low humidity

[Randyb1]

I finally got got the humidity in my humidor up to 69 % but it took a tray of 70% beads standing in 50 50 , 2 dishes of distilled water " not shot glasses" , that didnt do it so I finally used the humidifier that came with the humidor with 50 50 solution.

When I brought the humidor home it was seasoned to 68 % at another location.
Any ideas what I might be doing wrong, with everything Im doing to keep the humidity up im cutting my storage in half.

Oh yes the hygrometer was calibrated then checked with a digital.
HELP

 

[rknicker]

could just be that the seals are not sealing. If it was 'conditioned' in a humidor that would explain it. Is it a little desktop model or is it a larger one?

 

[Randyb1]

it was conditioned (thanks ill try to remember) at a friends house, and its capacity is 120. Is also said not to wipe the enterior of the humidor with water , it would ruin the wood.

 

[CoventryCat86]

Well, I wipe the interior of my desktops ALL THE TIME with water. There are many woodworking magazines and plans for humidors that tell you to do exactly that when you first build the humi.

I don't know how it could possibly ruin the wood, when trees are alive they're a helluva lot wetter than when they're dead and believe me, there's no way you're ever going to get the spanish cedar inside your humi so wet that it will rot.

 

[Lumberg]

With that much humidity producing volume in there there HAS to be a problem with the seal. Or the hygrometer.

 

[emodx]

Go get some sailmakers wax and lightly rub the edge where it seals. Put a coat so thin that you can bearly see it. When you close it, pay attention to the amount of friction between the lid and box. It seem there is a minute amount more of friction. Now let the box sit and see if the rh come up. If not, repeat.
Are you running the heat in the house? Perhaps the heat is drying up all the moisture in the house. This too will affect the humidor with a poor seal. Good luck.

Emo

 

[Randyb1]

Thanks for all the ideas , I took the hygrometer out last night, humidity was at 79%, the humidity droped and it still is holding at 69 % , checked the humidity in my home and it was at 21%, so think I will try waxing the seal just in case. One more question is the humidor designed to breath a little or be air tight , dont know how good of a seal I should be trying for.

Thanks again Randy

 

[BACCHUS]

Thanks for all the ideas , I took the hygrometer out last night, humidity was at 79%, the humidity droped and it still is holding at 69 % , checked the humidity in my home and it was at 21%, so think I will try waxing the seal just in case. One more question is the humidor designed to breath a little or be air tight , dont know how good of a seal I should be trying for.

Thanks again Randy

The humidity in your home is very low. I would imagine that you have a lot of trouble with static electricity with that humidity level. I think you would benefit in the comfort of your home (and with the humidity level in your humidor) if you bought a humidifier for the house. One of the evaporative type humidifiers would probably do the job most economically.

As for the seal of your humidor, the tighter the better, and airtight is best.

You also made a comment about reducing the volume of cigars in your humidor. If the cigars are properly humidified when you put them in the humidor, the more cigars the better. The cigars' absorption and evaporative properties should actually help you maintain the humidity level more consistently. If your cigars were very dry to begin with, that may explain your difficulty in getting the humidity level up.

The type of hygrometer you are using could be another explanation. If you have an analog hygrometer, you can't trust it. Throw it away and buy a good digital.

Anyway, that's my .02.

Good luck, Bacchus

 

[AVB]

I'm not sure I agree that an air tight seal is best for long term storage, I mean over a year. For under that I have had good results with coolidors, tupperdors etc etc and they may work just fine for long term if you crack them open once in a while to allow the gasses to escape. Just my .02

I agree that you need to get the humidity up in the house, 21% is pretty low. If you have one of the good analog hygrometer units to check it with they will work fine but a digital will be cheaper.

 

[Randyb1]

thanks for all the help , I do think some of the cigars were pretty dry when I put them in, working on my homes humididy see if that helps a little , right now the humidor is holding at 70 RH so hopefully ive got it licked.

 

[BACCHUS]

I'm not sure I agree that an air tight seal is best for long term storage, I mean over a year. For under that I have had good results with coolidors, tupperdors etc etc and they may work just fine for long term if you crack them open once in a while to allow the gasses to escape. Just my .02

AVB:

I am not certain that an airtight seal is problematic for long-term storage if the humidity level is stabilized at the appropriate level, first, and a stable media for humidification, such as Climmaxx beads is utilized. I think it is a good idea, regardless of the length of storage, to check conditions within the humidor every couple of weeks or so. If you do this, I think an airtight seal (or close to airtight) is a great advantage in maintaining a stable environment for your cigars. If you are as paternalistic with your cigars as I am, it is unlikely that you will go much more than a week without checking on things in the humidor, anyway.

If you have electronic humidification, with an external water supply, then an airtight seal is obviously not necessary.

My additional .02.

Take care, Bacchus