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Beads keep drying out
I seasoned my humidor by wiping it down, keeping a damp washcloth in for 24hr, wiping it down again, kept the cloth in for another 24hrs. Using a calibrated digital hygrometer the RH was steady at 78% and the washcloth wasn't drying out. So I put in some pre-charged beads and after a few days she stabilized around 70%. I put in about 8 sticks and everything seemed fine for about a week until the RH started to slowly go down. I checked the beads and they were almost dry. So I charged them and about 2-3 days later same thing. I'm looking for suggestions. I'm thinking I didn't season the humidor long enough.
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I have a Bally V humidor, has a pretty good seal. I measured its volume and I'm using 2oz of beads. It's the small aluminum case from heartfelt.
Just a thought. Other then that, I would say you need to fully charge those beads.
Before Zeebra sent me a good seasoning link I went ahead and wiped it down lightly and then stuck a mildly wet folded wash cloth in the bottom, and put a shot glass of water on the tray next to the hygrometer. So that's where I'm at right now. It's sitting at 76% at the moment. I did the wipe down about 5 hours ago.
Here's what I have
You should also get a container big enough to hold your beads AND a bowl of Distilled water. Let the beads stand in this container for the same several days you are seasoning your humi, and that will ensure your beads are fully charged, as well.
Keep us posted and you'll get it there. You may also want to look at using more beads in your set-up.
The cloth is in a small, shallow open tupperware container.
As for the beads, what's the diff between letting them soak up moisture via your description and just loading them up with an eyedropper? I may pick up a 2 or 4oz tube while I'm at it and use it up on the tray.
How are you storing your cigars when not in your humi? Are the properly humidified? If not, then they are most likely soaking up the humidity themselves. Also, check the seal where glass meets wood.
When placed in a container with the water also in the container in its own bowl, it allows the beads (all of them) to absorb the water to the maximum amount they are capable of absorbing. The beads will only absorb as much as they are capable of and will release the moisture back over a long period of time.
I am thinking that the beads you sprayed may not have absorbed enough water for them to act properly in your humi. You can keep about 10% of your beads out of the container and NOT get these wet. These will act as a buffer for absorbing any excess humidity in your humi, if / when that occurrance should happen.
http://www.bargainhumidors.com/bh/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=ACC-CONSERVAGEL
These are cheaper then Heartfelt beads and several of the BOTL use these now and they work GREAT. I run 2 pounds of them in my coolerdor, but you could get a pound and use some in your humi now and keep the rest for the future when you will almost certainly need more.
I do remove my beads for recharging when needed. But this winter I have just kept a bottle of Distilled Water right inside of the coolerdor and I just remove the lid for a few days at a time and the beads maintain the RH for at least a couple of weeks.