Quick Humi Seasoning Question

dan7876

Hi all!  Been lurking in the shadows of this forum for a while, gearing up for my first big purchase.  I started smoking a few months back, have been working out tastes and styles, etc, and have been living the water-pillowed "Zippidor" lifestyle...up until now.  Finally pulled the trigger and ordered a 100-ct humi (I know, everyone says to go bigger, but I figure I'll add one in addition someday).  Just about to start seasoning, and had a quick question:

I have my humi, distilled water, a new sponge, a digital hygrometer, and a Heartfelt 2oz 65% tube of beads (skipping the cheap humidifier that came w/the humi), all laid out and ready to go.  What I want to know is when to add the beads?  My plan is to wipe down the cedar w/distilled water, place the slightly damp sponge on plastic on the bottom, set my hygrometer inside, and let it sit overnight (then assume I'll take out the sponge and close her up for one more day after that), and hopefully be in the promised land.  So...do I put the Heartfelt beads in right away, or will that work counterproductively against the natural absorption of the cedar in the first few days?

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have, happy smoking!

- Dan

Okemah

Well Dan, first off welcome. I'm new here myself and posted here a week ago about pretty much the same topic. I bought my first Humi a couple weeks ago and did the very thing you speak of. Wiped it down, sponge in bottom over night..yada yada yada. I'm still having issues getting my humidity up and I purchased 70% humidity beads. Most people will tell you to just put the dish of water into the Humi and let it sit until you get the desired humidity and not to wipe down the interior. I wish now that I had done it that way to begin with but hey...chalk it up to learning. Hope this helps ~Brad

madurofan

I'm gonna agree with Oke here. First DO NOT wipe your humi down. I can show you the splitting it caused in my first humi.
Second definetly use the bowl of distilled water method, don't put a sponge in your humi, ever.
Third do you have a digital hygrometer? If not buy one before you do anything else, analogs are just for show. They aren't accurate and are hard to read.
Finally, I'd throw the beads in there as soon as you start seasoning and let them soak up the water from the bowl naturally as your humi seasons. Once the humi reaches your desired RH(somewhere between 65 and 72) the beads should be charged enough to maintain that RH but not overcharged.

Brad there is no harm in opening up your humi for a few days letting it air out and reseasoning again.

Okemah

Why didn't I think of that....Thanks Maduro.

madurofan

Thats what I'm here for




....well that and the smart@ss comments.

kaspera79

madurofan:

Thats what I'm here for




....well that and the smart@ss comments.

And on that we can all agree >>>

dan7876

Thanks guys, glad I checked in for a few expert opinions before jumping in.  Wonder why every "source" online seems to recommend the wipe-down method...propagating the lie, it would seem.  Maduro - yep, it's a digital hygro...I've got it doing the salt test right now, and the humi is beginning to season w/the dish of dist water and the heartfelt beads.  Plan to throw the hygro into the humi tomorrow after it's been tested for accuracy.  Anything I'm missing?  I'll do my best to stay patient, but yeah - sure do want to fast forward a week and be done with the Zippidor.

 

Many thanks guys!

madurofan

I don't know that the wipe-down method is wrong, it definetly speeds up the process. But is quick necessarily a good thing? Also there are some risks, the splitting I experienced, that go with the wipe-down method that aren't there with the bowl method. Far from an expert just read a lot and have a few years of experience now. Hopefully kuzi will throw his opinion in about the beads, he's more of an expert on those.

kaspera79

madurofan:

I don't know that the wipe-down method is wrong, it definetly speeds up the process. But is quick necessarily a good thing? Also there are some risks, the splitting I experienced, that go with the wipe-down method that aren't there with the bowl method. Far from an expert just read a lot and have a few years of experience now. Hopefully kuzi will throw his opinion in about the beads, he's more of an expert on those.

