has crept inside the cigar, and there's no cleaning that off. If there's just a little bit of mold up near the head, you could just wipe it off. However, judging by those pics, that's a mess.
 
I would test your hygrometer(s) to make sure the RH is in the range you are saying.  I'm guessing it is not.  Mold needs an environment to grow in, and part of that is a higher humidity without proper circulation.
 
My guess, based just on looking at the pics and your description, is that your RH is high and circulation isn't effective.  The humidity seems to be settling at the bottom, so your fans aren't doing the job to move it around.
 
I would pull everything out and put in a cooler while you clean the wineador.  Once it's clean and dry, start it up again, and let the RH settle before reintroducing cigars.  However, don't put moldy cigars back in...that's just adding gas to the flame.
 
Mild mold....brush it off and see if it stays off.  I've dusted a few cigars off from time to time and they've recovered fine.  I've also dusted a few off, smoked them, and they were fine as well.  The question will be how deep is the mold.  If it's surface only, it may be ok.  If it's in the foot and deeper....well....they may be gone.
 
Thanks all, I'm using beads for humidification. I have a batch at the top and one at bottom. I have two hygrometers and bought the calibration pack for each. They calibrated fine when I purchased and are both still in sync. I can try it again though to be sure.
 
Most of the mold is just on the surface. Here's my plan for now:
1. Put all cigars in a cooler w/ the beads
2. Cigars that have mold; if mold is in foot, throw away, if mold is just on surface dust off
3. All cigars that had mold I dusted off will be kept in zip-lock when re-introduced
4. Clean out wineador, with solution I learned about in other threads, let it dry, start it up again and re-season. Once stable re-introduce cigars.
 
Sounds like a plan?
 
Thanks!
 
I wouldn't worry about a cooler and beads.  I'd get them all out and 'dry box' them all.  Now.
 
The guys are right - cigars with mold on the foot are goners.  The rest, you can try a clean cotton cloth and a little distilled water.  Wipe the mold off, let the sticks dry out in the ambient environment.  Around here, the temps have been about 65 and the RH about 62%...which is about perfect for cigars.  Leaving them out for a few days seems prudent.
 
It's pretty obvious that your humidor and probably beads are way, way too wet.  Short term, I'd open up the humidor and let it and the beads start drying out.  Next, get your hygrometer salt tested so you know that your measuring device isn't lying to you.  Once you get that all squared away, you can start thinking about what to do with the humidor....
 
What RH percentage beads are you using? Are they over saturated?
 
Blinded by Science, thanks!
 
broblues - Heartfelt 65% beads
They may be oversaturated. I was having a hard time keep it at 65% for a while so I was adding distilled. I'd say maybe a 1/10th of the beads are a yellow color, the rest are white.
 
Thanks!
 
I have a newb question. In the picture the cigar in the upper left corner that has a band with 752 (best my eyes can tell) the foot is flared out like a trumpet. Is is a sign of being over-humidified? If so then it is another sign that you have too much humidity.
 
The 'trumpet' shaped foot usually implies that the sticks have been horribly over humidified.  Blue hair is another sign that things are too wet..... 
 
Ericnord
First my condolences......once you stabilize everything please post the final outcome and which solution worked for our benefit.
I am starting a wineador ( vs. cabinet humdors I have previously have ) and want to use beads as my primary humidification.
I have concerns regarding air circulation, condensation, and stable humidity which your unfortunate situation may help me answer.
Although I have stored smokes for years, I have little experience with beads. I assume that if you over saturate them, there is nothing in he humidor itself to absorb the excess moisture...am I correct?
Best of luck mate
 
Something you may want to check - the drain hole along the back wall at the bottom as well as well as the back wall itself. If anything is leaning against the wall, the water dripping down from the fan to the drain hole may end up diverted and pooling somewhere / soaking into your drawers. Or, if anything is on top of the hole, it may be getting soaked as well. Despite your attempts to keep the humidity at 65%, if something is getting soaked, it will skyrocket.
 
How do you know if your beads are over-saturated?
 
Thanks for posting this Eric, and I am sorry for your trouble. But your pain maybe help someone else.
 
Tomthirtysix,
 
I think you hit my issue. As was pointed out, one of the cigars was flared and there was a little water at the bottom and back of the winedor.
 
That cigar that flared had a direct water hit.
 
I plugged the drain hole per the guidance on puff.com since the drain hole allows outside air to come in. You are saying that water comes down from the fan?
 
I'll need to track down the source of the water before I set it all back up. I ended up throwing away 15 or so of a couple hundred, so not the worst learning experiment I've had.
 
Thanks all!
 
This could just be my own experience, but this is how I've gotten good results using a wine-o-dor.  I'm using about 1.5 to 2 lbs of 70% beads.  I only lightly spritz them with distilled water, I'd say less half of each pouch is wet when I'm done spraying.  Then I sit them out on a paper towel for a good 15 minutes, and shake loose any excess water.  Make sure they are only damp, and not "wet" and especially not dripping when you put them back in.  Also, I used to use some small glad fans, but found, for whatever reason, things stay better, and taste, and smoke better, without them.  The Wine-o-dor I have, doesn't have any drain holes.  I usually only have to re-wet the beads, every few months.  
 
I have no idea why this works so well for me, because on paper, I should be doing more!  But they smoke great, and never any mold, or beetles, so I'm not gonna mess with it.  Good luck.
 
Eric
Please post the results once you trace where water is being retained. I have read the "plug drain hole" suggestions , but questioned how much impact covering a small hole would have on units ability to retain humidity. Seems the effect would be minimal IMO.
Good luck
 
Quick question, is your wineador a compressor or thermoelectric variation? In my humid environment I couldn't get the compressor type to regulate the RH to my liking. Those got sold off! 
 
Thanks all!
 
4cbln3 - I have the NewAir 280, it has been working like a champ!
 
Thanks
 
It is a thermoelectric, a beautiful one too! 
 
Since I read that you have a PC fan on, maybe opening the drain hole would allow excess humid air to escape. The beads can only absorb so much and it heads for the cigars as an alternative. When I did run my wineadors, the winter season here in the islands was easier to manage because the ambient temps outside the humi were close to the inside. Not so much water for the beads to absorb. Just my .02
 
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