Big ol' Humidor, how long to season?

Ruminus

Hey all, I picked up a Cuban Crafters Vitrina. It's rated at 3k cigar capacity and has the 8 drawer option in addition to the shelves. Here's the thing. It sat out in the general area of the shop for who knows how long without humidification while they were waiting to sell it and it's dry as a bone. I have the Cigar Oasis Magna in there and running, set to 70%, but it's been a few days and I'm getting minimal progress in raising the readings above 40%. Any ideas on how long this should normally take? I've gone over the interior a couple of times with a sponge lightly dampened with distilled water and that helps a bit but I was wondering if I'm doing something wrong or if this could take weeks? Longer? Thanks in advance for any input.

arch72

I am somewhat new here but I believe you need to use dishes of distilled water the wood needs to soak up a lot of water. and I would not do the wipe down it can cause the wood to warp.As for how long that big of a Humi it could take weeks for it to get up and stay up to 70%rh. I have heard of people on here using the 84% bov for seasoning. But as I understand it you need to get the RH higher than what you want it to be when you place your cigars in there so that the wood can absorb what it needs.And it will come down to within 2 to 3 % of  whatever RH% are on the Bov I f I am wrong than someone on here please tell me lol

Amos_Umwhat

Ol' Arch catches on quick, doesn't he?

miller65rod

First off I would be checking for leaks. Wood warps so make sure the door seal is nice and tight. Also check the joints inside the humi. Most humi's are not made of high quality craftsmanship. Once everything is nice and tight. Add water.
84% bovedas are good for small humi's but you have a larger one. You would need many and it would be costly.I would add bowls full of distilled water. Ensure your hydro's r calibrated. It could take a week or weeks for it to stabilize. You could also add empty boxes to help speed it up. It is also winter so this that will play a factor as well. 

I would buy beads and 320gram bovedas once your close. 4 pack of 320 gram Boveda's should help out a lot and once you get your beads right you should not have an issue. 

1. Check seals and joints.
2. Calibrate everything
3. Try to place in a location where temp stays around 65-70 if possible
4. Add distilled water in bowls. Do not soak. Add empty cigar boxes if possible. Wooden ones.
5. Purchase beads and 320 gram Boveda's
6. Here's the hardest part. Wait. Once you have it stabilzed wait a few days then start adding seegars boxes and singles slowly. They will suck up moisture or release it. 
7. Enjoy

Do a search of the forum there are many options for humidity. Kitty litter, beads, boveda hydro units etc. 

I use beads and kitty litter and I do add some boveda's in the winter to help. 

Diver43

First of all CONGRATULATIONS, that is one fine humidor.

Didn't your humidor come with a built in electronic humidification device?

The folks on here are much more experienced than I, so there is little I can add no how to get your Rh to where you want it.

Ruminus

Diver43 said:

First of all CONGRATULATIONS, that is one fine humidor.

Didn't your humidor come with a built in electronic humidification device?

The folks on here are much more experienced than I, so there is little I can add no how to get your Rh to where you want it.

Thank you. As to the included humidification, the CC website says "6 brick humidification devices" are included but as it's used and they tossed in the Cigar Oasis so I really can't complain.

dirtdude

https://www.cubancrafters.com/cuban-crafters-vitrina-cabinet-cigar-humidor-for-3000-cigars-free-shipping/

Thats a hella humi, thinking @Sketch6995 should just get 3 or 4 of those and storage problem is solved

Ruminus

miller65rod said:

First off I would be checking for leaks. Wood warps so make sure the door seal is nice and tight. Also check the joints inside the humi. Most humi's are not made of high quality craftsmanship. Once everything is nice and tight. Add water.
84% bovedas are good for small humi's but you have a larger one. You would need many and it would be costly.I would add bowls full of distilled water. Ensure your hydro's r calibrated. It could take a week or weeks for it to stabilize. You could also add empty boxes to help speed it up. It is also winter so this that will play a factor as well. 

I would buy beads and 320gram bovedas once your close. 4 pack of 320 gram Boveda's should help out a lot and once you get your beads right you should not have an issue. 

1. Check seals and joints.
2. Calibrate everything
3. Try to place in a location where temp stays around 65-70 if possible
4. Add distilled water in bowls. Do not soak. Add empty cigar boxes if possible. Wooden ones.
5. Purchase beads and 320 gram Boveda's
6. Here's the hardest part. Wait. Once you have it stabilzed wait a few days then start adding seegars boxes and singles slowly. They will suck up moisture or release it. 
7. Enjoy

Do a search of the forum there are many options for humidity. Kitty litter, beads, boveda hydro units etc. 

