I have roughly 35 sticks in my 50 ct. glasstop humidor and I can't keep my humidity below 75%. I have one gel stick in there and I still am at 77% which has me worried about our best friends..
Do you have a digital hygrometer? Is it calibrated?
If the answer is no to either of those, I'd recommend those two things first. After that, and if it's still high, I'd considering switching to either beads, or boveda packs for humidification. Those gel sticks are ok for some things, but as not as a primary humidity control device, in my opinion.
use beads.................I finally switched to beads, and all my constant tweaking/adjusting issues went away...........should have done it from the start
+1 on the beads!!! I picked up some conservagel beads and love them!! I will never use anything else again!
Note on the beads...DO NOT try to charge the beads! They come charged and ready to go! Just place in humidor and your set! Easy!! I tried to charge the beads by misting them and it took a week to get things back to normal levels. Its been over a month now and its always constant 66'/68 rH! I use to worry about high temps and rising rH. I bought a winecooler to control the temp and beads to control the rH. Couldn't be happier!
I have roughly 35 sticks in my 50 ct. glasstop humidor and I can't keep my humidity below 75%. I have one gel stick in there and I still am at 77% which has me worried about our best friends..
Any advice on keeping this humidity down?
I'd just toss in two humi pillows and that should should do it. Air it out for a bit and remove the humidification device and see where it levels off. Once in the safe zone toss in two humi pillows and you should be golden. You should have a bunch from ccom orders, they don't take up much space at all, and will hold your RH rock solid. I used to be a huge proponent of beads but I don't use them anymore after I have had some issues with them as a long term storage media. I'd also salt test the hygrometer if you haven't done so in a while (6 months/annually is good) or it may need some new batteries.
I have roughly 35 sticks in my 50 ct. glasstop humidor and I can't keep my humidity below 75%. I have one gel stick in there and I still am at 77% which has me worried about our best friends..
Any advice on keeping this humidity down?
I'd just toss in two humi pillows and that should should do it. Air it out for a bit and remove the humidification device and see where it levels off. Once in the safe zone toss in two humi pillows and you should be golden. You should have a bunch from ccom orders, they don't take up much space at all, and will hold your RH rock solid. I used to be a huge proponent of beads but I don't use them anymore after I have had some issues with them as a long term storage media. I'd also salt test the hygrometer if you haven't done so in a while (6 months/annually is good) or it may need some new batteries.
I don't want to seem like I am **** on someone elses advice here but I would be very careful using Humi Pillows over beads. A LOT of BOTL over mist their beads right from the start, and then they fight with them to get them back into range. Just use them the way they come first. Put them into your humi allow them to sit in there for 24 hours and THEN check your hygometer. If you need to add moisture remove some of the beads (NOT ALL OF THEM) and lightly mist them with Distilled water. Add them back to the unmisted beads and you should be good to go. You can add more water to the beads if they need it after 24 hours in the humi. That way you will not spike your humidity and have to try to dry out beads to get them to work properly,
Checking your hygrometer calibration is definatley the first thing I would do, or the rest is just a roll of the dice.
A LOT of BOTL over mist their beads right from the start, and then they fight with them to get them back into range.
grrrrrr............I made this mistake.
Thankfully my wife has a very expensive hair dryer (has very good low settings), and I was able to safely, and relatively quickly fix my mistake.
Heartfelt beads. If your RH is already too high, then whatever % the beads you buy are calibrated for... I would almost say put them in completely dry for a few days, then maybe mist over 1/2 of them, leaving 1/2 dry, so you have a lot of leeway to absorb excess. I tend to keep my beads pretty dry during the summer months here, since it gets so gotdamned humid here in Virginia.
I can't recommend beads enough, though I don't recommend the misting method for charging the beads. Had issues with that in the past. Instead, I'd put a small dish of distilled water in with your humi and beads, and things will work out on their own.
I can't recommend beads enough, though I don't recommend the misting method for charging the beads. Had issues with that in the past. Instead, I'd put a small dish of distilled water in with your humi and beads, and things will work out on their own.
Yeah, you have to be sure to only mist SOME (a third at a time) of your beads when needed. The bowl of water works good. In my coolerdor I just keep a bottle of distilled water and take the top off when I need to. My Rh only needs to be adjusted during the summer. The winter is always wet here.
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If the answer is no to either of those, I'd recommend those two things first. After that, and if it's still high, I'd considering switching to either beads, or boveda packs for humidification. Those gel sticks are ok for some things, but as not as a primary humidity control device, in my opinion.
Note on the beads...DO NOT try to charge the beads! They come charged and ready to go! Just place in humidor and your set! Easy!! I tried to charge the beads by misting them and it took a week to get things back to normal levels. Its been over a month now and its always constant 66'/68 rH! I use to worry about high temps and rising rH. I bought a winecooler to control the temp and beads to control the rH. Couldn't be happier!
Checking your hygrometer calibration is definatley the first thing I would do, or the rest is just a roll of the dice.
Thankfully my wife has a very expensive hair dryer (has very good low settings), and I was able to safely, and relatively quickly fix my mistake.