Humidification Beads: FAQs

[amateuraficionado]

Is anyone else spraying their beads every week? Mine will not stay charged for very long and I am using extra beads.

Joe

Bad seal? What do you have for a humi?

I have a Ravallo 300 ct. It has a very good seal and the temperature never get below 62 degrees in the room that I keep it in. When I was using Boveda packs last year, I never had a problem with a RH swing and they are very low maintenance.

Is this your first winter with this humi Joe? If so, it could require a "spring" reseasoning.

Yes it was DeVonn. I have had a shot glass with distilled water in the humi for the last month. No luck....

I know a lot of guys here swear by it but the "shot glass in the humi" has never worked for me. The owner of my local B&M was trying to explain it to me one time. The way he was explaining it didn't make much sense but I knew what he was trying to say. It seems to be some kind of phenomenon where the water needs to actually be in some type of a medium, i.e. a sponge, beads, super absorbent polymer etc., in order to transfer most effectively. I tried the shot glass/dish of water when I first seasoned my humi. After about a week the rH moved one or two points. In my impatience I decided to speed things up. I soaked a clean washcloth in distilled water and wiped down the entire interior. I left it for 24 hours and repeated. The humidity held steady around 69%-70% rH(I didn't know any better back then) for about three days iirc, and then I introduced all of my cigars. I didn't get any warping of the wood you hear many caution about.

I don't know if it's really so, or maybe I'm just more attentive to it than I've ever been, but it seems like this winter was particularly dry here in the northeast. I had to reseason my humi a couple of months ago and everything's been fine since then. I'd recommend just moving your sticks to a tupperware container, reseasoning your humi the same as when you first got it, and you should be good to go.

 

[vinnyvega]

Is anyone else spraying their beads every week? Mine will not stay charged for very long and I am using extra beads.

Joe

Bad seal? What do you have for a humi?

I have a Ravallo 300 ct. It has a very good seal and the temperature never get below 62 degrees in the room that I keep it in. When I was using Boveda packs last year, I never had a problem with a RH swing and they are very low maintenance.

Is this your first winter with this humi Joe? If so, it could require a "spring" reseasoning.

Yes it was DeVonn. I have had a shot glass with distilled water in the humi for the last month. No luck....

I know a lot of guys here swear by it but the "shot glass in the humi" has never worked for me. The owner of my local B&M was trying to explain it to me one time. The way he was explaining it didn't make much sense but I knew what he was trying to say. It seems to be some kind of phenomenon where the water needs to actually be in some type of a medium, i.e. a sponge, beads, super absorbent polymer etc., in order to transfer most effectively. I tried the shot glass/dish of water when I first seasoned my humi. After about a week the rH moved one or two points. In my impatience I decided to speed things up. I soaked a clean washcloth in distilled water and wiped down the entire interior. I left it for 24 hours and repeated. The humidity held steady around 69%-70% rH(I didn't know any better back then) for about three days iirc, and then I introduced all of my cigars. I didn't get any warping of the wood you hear many caution about.

I don't know if it's really so, or maybe I'm just more attentive to it than I've ever been, but it seems like this winter was particularly dry here in the northeast. I had to reseason my humi a couple of months ago and everything's been fine since then. I'd recommend just moving your sticks to a tupperware container, reseasoning your humi the same as when you first got it, and you should be good to go.

Thanks DeVonn!! I'll give it a shot.

 

[modo22]

I searched "store beads" did not find much. If I was to buy a pound or two, how can I store unused beads until I have the vino situation figured out? Or can I is the question.

 

[Friggame]

I searched "store beads" did not find much. If I was to buy a pound or two, how can I store unused beads until I have the vino situation figured out? Or can I is the question.

The beads do not go bad per sayas far as i know... just keep them in a ziplock bag until you are ready to set them up... I just buy some cheap pantyhose to put them into when i put them into my humidor i do not bother with fancy tubes and such. and for my Vinotemp wich is a 21 bottle one i used a pound and a half of beads have no problem with humidity in there

 

[klipsch]

My EdgeStar cooler is still in mid set-up phase waiting for the trays and shelves. But as it stands right now, with the 3 humi's residing inside and 10oz of exposed 65% beads to the open air in the cooler, The RH is sitting at 68%.

 

[jca998]

Have about 3/4 of a pound in my cabinet humidor. At first it wouldn't hold humidity as levels were all over the place on both the analog and the digital hygrometer. Took everything out of the cabinet and stored them in another humidor, bought clear aquarium sealant and sealed each and every interior edge inside of the humidor. Let the humidor sit for a few days, empty and open, recalibrated the digital hygrometer and now it holds a steady 65% humidity.

 

[McBravio]

I just received a large round humidifier from Heartfelt, 65%, for my desktop humidor. I poured some distilled water into the front screen and now it seems like the beads that are the most wet have a brownish color to them. Is this normal?

Update: I ended up laying it face down in a shallow dish of distilled water and let it suck up some water. The "brown" color went away. The moisture spread out to most of the beads and it looks fine.

 

[viper139]

I searched "store beads" did not find much. If I was to buy a pound or two, how can I store unused beads until I have the vino situation figured out? Or can I is the question.

The beads themselves can be stored for years. Just keep them in an airtight container or ziplock.