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How long for humidity to stabilize after seasoning?

F

Flushnutz

New Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2008
Messages
254
Location
Newport, RI.
So i finished seasoning my humidor last Friday, after about 7 days and it holding steady at 70% RH for 3 days. I removed the distilled water and placed the humidifier in it. I left it closed from Friday until tuesday while in Las Vegas for along weekend. When I got back it was sitting at 63% RH. I was using ICE crystal gel humidifier (70%) that is supposed to be good for up to 150 sticks. I thought that it might be having trouble keeping the RH up in an empty Humidor so I filled it with like 3O cigars. The next day It is still sitting at 63%. So I purchased a dryMistat Crystal at a local shop and added it yesterday. Today it is up to 65%, but I would really like to get it closer to 68-70%. Any suggestions? Do I just need to let it sit longer?

FYI I am using a glass top Milano from Cheaphumidors.com. I know from another post that some have had trouble with glass tops holding RH, but a fried also purchased the same humi at the same time and his is holding right at 70% without issue.

Thanks

Dennis
 
Flushnutz said:
So i finished seasoning my humidor last Friday, after about 7 days and it holding steady at 70% RH for 3 days. I removed the distilled water and placed the humidifier in it over from Friday until tuesday while in Las Vegas for along weekend. When I got back it was sitting at 63% RH. I was using ICE crystal gel humidifier that is supposed to be good for up to 150 sticks. I thought that it might be having trouble keeping the RH up in an empty Humidor so I filled it with like 3O cigars. The next day It is still sitting at 63%. So I purchased a dryMistat Crystal at a local shop and added it yesterday. Today it is up to 65%, but I would really like to get it closer to 68-70%. Any suggestions? Do I just need to let it sit longer?

FYI I am using a glass top Milano from Cheaphumidors.com. I know from another post that some have had trouble with glass tops holding RH, but a fried also purchased the same humi at the same time and his is holding right at 70% without issue.

Thanks

Dennis
Click to expand...

1) Do you have cigars in there? If yes...then they may have sucked up some extra moisture...if no see 2)

2) Did you season it properly...all the sides had enough to soak up? if yes ...see 3)

3) Are there any leaks in the humidor seal?
 
I'd say you need to give it a good seasoning for 10 to 14days, and then slowly start to load it. Sounds like your rushing it.
 
1) Do you have cigars in there? If yes...then they may have sucked up some extra moisture...if no see 2)

Yes, but it dropped to 63 after removing the seasoing water and placing the Crystal gel in there with no sticks in it. It has remained at 63-65 after placing the sticks in there.

2) Did you season it properly...all the sides had enough to soak up? if yes ...see 3)

I believe so. I let is season for a week and it was holding at 70% for 3 days. I then removed with distilled watter and placed the gel in there without sticks for 4 days.

3) Are there any leaks in the humidor seal?


I don't think so, but how can I tell?
 
If it's holding steady at all..then there's probably not a leak.


Put eh Gel, cigars and water back in for a couple days.

ALSO...re-test your hygrometer.
 
gt3911 said:
I'd say you need to give it a good seasoning for 10 to 14days, and then slowly start to load it. Sounds like your rushing it.
Click to expand...

That fact that it was holding at 70% RH for 3 days doesn't meant that it was ready? If not can I just pull out the sticks and place the distilled water back in there for 4-5 days and ti will be good? It was first holding at 63% for a couple days but after adding the extra gel stick it is now at 65%. Given that it is holding at an acceptable level can I just let it be and it will eventually reach a higher RH, if in fact it hadn't finished seasoning?

Thanks

Dennis


grateful1 said:
If it's holding steady at all..then there's probably not a leak.


Put eh Gel, cigars and water back in for a couple days.

ALSO...re-test your hygrometer.
Click to expand...

So I can just add a shot glass of Distilled water with the cigars in there to finish the process. I know it isn't the hygometer, because I have a digital and an analog, both calibrated and they are reading the same.

Thanks
 
It sounds like your not far off at all. The key is to be patient.

I'm guessing the gel you have is supposed to keep 70%RH? alot of people actually prefer to keep the humis lower that that, I think 65% is quite popular.

Depending on the condition of your sticks at the moment, you could start loading up a few every day. If you chuck in all your cigars its quite likely the humidity will drop for a while anyway. You just need to keep an eye on her, it sounds like your pretty much there really. I've never used gel before though.
 
gt3911 said:
It sounds like your not far off at all. The key is to be patient.

I'm guessing the gel you have is supposed to keep 70%RH? alot of people actually prefer to keep the humis lower that that, I think 65% is quite popular.

Depending on the condition of your sticks at the moment, you could start loading up a few every day. If you chuck in all your cigars its quite likely the humidity will drop for a while anyway. You just need to keep an eye on her, it sounds like your pretty much there really. I've never used gel before though.
Click to expand...

Yes the gel is supposed to keep at 70%. I did throw all my sticks in there at once (about 30), but the RH didn't drop any from when it was empty. LIke I said it is holding at 65 now, but I would like to get it up to 68 or so. Maybe I will just give it a little more time.

Dennis
 
Flushnutz said:
3) Are there any leaks in the humidor seal?


I don't think so, but how can I tell?
Click to expand...
Do the dollar bill test. Close the door on the dollar note in different places, it should be very hard to pull out.

From what you have said above, sounds like you have done it right and it's good to go. If you have 65% holding, that's excellent. You will get a variance of a few degrees.
Move your hygrometer to a different corner and the reading may change, don't worry about it, put your smokes in and start thinking of your next storage project. :D

Brian
 
Infinity said:
Flushnutz said:
3) Are there any leaks in the humidor seal?


I don't think so, but how can I tell?
Click to expand...
Do the dollar bill test. Close the door on the dollar note in different places, it should be very hard to pull out.

From what you have said above, sounds like you have done it right and it's good to go. If you have 65% holding, that's excellent. You will get a variance of a few degrees.
Move your hygrometer to a different corner and the reading may change, don't worry about it, put your smokes in and start thinking of your next storage project. :D

Brian
Click to expand...

Thanks
 
You can always dampen the cedar with a clean towel and distilled water.

I have had cigar makers, with much more know how then I, tell me to do this as often as every six weeks.

You do not want to soak the wood, only a light damping.
 
I'm the friend with the same humidor and I have noticed that this humi will drop as much as 10 degrees just having the humi open for a few minutes. Considering that the ambient humidity is very low this time of year in Ohio and the fact that the humi holds somewhere between 60 and 70 I'm pretty confident that my cigars are safe in there.

The one thing that I do is add distilled water to the gel cups. I think it helps keep the humidity level consistent.
 
theroberthogan said:
I'm the friend with the same humidor and I have noticed that this humi will drop as much as 10 degrees just having the humi open for a few minutes. Considering that the ambient humidity is very low this time of year in Ohio and the fact that the humi holds somewhere between 60 and 70 I'm pretty confident that my cigars are safe in there.

The one thing that I do is add distilled water to the gel cups. I think it helps keep the humidity level consistent.
Click to expand...

Yeah I have noticed that too. I open for a few seconds to get a stick and it will drop 3 or 4%.
 
When I first began, I had the same setup. Glass top 150 with gel humidifier. I found the gels performance to be less than stellar. Maybe it would work well for a 20-50 count, but just couldn't keep up. I switched to Heartfelt beads and have been using them ever since. The glass top never did have a great seal, but the beads were better in all applications. I recommend 65% beads. I use them now in my wine cooler.
 
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