Heartfelt 65% beads coming in at 68-69%

[EricNord]

Hey Everyone,

I bought 1.5 lb of Heartfelt 65% beads for my newair wineador. Both were calibrated separately with calibration kit and both are in sync. The wineador was holding a perfect 65%, then I added Forrest's shelving units. Humidity of course dropped due to dry wood so I also introduced two bowls of distilled water. This brought it up to 70% and I left that for a couple weeks.

Now that I have removed the bowls of distilled, I can't get the humidity to drop back down to the 65% I even removed .5lb of the beads.

Any ideas?

thanks!

 

[thefatguy]

I would reintroduce some drier beads, it sounds like there is too much humidity in the wood. The beads can only draw out so much.
Keep us informed.

Ian

 

[tomthirtysix]

I would reintroduce some drier beads, it sounds like there is too much humidity in the wood. The beads can only draw out so much.
Keep us informed.

Ian

I don't think the beads can draw out any humidity whatsoever. I was thinking about starting a thread about this. I've got ~1/2 lb of bone dry 65% beads that I added to my wine fridge to bring the humidity down. I took the humidified beads out. They've been sitting in there a week, the humidity has not moved, and the beads are all still white.

 

[Joebiech]

It is to my understanding that the beads are supposed to be able to draw and release to maintain humidity. I am not sure if they are able to draw a massive amount of humidity though. Are your beads completely clear showing 100% saturation? If so, I recall that you can dry your beads (heat them?). You can try to remove the moisture and then reintroduce them. Or if your home is a lower rh%, just leave the lid/door open for awhile and see what happens.

 

[Bxcigrfan]

i do believe that they remove humidity but they can only due so much due to surface area and hygroscopicity. i also read somewhere online that you could change the RH level of a bead, so one might say that if you leave the beads in a overly humid enviroment for too long you may be able to change the RH of the bead in a negative form (turn your 68% beads to 75%)
i with joe, open the door and let it "airout" to match your rh to the room to bring it down but that will only work for the air in the box. the wood shelf might have to be removed for a half day or whole day in your homes RH to stabalize it and then introduce it back into the wineador

 

[Setharsis]

I believe the heartfelt beads are set to certain RH%'s by having a certain salt concentration mixed in so unless you wash away the salts, the RH% won't change. And I'm not sure, but I believe the salt increases the level of the RH%, so washing away the salts would decrease the RH%. Can someone confirm?

tomthirtysix: I've done the same before, also to no effect.

 

[Joebiech]

If you have too much water...hit it with a hair dryer.

Thanks for a great post Viper.....the only question I have, is it possible to have too much beads? I would think not because they regulate themselves but just wondering?

Mike

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Nope, with too much beads all that happens is they last much longer before you have to add distilled water or dry them out with a hair dryer.

http://www.cigarpass.com/forumsipb/topic/11600-humidification-beads-faqs/

 

[MadMonk]

I have never successfully had beads absorb ambient humidity. They remained white for a few weeks, and I tossed in the towel because if they don't perform after even a few days, that is enough to know that they are not good for that particular aspect of maintenance. This was a bowl of distilled water, a sock of beads, not thicker than 1 inch, per heartfelt's instructions, sealed in an airtight food container. Only item I have any real faith in is the Boveda Humidipak. No other passive solution that I have ever used comes close to their performance at keeping cigars fully and evenly humidified with rock solid measurements in the humidor.

 

[Flushnutz]

I had the same problem with beads in my Vinotemp. They always game in closer to 70% than 65%. I have a cabinet humidor now with brand new beads and it holds steady at 65%.

 

[broblues]

I have 5 Boveda 65% RH packs in my wine-a-dor and 3 dry 65% Heartfelt tubes. It stays between 65% and 69% consistantly.