Just last week I read about the wipe down method again.. Some cigar people do just that. I did do that on my first few humidors just to get the cigars out of Ziplock bags and into a real home.. No cracking of the humidor or damage to the cigars, so it just worked out for me. I now have the patience to season the humidor.

dutyje

Honestly, I think the manufacturers promote the wipe-down method because people usually want to get in the new humi as quickly as possible. I used a very slow version of the wipe-down method, and everything came together nicely. If I had to do it again, however, I wouldn't take the risks and I'd use the dish method. I'd honestly also keep the beads out to allow the humidity to over above 65% for a while, and then put half-charged beads in the humi. Although the method Maddy suggested is perfectly fine.

As a side note, I've noticed that the beads are a lot faster / more effective at releasing humidity rather than absorbing it. My beads recently needed charged, and I tried to just fill the humidifier disc with distilled water and throw it in humi and let the beads soak up the extra humidity. This doesn't really work. The humidity kept spiking to 72% (I have 65% beads), and was slow to come back down. Easier to just charge the beads directly, and I was back at 65% by the next time I checked.

madurofan

Yea I've noticed that issue with the beads as well duty. My 70% beads are sporadic.

dan7876

Dutyje - thanks for the reply.  Curious your reasoning for recommending the humidity get up high at first (leaving the beads out initially), is it to give a good saturation to the cedar for a while before regulating the RH?  Also, how do I half-charge the beads?  Not even sure how to charge them.   All their site says is "charge them with distilled water".  Do you soak the whole tube in dist water, or is there an opening for pouring water in?  Probably all moot questions, as from context it sounds like they will charge themselves through the humidity in the air in the humidor.  Thanks for your patience with a newb like myself.

 

- Dan

urbino

I'm having the same problem with the beads not absorbing humidity. My smaller humi and my tupperdor both remain at about 73% RH -- which is ambient RH -- despite having several ounces of dry 65% beads in them.

dutyje

Dan - Even if the air in the humidor is pinned at 75-80% rH for a few days, the wood will still take some time to equalize at that humidity. Once the humidor is activated and in use, you'll be opening it and there will be some air exchange. In another thread, kuzi pointed out that having a good stock of cigars will reduce the air that is exchanged as well as provide an additional mechanism (the humidifed cigars) to speed up the equalization of the air in the humi. Likewise, if the cedar has been well-activated, it will also behave in the same manner as the cigars, and release some of its humidity to speed the achievement of equilibrium. The beads, of course, don't seek to simply achieve equilibrium, but to bring the equilibrium up to a set number.

Basically, all I'm saying is that if the wood has been well-activated, it will aid the process of achieving and maintaining proper rH. Maybe I'll work with some beads in The Lab one of these days to see why they don't seem to charge themselves very well with the ambient humidity.

dan7876

Makes sense dutyje, thanks for the input!

Celtic Rider

here I go again with the gel again! I'm gettin my humidor today I'm getting some gel on Tuesday , when should I put the gel in? I was going to do the bowl of water thing starting tonight.Or Should I wait till I get the gel and start seasoning then??? Thanks

urbino

Go ahead with the bowl of water.

Celtic Rider

when should I add the gel?

kuzi16

i always put my humidification device in while seasoning. but thats me and i use beads. If the gel can be recharged then put it in right away. If not, wait till its done seasoning.

tankbonnies

Hey guys..I"m a nubi to this site, but have been reading thee posts for a few weeks. Here is my question. I finally got around to replacing the digital hygromter battery yesterday. Right now the reading is showing between 74-76, and now I'm a little nervous. What are the chances of seeing beatles in my humi? Also, Ii just took my distilled water dish(has beads in it), and just left the sponge in there to reduce the humidity a little. Is that the best way to get the levels back to normal or do you have any other suggestions. I'm about to order another batch of cigars and I'm thinking I should hold out for a bit. Any help would be great..thx

kuzi16

though beetles do come out when its humid, they depend more temp. keep it below 72ish and youll be fine. as far as lowering the RH goes, id take the sponge thing out and put the beads back in. However i would DEcharge the beads a little. they will then soak up the extra RH over the next few days or so.

