Hygro Salt Test Necessity

[stewa070]

i bought three hygros off Amazon. They're digital. Out of caution I started the salt test last night. Everything I've seen says let the test run until you hit 75% or 24 hours. With three of them in the same bag my current readings are 73F on all three and 66% on two of them. 65% on the other. The 24 hours runs at midnight. But is that necessary? I feel like these things are pretty accurate since I have triple redundancy. They've been rising in humidity steadily from 55% last night. Am I good to go or do I need to finish the test?

 

[bfreebern]

I'd mark the details and let it run for as long as you're comfortable. I've taken notes, in 12 hr increments and have let it go anywhere from 24 hrs to 72. It just depends on your patience. Your cigars aren't going to notice that there isn't a hygrometer, in their cooler

Once you're comfortable with the readings, make sure to mark the hygrometer. I always put a sharpie mark, letting me know the difference.

 

[LarryH]

Curious how you did your test. I used a large Gatorade lid with about a tsp to tablespoon of salt, then added water and mixed until it was a wet paste. I think if it's too dry you you'll have problems. I can't remember how long I ran mine but some were right on and some 10% low.

 

[vortex]

They should read 75 % so I'd let it run as Brandon suggested. Also, the salt slurry should glisten but not pool. A Tupperware type container is best to run it in.

 

[Not A Nice Person]

Boveda sells a test kit that's goof proof. It may NOT hit the mark; that's the whole point. Adjust it till it does or mark the diff if it's non-adjustable.

~Boar

 

[stewa070]

I used a cap off a bottle of water and made a salt slurry. Last I checked before going to bed they were all three 73 degrees and 65% RH. That cap was pretty small. I'm thinking that may be too small to bump humidity up to 75%. We're talking about a cheap Walmart bottle of water cap not much bigger than a quarter. I'm going to pull them tomorrow and place them where they need to live. I think at this point they're all calibrated. Unless someone smarter than me disagrees.

 

[BlindedByScience]

....so you mixed your salt and water, sealed them up, they got to 65% and you think they are calibrated..??

Ohh Kay.....

First off, you need to focus on the test environment. If you're stuck with ziploc bags, I found you pretty much have to double bag the environment. If you can't run the test twice in a row and get the same results, you have a problem. I found that a mason jar, or even an old mayo jar works FAR better than bags.

Or, spend eight bucks on one of these and you'll know for sure:

https://www.amazon.com/Boveda-One-Step-Hygrometer-Calibration-Kit/dp/B000A3UBLA

Sorry if I'm coming off a bit cynical, but if you're going to take the time to calibrate your hygros (and you should).....at least take the right steps to see your efforts pan out. Just because you're in a hurry, doesn't mean the cal is valid. "Triple redundancy" can mean you have three incorrect RH readings, so calibrating them is pretty important. Most small digital hygros are not accurate, out of the box. Most analog versions are even worse to the point of being virtually worthless.

Oh, and you did start with fresh batteries all around, yes...??