Humi-Care EH Plus Humidifier Purchased

[Ralph]

The Cigar Oasis Plus in my Aristocrat mini finally crapped out after 20+ years. It had been getting a little noisy over the last year and every few months I would give the fan a shot of compressed air and revive it for a while. It was the original humidification that came with the Mini all those years ago, so I definitely got my money's worth out of it.

After reading what seemed like a million reviews on cigar forums and retail sites for Cigar Oasis Plus 3.0 the Humi-Care EH Plus, and the La Veil iCigar, I am convinced that price had nothing to do with quality for these things. They all had nearly identical features, weaknesses, failure rates and lifespans. The only outlier was price. The Humi-Care EH Plus was about half the price of the new Cigar Oasis Plus ($175) and about $15 cheaper than the La Veil ($100), so I picked up the Humi-Care on Cigarbid. Will report back after it's set up and running.

 

[CBoukal]

Pretty sure the Cigar Oasis plus can do 300-1000 cigars and the Humi-Care is rated at 200-300 Cigars. I'd say thats a decent difference.

 

[Ralph]

Pretty sure the Cigar Oasis plus can do 300-1000 cigars and the Humi-Care is rated at 200-300 Cigars. I'd say thats a decent difference.

Cigar Oasis says it "Supports internal humidor volume of 4 to 10 cubic ft." Humi-Care says "up to 8 cubic ft." Both units have the exact same dimensions ands their reservoirs look as though there should be some sort of patent infringement.

FYI, my Aristocrat Mini is a little over 2.5 cubic feet.

 

[CBoukal]

Sounds like you need a large boveda bag..

 

[Ralph]

Sounds like you need a large boveda bag..

Based on the Boveda calculator for a humidor of my dimensions I'd need (23) 60s which equates to 4-5 320s, and they last four-six months?

 

[CBoukal]

Based on the Boveda calculator for a humidor of my dimensions I'd need (23) 60s which equates to 4-5 320s, and they last four-six months?

I guess i can't get my head around how big your humidor is. Online it said 2.5 cubic feet is about 18" x 16" x 12" which is about the size of my wife's 8 bottle wineador. Two 320's keep's that thing rock solid for a year.

 

[Ralph]

I guess i can't get my head around how big your humidor is. Online it said 2.5 cubic feet is about 18" x 16" x 12" which is about the size of my wife's 8 bottle wineador. Two 320's keep's that thing rock solid for a year.

16"W x 20"H x 14"

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Input: dimensions in inches.

W/12 * L/12 * D/12 = Cu. Ft.

So (as a example) 18" x 16" x 12" would be (18/12) * (16/12) * (12/12) = 1.5 * 1.333 * 1 = 1.9995 cu. ft.

@Ralph - approx 2.6 cu. ft. for yours.\


This is something that interests me... as all of you have made me increase my cigar collection!
LOL

 

[Ralph]

The unit arrived Monday and I loaded it up with water and saw the readout reading in the high 30s. I had salt tested my hygrometers over the weekend and when I got the fan to shut off when the hygrometer read 68% the digital readout on the Humi-Care read 58%. I adjusted the readout knob as high as it would go and it was still off by 6%. After about 36 hours and the readout was very close to the hygrometer, close enough to dial it to match the hygrometer. I still don’t trust it though because if you open the door the readout drops immediately even though the hygrometer is solid.

As you can see by the pics below, the Humi-Care is identical in size to my old cigar oasis. It uses floral foam in the cartridge and the Oasis uses a wick system which served me well for 20+ years. Digital readout didn’t photograph well but it reads humidity to the tenth. I like that the fan blows to the side as well as straight up, the Oasis fan only blew up. The fan is whisper-quiet and I often had to put it up to my ear to hear if it was on or not. I bought an auxiliary fan on Amazon for $8 when I was Christmas shopping today so I’ll wire that up this weekend for better circulation. So far so good!

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I have a digital hygrometer in one box that erroneously reads reads eight points higher when compared to three properly calibrated hygrometers, so I guess it's possible.

My little round blue Humicare hygrometers will immediately drop when I open the box, and then go back to normal after a while with the lid closed.

Placement maybe ?

 

[Ralph]

I have a digital hygrometer in one box that erroneously reads reads eight points higher when compared to three properly calibrated hygrometers, so I guess it's possible.

My little round blue Humicare hygrometers will immediately drop when I open the box, and then go back to normal after a while with the lid closed.

Placement maybe ?

Maybe it’s just sensitive. My go-to hygrometer connects to my Ambient Weather outdoor weather station. I salt tested it a few years ago when I got it, and again last week and it was spot-on both times. In my experience, the salt test doesn’t guarantee accuracy either. I had another hygrometer read 75% in a salt test, but when placed next to the Ambient in the same humidor, they read 68% and 63%. When the Ambient reads 68% that’s where my smokes are most enjoyable. That’s what I aim for.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Maybe it’s just sensitive. My go-to hygrometer connects to my Ambient Weather outdoor weather station. I salt tested it a few years ago when I got it, and again last week and it was spot-on both times. In my experience, the salt test doesn’t guarantee accuracy either. I had another hygrometer read 75% in a salt test, but when placed next to the Ambient in the same humidor, they read 68% and 63%. When the Ambient reads 68% that’s where my smokes are most enjoyable. That’s what I aim for.

I know what you mean. It'll drive ya nuts.

 

[Ralph]

It’s been about 3 months and the unit has kept the humidity right where I want it. I have a sensor hooked to an app and today I noticed that it had jumped two degrees which was odd. When I checked it I found that the foam was full of mold. I only filled it twice since December and each time I spiked the distilled water with a shot of 100 proof vodka, something I did with the cigar oasis (no foam) for 20 years. I purchased gel beads a few months ago and planned on replacing the foam at some point. This certainly accelerated that.