Humidor help......

dwayne3307

Ok so I'm pretty sure I've read thru all the other posts on this topic and I've done everything I can think of so now I come to you guys for help. I have a 125ct humidor and usually I keep around 40-50 cigars in it. I use 3-69* Boveda packs along with a small jar of Xicar gel. This always kept me right around 68-70%. After Christmas I jumped to about 85 cigars and my rh level dropped to 60%. I took everything out and wiped it down and let it sit for a day and it stayed at 70%. I put the sticks back in and it's back down to 60%. So I switched out my 69* packs for some 75* packs and it jumped to 61%. I did the salt test on my hygrometer and it read 75%. I have added a shot glass of distiller water and it's not changing anything. I also tried the dollar bill test and it didn't tear but took some effort to pull it out. Any more suggestions???? Thanks in advance !

The Sniper

This could have two contributing factors that immediately come to mind - first, this time of year can play holy h311 with your RH depending on where you live. Winter generally means much drier... here in MO, you fight to keep your RH below 74% in the summer, then turn around and fight to keep it above 65% in the winter. Did you get a nasty temperature drop around the same time you started seeing the problems with the RH in your humi maybe?

Secondly, you mentioned adding some cigars around Xmas, nearly doubling your total (a good Xmas for you indeed!). Where did you get the smokes from? If they were shipped thru that low RH cold I mentioned above, especially if they werent shipped with water pillows, it could be that the sticks lost some of their humidity. If this was the case, when you put them in your humi they could conceivably be dragging down the RH in your humi while they gain RH themselves.

Hope this was of some help!

Russ55

What Sniper said.

Also, assuming your seal is good, your hygro is calibrated, and you're changing out the packs for fresh ones when they need it you shouldn't need gel in there. Is there a lot of empty space in there? If there is, that could also be contributing to the problem.



Edit: Now that I don't have a screaming 3 year old next to me I can type something coherent.

bigharpoon

Yeah, it also sounds to me like it's the new cigars taking in the moisture. 60 or 61 isn't too low so don't freak out, at least your cigars are fine. Those humidifiers work slowly, as they should, and your new cigars are taking in that moisture slowly too. As long as it's 60 or 61 in there I'd just let it be and try not to open it too much and see what happens. If it stays that low after a couple/few weeks put some distilled water in there too.

dwayne3307

Yeah, we did a cold front around Xmas and it's pretty much stayed cold since. Most of the sticks I got at Xmas were from Ccom but none were shipped with a water pillow. Didn't think about the new sticks And how they would affect it though, good point. Thanks for the help guys!!

bigharpoon

A lot of times they won't put in a humi pillow if it's below freezing because...what's the point? Good luck.

docbp87

How good is the seal on your humidor? If it's not great, you can use that blue painter's tape to tighten the seal. Just put it around the inside where the humidor closes, one layer at first, and you can then add additional layers as needed to get a tight enough seal to pass the "dollar bill test". This can be one of the most important factors in keeping your humidity up in winter.

skweekz

docbp87:

How good is the seal on your humidor? If it's not great, you can use that blue painter's tape to tighten the seal. Just put it around the inside where the humidor closes, one layer at first, and you can then add additional layers as needed to get a tight enough seal to pass the "dollar bill test". This can be one of the most important factors in keeping your humidity up in winter.

I never thought of painter's tape...or any tape for that matter! Thanks for a good suggestion!

dwayne3307

I checked it this morning after a good 4-5 days of not opening my humidor at all and it was up to 64% so that eased my nerves some. But now i've got another sampler arriving today from Ccom so once I throw those in it'll drop it back down. I've got to stop jumping on these daily deals and sampler sales, i'm running out of room!!