More than just Seasonal Mood Disorder?

[Pipe Smoker]

I had half a pound of 65% beads that held my first cooler spot on. A few months ago I bought a new cooler (54qts?) and put another full pound of beads in. RH now varies between 58%-62%. My concern is that my loose cigars to seem too dry, which makes me concerned this is more than just Seasonal Mood Disorder.
 
I have added distilled water to the beads, and initially the RH will jump to about 64, but will always settle back down after about 24 hours. I have salt tested my hygro and it actually came in a little high (78%).
 
I was thinking of adding a couple of shot glasses full of distilled water to see if that helps. Is that a good idea? Any other general advise? Is the cooler a the likely problem?
 
 

 

[MichaelB]

Do you have any cedar shelving in the cooler? I'm assuming you have some cigar boxes in there. It could be a couple of things. Some of the moisture maybe adsorbed by the wood or your cooler could be leaking, maybe through the drain plug? It seems like you have plenty of beads in there so I doubt that's the problem. I would try putting the glass of distilled water in there for a couple of days, if you're still having problems then you most likely have a leak somewhere. Good luck! If I can think of anything else I will let you know.

 

[tone-ny]

Swap the beads and see if they hold RH in your original cooler. If they do you have a seal issue in your new cooler. Do a search on sealing a coller and you'll find information to resolve that.

 

[Pipe Smoker]

Swap the beads and see if they hold RH in your original cooler. If they do you have a seal issue in your new cooler. Do a search on sealing a coller and you'll find information to resolve that.

Old cooler is long gone (repurposed by the wife). Hadn't occured to me to check the cooler seal. I'll start looking into that, thanks!