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Thermoelectric Humidor Seasoning

B

Bundy

New Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2023
Messages
9
I'm new here, so sorry in advance if this is a bit long winded. My collection has grown a bit over the last year to about 150-200 cigars. I have one really nice desktop humidor (50 count, about half full) that I've had for about 30 years. The rest I've been storing in tupperdors. My cigars are very well monitored as far as RH (use 65% Bovedas in my tupperdors, 72% in the desktop). I thought it was time to upgrade to a thermoelectric humidor to better control temps as I'll be storing them longer and can use some help or advice.

When I first got the unit it did have a bit of a plastic/manufacturing smell to it. After several attempts, I think I finally got that under control after a wipe down of the wood with a DW/baking soda/lemon juice mix, followed by a couple days in open air. I put them back in the unit, closed it up without any humidity source for a couple days and when I opened it I smelled nothing but sweet, Spanish cedar. Win!

So, figuring I got the most common problem out of the way, I moved to step two: seasoning. I added DW to the provided tray, closed it up with the unit unplugged, and spent the next week refreshing the Govee app to monitor the progress (have two calibrated Govee Bluetooth hygrometers in it, one top, one bottom). After a week, it finally hit 74% RH (5% above goal). I opened it up briefly to make sure the odor hadn't returned and it was still good to go. So I figured the next, logical step was to plug it in and get the temp/RH to where I want them before adding my collection (68° F, 69% RH is where I decided to start). That is where the problem started for me.

When I plugged it in, I had a very consistent 72°, 74% RH reading on both Govees. This morning, I'm getting readings of 69°, 48% RH on the top, and 67°, 56% RH on the bottom. I'm less worried about the variance between the top and bottom than I am about the RH, which seems to be going down, not up. Is that normal? Do I need to let it run empty for a while to see what happens? I didn't plug the drain hole with tape, but I did put some DW in it to create a seal.

BTW...the unit I got was the Mojgar 50L. Not as popular as the NeedOne or Newair, but it got good reviews and I liked the more square design as opposed to tall and narrow layout. Plus, the price was right at ~$160 on sale from $240.

Any help would be appreciated!
 
Hi @Bundy, I’m sure there’s someone here who knows of what you speak…..it’s not me but if you head n over to the Introduction thread and tell us a little about you and what you smoke I’d be surprised if someone doesn’t offer a easier response than Gary did. My search skills suck!
 
thinde said:
Hi @Bundy, I’m sure there’s someone here who knows of what you speak…..it’s not me but if you head n over to the Introduction thread and tell us a little about you and what you smoke I’d be surprised if someone doesn’t offer a easier response than Gary did. My search skills suck!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice! Will post in the intro thread for sure.
 
Bundy said:
When I plugged it in, I had a very consistent 72°, 74% RH reading on both Govees. This morning, I'm getting readings of 69°, 48% RH on the top, and 67°, 56% RH on the bottom. I'm less worried about the variance between the top and bottom than I am about the RH, which seems to be going down, not up. Is that normal? Do I need to let it run empty for a while to see what happens? I didn't plug the drain hole with tape, but I did put some DW in it to create a seal.

BTW...the unit I got was the Mojgar 50L. Not as popular as the NeedOne or Newair, but it got good reviews and I liked the more square design as opposed to tall and narrow layout. Plus, the price was right at ~$160 on sale from $240.

Any help would be appreciated!
Click to expand...

Is it empty? If I were you, I'd add cedar empty boxes to it, until it's where you want it. Sounds like it's still seasoning and you just need to be patient.
 
bfreebern said:
Is it empty? If I were you, I'd add cedar empty boxes to it, until it's where you want it. Sounds like it's still seasoning and you just need to be patient.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's empty other than the cedar shelves. How do I know when it's done seasoning? The RH reached 74% before plugging it in. The only thing that needs to be seasoned is a bit of wood since it's mostly plastic inside. I just want to make sure when I add my collection they don't dry out. Should I just throw my ~150 sticks with 2 or 3 69%, 320 gr Boveda packs in there? Is that a safe or stupid thing to do?
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
I'd run it for another week and see what happens, making sure to keep up on the water level.
Click to expand...
That's kind of where I'm leaning, but should I leave it unplugged or let the wood acclimate to the temp and humidity? Just seems so odd that it's going in the opposite direction after plugging it in.
 
Bundy said:
That's kind of where I'm leaning, but should I leave it unplugged or let the wood acclimate to the temp and humidity? Just seems so odd that it's going in the opposite direction after plugging it in.
Click to expand...

Plug it in. Get the temperature stabilized and get the humidity stabilized for a few days before loading it up.

And then come back and tell us how it went ! :)
 
What's the room temp?

Get a digital hydrometer as well.
The big of a change like that after stable...odd. Could be the govees.

Search seasonal mood disorder.

Put some boxes in there to take up space. Empty boxes are fine for now.

Did you season the cedar shelves?
They are likely eating the humidity.

Search beyond the unit itself.
 
grateful1 said:
What's the room temp?

Get a digital hydrometer as well.
The big of a change like that after stable...odd. Could be the govees.

Search seasonal mood disorder.

Put some boxes in there to take up space. Empty boxes are fine for now.

Did you season the cedar shelves?
They are likely eating the humidity.

Search beyond the unit itself.
Click to expand...
First, I'm grateful for your avatar.

Room temp is 72° during the day, 67° at night (72° day, 76° at night in summer).

I have two Govee digital hygrometers and replaced the mechanical hygrometer with a digital of the same size (fit's in the hole of the shelf perfectly). All three are definitely calibrated.

The thing that caused the change was plugging it in it seems.

Just added a few boxes to take up space, but I assume they're going to eat up humidity as well.

Seasoned the shelves for a week until RH got to 74%, but maybe they weren't done eating?
 
bfreebern said:
Is it empty? If I were you, I'd add cedar empty boxes to it, until it's where you want it. Sounds like it's still seasoning and you just need to be patient.
Click to expand...
I don't have any personal experience with your specific electronic doodad, but I've started up a humidor or three in my time. I think that Brando has the answer you seek. Fill it up with empties (sounds like you have done that since this post) and be patient while it unfucks itself. You'll have another minor'ish variation once you finally get around to being able to fill it up with actual cigars, but it should correct itself in short order.

Personally, I'd just go ahead and get a few coolers and a few pounds of beads. But, that's just me. (And... cue @CigarStone)
 
kann said:
I don't have any personal experience with your specific electronic doodad, but I've started up a humidor or three in my time. I think that Brando has the answer you seek. Fill it up with empties (sounds like you have done that since this post) and be patient while it unfucks itself. You'll have another minor'ish variation once you finally get around to being able to fill it up with actual cigars, but it should correct itself in short order.

Personally, I'd just go ahead and get a few coolers and a few pounds of beads. But, that's just me. (And... cue @CigarStone)
Click to expand...
Nope! Not gonna do it!😁
 
I will!!! 😆😎

@CigarStone has the biggest non walk-in “humidors” I’ve seen!

IMG_5001.jpeg

But seriously, I got another TE not long ago and really took my time with it. I did the drawers in a plastic bag with 84% bovedas for 2 weeks, then put them back in the TE for a week at 72%. After that I started introducing my sticks a handful at a time. It was a long process, but it’s rock solid. Sometimes I feel like the hygrometers are just for decoration!
 
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