also did you re test the hygromiter? sometimes after you put a new battery in they hygromiter is a bit off. Salt test it. If you are trying to keep 70% rh and your hygromiter reads +4 all the time they you are doin OK.

tankbonnies

thanks kuz....how do you decharge the beads? No, I didn't re test the hygromiter...i'll have to do that.. I have about 50 cigars in there now....I'll have to do the salt test again.....are the digital hygromiters pretty accurate right off the bat?

kuzi16

I decharge my beads by turning on the air conditioning and setting the container they are in in front of a vent. if you dont have a vent or central air then a hair dryer on the lowest setting will do the trick. Of course, take the beads out of the humidor before attempting this.

most digital hygrometers have a some degree of inaccuracy. the reason why they are better than the old analog dial types is because the inaccuracies tend not to change. if you are -3 on a digital theres a good chance youll always be -3 but with the dials...it could change from day to day.

tankbonnies

thanks kuz...I will do that tonight....lets see how it works.

urbino

kuzi16:

However i would DEcharge the beads a little. they will then soak up the extra RH over the next few days or so.

Sad to say I haven't found this to work. I have 65% beads in my 120 ct. humidor and in my tupperdor. I decharged them with a hairdryer, but they have not reduced the RH at all. Both still read 73% after weeks with the beads, and the beads are still as white as when I put them in. They just don't seem to be nearly as good at drawing moisture out of the air as they are at releasing it slowly into dry air.

Based on my experience, I have to say I don't recommend the beads as an RH reducing device.

Anybody got any other suggestions for reducing the RH?

kuzi16

urbino:

kuzi16:

However i would DEcharge the beads a little. they will then soak up the extra RH over the next few days or so.

Sad to say I haven't found this to work. I have 65% beads in my 120 ct. humidor and in my tupperdor. I decharged them with a hairdryer, but they have not reduced the RH at all. Both still read 73% after weeks with the beads, and the beads are still as white as when I put them in. They just don't seem to be nearly as good at drawing moisture out of the air as they are at releasing it slowly into dry air.

Based on my experience, I have to say I don't recommend the beads as an RH reducing device.

Anybody got any other suggestions for reducing the RH?

hmmm the RH in my humi is 65% and my beads keep it down in the most humid months of the year.

madurofan

I had the beads in with my Oasis and the Oasis set at 67% but it was hitting as high as 75%, I repeatedly decharged the beads and stuck them back in only to have the RH shoot up again. I've taken them out al-together now and its maintaining about 70 - 71%

kuzi16

iduno what you gauys are doing wrong but i have never once had an issue with my beads. Im getting to the point where im thinking of taking out my hygrometer becauseits just getting in the way and the beads work that well.

urbino

I dunno either, kuz. It's not a lack of quantity. I've got nearly a pound of dry beads in my tupperdor now, having added more and more over time to try to get the RH down. They're all in those little mesh bags that Heartfelt sells, so I assume that's not the problem, either.

It's getting to the point that I'm thinking of just buying another big humi and Oasis.

madurofan

urbino:

I dunno either, kuz. It's not a lack of quantity. I've got nearly a pound of dry beads in my tupperdor now, having added more and more over time to try to get the RH down. They're all in those little mesh bags that Heartfelt sells, so I assume that's not the problem, either.

It's getting to the point that I'm thinking of just buying another big humi and Oasis.

Can't go wrong with an Oasis.

I think part of my problem is that mine are 70% beads, everyone was telling me you could get lower RH by not charging the beads fully(I like my RH about 70%, as you know) but now I've heard the 70% are a pain and tend to run closer to 75%.

urbino

Yeah, the Oasis is about as reliable as it gets. Part of me hates to spend money on another humi and another Oasis, when cheaper storage solutions are [supposedly] available. Unfortunately, my experience thus far is that those cheaper solutions don't work.

So while I still hate to spend the money on humi and Oasis instead of on cigars, I guess it's worthwhile, in the long run, since it'll keep the cigars I do have in proper condition. Or maybe the thing to do is get the wine fridge and an Oasis. Hmmmmmm...