I use beads and kitty litter and I do add some boveda's in the winter to help. 

Yep, looks like the upper left hand corner of the door doesn't seal completely. It's tight-ish but the paper test shows it's much less snug than the rest of the door. Some of the screws on the hinges were loose so I tightened those up and re-trued the door with a level to match what the rest of the cabinet was reading. Seems a bit better but we'll have to see what happens as I do the ever so difficult step 6. I know cigars are all about slowing down but I want it now!  

Sketch6995

dirtdude said:

https://www.cubancrafters.com/cuban-crafters-vitrina-cabinet-cigar-humidor-for-3000-cigars-free-shipping/

Thats a hella humi, thinking @Sketch6995 should just get 3 or 4 of those and storage problem is solved

I'd love one, but I haven't found one that seals properly yet, I may pull the trigger after Christmas

avengethis

Aristocrats are top notch

miller65rod

If its an investment then as above Aristocrat. No matter if it's a cooler or an Aristocrat you need to have it right before lay them sticks to rest. Tobacky last a long time if treated right. 

Ruminus

There, one repaired non-sealing corner. That nifty little shim behind the hasp is a piece of old cigar box lid that was in the humi. We have the technology...

miller65rod

Ruminus said:

There, one repaired non-sealing corner. That nifty little shim behind the hasp is a piece of old cigar box lid that was in the humi. We have the technology...

 
If it is completely sealed now you should start seeing changes in humidity. Add the distilled water and wait now. Get it right the first time and you will be good to go.

0patience

My tower took weeks to stabilize and that was with having an electronic humidifier. 

But I will tell you that with that large of a humidor, you will want to empty it and clean it once a year if you have it fairly full.

Mostly because even if you don't see mold, if you are in a high humidity area, mold spores can accumulate. 
Wiping it down once a year will it from being a problem.

Fry

Hey Ruminus, Let me know how you like that humidor.  that's been one of my options when considering upgrading the humidor.  Can't decide if I want to go the affordable side (Cuban Crafters) or the "don't tell the wife how much I've spent" humidor (aristocrat).

Ruminus

Fry said:

Hey Ruminus, Let me know how you like that humidor.  that's been one of my options when considering upgrading the humidor.  Can't decide if I want to go the affordable side (Cuban Crafters) or the "don't tell the wife how much I've spent" humidor (aristocrat).

Other than the minor mod I had to make to the door to get a seal it's pretty nice. The drawers in the middle cause some major headaches with airflow between the upper and lower portions but I went with another suggestion I saw for humidification placement and it seems to be working better. The Cigar Oasis in on the rh side of the top portion of the drawers, the control unit is in the very upper left corner of the back and the little extra fans are down below the drawers. It sat stable at ~65% RH for a couple of days so the first sticks went in today. Here's hoping! Oh, and here's a couple of photos. The sticks ready to go in and the humi when I first got it home. They're all loose so I should really put them in the drawers but I don't know that I trust the rh stability in them just yet.

arch72

Really nice unit you got there @Ruminus. That's the size I was going to get but here in the desert I need temp control so it wouldn't work for me but a very nice buy

avengethis

@Ruminusan option you could look at to help with the drawers is tossing some boveda packs in the drawers to help stabilize them if airflow is minimal.

miller65rod

looking good

Rhamlin

If I'm reading you right the cigar oasis is at the top? I think the bottom would be best with beads at the top plus a couple fans for air flow. I've seen where guys have had to drill holes through shelves in order to get the desired effect they wanted. Good luck brother I hope the seal problem is fixed. 

Ruminus

Rhamlin said:

If I'm reading you right the cigar oasis is at the top? I think the bottom would be best with beads at the top plus a couple fans for air flow. I've seen where guys have had to drill holes through shelves in order to get the desired effect they wanted. Good luck brother I hope the seal problem is fixed. 

Not quite and I guess I wasn't too clear. The Cigar Oasis is on top of the drawers, so pretty much right in the middle of the overall cabinet. When I was looking at the humidification options over on Aristocrat they have a graphic of almost exactly my setup with their 1.5 qt option and it shows it as I have it now, humidifier in the middle, controller on the top, and spare fans under the drawers, so I thought it was worth a shot. Turns out once again I was running into airflow issues once I added the tray of cigars in the pic so I added a 14" desk fan I had sitting around back into the bottom of the cabinet and voila, humidity started to level out throughout the unit. It's back to about 65% right now and since I'm torn between 65% and 70%, I'll say anything in that range is a win.