• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

New Humidor Question

Wisecigars506

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2011
Messages
27
Hello all,

It's been a long long time since I've posted on here, but I've nowhere else to turn!

I bought THIS humidor a few weeks ago, and it finally arrived last Monday 3/6. I removed the bottom shelf, and installed a Cigar Oasis Magna 2.0 to keep this guy at optimal humidity. So, 8 days later i am a little confused.

I did not wipe my humidor down with a damp cloth before i installed the humidor, as I've read a lot of contradicting things about if it's actually helpful or not. As i said before, the humidifier is located at the bottom, but i put the digital hygrometer on the second shelf from the top.

1 day in and the hygrometer was showing around 60, and through 6 days it was showing about 63-64. Per the digital hygrometer, it was saying i had a 3 day average of 63.0. On the 7th day, 3/13, the humidity had dropped to about 60 and was holding steady all day.

This humidor came with 6 rectangular humidifier pucks. On the 7th day i filled those with distilled water and put them back in the drawer at the very very bottom. It's almost like a secret compartment, very hard to see, but has the same slits at the top as the shelves.

Today, the 8th day, i come home from work and the hygrometer is still reading the same... Between 60-61. I've just gotten a few boxes of cigars in the mail today, and i'd read that a humidifier wouldn't need to work as hard in a full humidor so I put all 4 boxes in the middle 2 shelves. While i was doing that, i slid the digital hygrometer down to the second to last shelf.

When i closed the humidor i left the hygrometer down there, and it was reading at almost 80!

3 hours later, it's still reading about that, so i put it back on the 2nd highest shelf... Dropped right back down to 60-61.

An hour later, with no change at all, i decided to put one of the pucks on each shelf.

I'm thinking that 1 of 3 things is going on. The entire Manga humidifier is not working properly. The hygrometer is not working properly. Or there is not enough flow from the bottom of the humidor to the top, and it is not seasoning at the same rate.

Has anyone experienced something like this, or does anyone have any advice they can give??

I'm really hoping I just need to wait it out some more, and i don't have to replace something. My back up humidor works perfectly, but only holds about 75 sticks. I've got about 100 sitting here in this new humidor, and probably 100 more coming from my old place in Florida that have been aging anywhere from 6 months to 2 years.

Any help would be much appreciated!
 
So when you had dry humidity pucks in the humidor the hygrometer read dry and when you soaked the humidity pucks with water the hygrometer read wet?
 
What are the pucks made of?

Do you have auxiliary fans to distribute the humidity in the whole cabinet?
 
The pucks look to be some kind of sponge or dark green resin.

As for the auxiliary fans, no. Per Cigar Oasis, the Magna 2.0 doesn't need any auxiliary fans.
 
So when you had dry humidity pucks in the humidor the hygrometer read dry and when you soaked the humidity pucks with water the hygrometer read wet?

I don't have any dry humidity packs in it. I've been using the Cigar Oasis Magna 2.0, which uses distilled water and their cigar beads. I also have 6 rectangular humidifier pucks.

The Manga has been running constantly for 8 days, as it hasn't yet with the desired 70% rH.
 
The pucks look to be some kind of sponge or dark green resin.

Sounds like floral foam. Adding plain distilled water to a new one is not advisable. You would need PG to control the RH, otherwise, they're releasing over 80% RH iirc.

Tape a couple of pieces of tinsel or something on top of cabinet to see if the humidifier is actually circulating air up there. I don't place a whole lot of faith in what most mfrs or salesmen say.
 
Sounds like floral foam. Adding plain distilled water to a new one is not advisable. You would need PG to control the RH, otherwise, they're releasing over 80% RH iirc.

Tape a couple of pieces of tinsel or something on top of cabinet to see if the humidifier is actually circulating air up there. I don't place a whole lot of faith in what most mfrs or salesmen say.

I put straight distilled in there on purpose, as it seemed like the Magna was struggling to bring my humidor UP to 70. So I put them in there to get more than 70% rH going. It's been a week with just the Magna and it was trending down, I feel like it'd be a lot easier to come down from 70+, than it's been to actually get to 70%. If that makes sense.

As for the AUX fans, they didn't come with the humidifier, but if i don't get it up to the proper humidity by the time i leave town this weekend, i may have to buy them.
 
Just looked at the link for the humidor, and yes, fans are necessary for something that tall. It doesn't have to be something made to connect to the humidifier system. A small type fan that plugs in to a wall outlet will work.

ETA: Remember that the humidity will sink, it needs to be forced up.
 
IMG_3859.JPG IMG_3861.JPG IMG_3862.JPG IMG_3910.JPG IMG_3911.JPG IMG_3912.JPG I pretty much have the same humidor. It's likely that your humidity will indeed read three to four different levels throughout without added fans to circulate the air.
I have 3 digital hygrometers plus the one on my humidification unit. I have a hydra XL. It took me 2 weeks to fully season my cabinet. I placed a large glass bowl with distilled water to help it along. My three hygrometers, from top to bottom read: 60, 63, 73, and Hydra is set and reading 74. The hygrometer that reads 73 is set at the same area as the Hydra. It stays consistent. Whenever I open it, usually takes only a few minutes for humidity levels to be back to "normal". I have about 10 or so empty cigar boxes in the unit, to take up space. As of yet, I haven't added humidity beads, or added extra fans. I may be looking at getting fans in. However, that would be completely optional, as I am completely accepting of the humidity levels in my cabinet.
Good luck.
 
Thanks everyone for your help. There has been no change since my last post except for about 7 more boxes of cigars, but i've ordered some auxiliary fans to see if they'll help.

This humidor doesn't leave much room for air travel north and south, so i'm hoping these will help. The humidity pucks haven't done squat either.
 
Top