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Quick salt test question

{tpc}

{tpc}

Professional Poker Tournament Loser
Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
3,415
So I figure this is a dumb question(s) but here goes anyway.

Ive been salt testing my xikar since yesterday afternoon. (put in new battery) Just went to check it and it is reading 69% which seems pretty good. It is the 3 button rectangular deal with the calibrate button in the center.

Is the ideal number here supposed to be 70% or 75%?

If the ideal number is 70% using this method, should I just leave it alone or push the button to calibrate anyways?

If 75% is what I want, should I wait longer or just push the button now?
 
I'd let it ride for 24-48 hours and it should read 75%. Once you've fully tested it and if it's still off, that's what you'll need to "add", to get it where it's suppose to be.

If it reads 72, then you'll need to add 3 to calibrate it correctly.
 
Ok thanks. I thought with these xikar units you just push and hold or something. I’ll take a look though, The instructions have to be inside a box somewhere, or a box inside a box inside a box lol.
 
This one:

29742


I did find these instructions, but for another unit. They should work for yours as well:

This unit can be calibrated using the salt test method. To calibrate, fill a plastic soda cap with plain table salt. Add enough water to make the salt wet, but not so much that water stands on top of the salt. Place a zip lock bag flat on a flat surface. Place the cap inside the bag with the hygrometer. Seal the bag and wait 4 hours. Through the bag, push and hold the green button until the hygrometer resets itself to 75. Once it has reset, remove from the zip lock bag. Your hygrometer is now perfectly calibrated.
 
Anytime I hear about salt testing, I relate that I get far, far more consistent results in a mason jar, or old mayo jar, than I've ever managed to get in a bag. If I have to use a bag, I double bag the test environment and get noticeably better consistency that way. 24 hours minimum, 36+ is more like it. I'll do all three of my SensorPush units when the batteries get changed....whenever that may be. Good luck..!!
 
bfreebern said:
This one:

View attachment 29742


I did find these instructions, but for another unit. They should work for yours as well:

This unit can be calibrated using the salt test method. To calibrate, fill a plastic soda cap with plain table salt. Add enough water to make the salt wet, but not so much that water stands on top of the salt. Place a zip lock bag flat on a flat surface. Place the cap inside the bag with the hygrometer. Seal the bag and wait 4 hours. Through the bag, push and hold the green button until the hygrometer resets itself to 75. Once it has reset, remove from the zip lock bag. Your hygrometer is now perfectly calibrated.
Click to expand...

Yes that is the one! I’m letting it rest a bit more before doing anything.

fwiw, I’ve tried the zip locks and the jars, and zip locks in zip locks and zip locks in jars and not noticed any real difference. If anything, the key to whole thing is the temp in the room staying fairly consistent throughout the whole process.

Thank you all for the advice and help though! :)
 
Here is the finished result. Was a little cold in the basement this morning, still working on getting the nest sensors set up right.

29771

29772
 
Looks great! I think your temp is well in the range, but your % is high. I'd shoot for 65-68%, somewhere in that range. Let it settle out and see where it lands after a week or so.
 
Ya it’s a little on the high side. I think I may have done a bit more “seasoning” than necessary. I haven’t really opened it up other than to insert the gauge again, so I might need to remove the puck for a minute and let it level out some more. But I’ll give it a little more acclimating time.
 
{tpc} said:
Ya it’s a little on the high side. I think I may have done a bit more “seasoning” than necessary. I haven’t really opened it up other than to insert the gauge again, so I might need to remove the puck for a minute and let it level out some more. But I’ll give it a little more acclimating time.
Click to expand...

Empty cigar boxes, do a great job at absorbing humidity.
 
BlindedByScience said:
...or just leave it open for an hour or two.
Click to expand...

So I tried this just yesterday. Left it open for about an hour. Shut the door, humidity was reading 59% (but that must be the humidity in the basement).

This morning checked before work and it was 74%. Didnt have time to leave the door open again for more than about 10 min, but did that and took the humidifier puck out.

Is it possible the natural humidity in the basement is having an effect? The door appears to have a tight seal (can’t shine light through it) and well it’s a wine cooler basically so it’s pretty air tight as far as I can tell. The temp in the room does fluctuate probably about 8-10 degrees on a daily basis. It never falls below 61 in the room, but unless we are down there it never gets much higher than 69.

Maybe leaving the puck out for awhile will help.
 
{tpc} said:
So I tried this just yesterday. Left it open for about an hour. Shut the door, humidity was reading 59% (but that must be the humidity in the basement).

This morning checked before work and it was 74%. Didnt have time to leave the door open again for more than about 10 min, but did that and took the humidifier puck out.

Is it possible the natural humidity in the basement is having an effect? The door appears to have a tight seal (can’t shine light through it) and well it’s a wine cooler basically so it’s pretty air tight as far as I can tell. The temp in the room does fluctuate probably about 8-10 degrees on a daily basis. It never falls below 61 in the room, but unless we are down there it never gets much higher than 69.

Maybe leaving the puck out for awhile will help.
Click to expand...

What are you using, for humidification? Put an extra empty box or two in there, let it regulate for a few days, then take the boxes out and leave them out.

I doubt the ambient humidity of the basement, is having any effect on the unit itself. It's probably that you just got set up again, whatever you're using for humidification and that you don't have any cigars in it.
 
Hard to tell what your ambient humidity is without a hygrometer. If the humidor and sticks are "soaked" you may need to leave it open longer. Assuming the ambient RH is below what you want in the humidor.
 
It is a xikar humidification puck of some sort. I don’t have any sticks in there at present. Just two empty boxes one on each shelf offset from one another. Honestly nothing feels “soaked” for that matter. It’s just the reading on the hygrometer. The vino while on, really isn’t “running” because the temp setting is higher than what it is reading, so it is effectively shut off.
 
Oh and the ambient outside the box has to be lower because when the hygrometer is exposed to that, its reading in the mid to high 50s.

Guess if the ambient humidity in the basement was above 75% it might be pretty wet everywhere down there, and it is not.
 
So here is where I’m at. Removed the puck and shut the door. It was sitting at 74% this morning. So I opened the door and I’m just going to leave it open all day and see what happens when I shut the door later.
 
Update. Shut the door last night about 10. Checked this morning and it was sitting at 60%. So finally some progress. Out right now but going to reintroduce the puck when I get home, and see what happens.
 
So last night before bed, checked and it was 64% after putting the puck back in. This morning it was 63%. So I'll have another look tonight, hopefully just taking a little more time to get right.
 
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