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Humidification - cigar tunnelling

bigmatt72bigmatt72 Posts: 89
in Cigar 101
I live in the desert keeping the humidity up is usually not an issue, i.e. if it is too high it has nothing to do with my external environment. I have tried the propolene glycol, I have tried the jars. The issue I am having now is with cigar tunnelling, the think the problem is that the wrappers are too oily and the humidity is too high 70%. What I would like to do is lower it to 67% and hopefully end my tunnelling issues. Everything that I can buy in the store is 70% RH. Would distilled water in the humidor's existing humidifiers do the trick or would that cause it to be too low? Or do I need some sort of electric humidifier? I just switched to 2 days ago to distilled water and I know the results will not be immediate. If someone could shed some more light on this that would be great. Thanks.

Comments

  • jkallen83jkallen83 Posts: 142 ✭
    i am "Struggling" with humidity issues also, cant get it down.....one thing i have done that seems to work if ur only looking for a few degrees difference is put in some good quality paper towels in the bottom, they seems to obsorb some of the humidity ...u might want to give that a try... of course im new and like i said, struggling with it also...but this is what i've found that works other than leaving the thing open to air out....
  • bigmatt72bigmatt72 Posts: 89
    your issue seems to be with external humidity being too high, which is the exact opposite of what I deal with. I would think that you need the opposite of humidification something to dehumidify your humidor. I would think the xikar crystals might work, but I'm not an expert of what happens when you put the crystals in an already saturated enviroment I would think that they would not absorb but only provide humidity when required. Therefore what I think might work would be to combine the following. A jar of propolene glycol crystals and a small pile of silica do not eat packets to suck up the moisture, maybe then after a few days it might balance out, but I would not be putting more water or solution into your humidifiers.
  • bigmatt72bigmatt72 Posts: 89
    http://cigarhumidificationbeads.com/
    Try this.
    Also back to getting 67% RH, I live in an already dry environment, so I would need something to humidify to 67% or somewhere near because 70% is too high and causing my cigars to tunnel. Looking for recommendations.
  • RhamlinRhamlin Posts: 9,033 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Best thing I can think of are some heartfelt 67% beads.
  • The SniperThe Sniper Posts: 3,910 ✭
    You should be able to drop a few points of humidity by using just distilled water in your humidifiers instead of the prop glycol. Im in MO, which means high humidity in the summer and low humidity in the winter. Just getting ready to switch all my humidors to prop glycol for the winter... I know its time because Ive noticed the static electricity is getting ridiculous over the last week!

    Also, if you pick up some 67% or 65% beads as was suggested earlier in the thread, your problems should be solved. Hope this helped, make sure you come back to the thread and let us know how you're making out with it.

  • MarkerMarker Posts: 2,524 ✭
    65% conservagel beads are fantastic btw. Give them a shot if you need to keep your cigars lower. I was running 70%+ trying prop glycol in pucks, 2oz and 4oz gel. None of them did it. Finally the beads did it.
  • CAcigarguy007CAcigarguy007 Posts: 2,043 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would suggest that you try humi pillows. They have the same gel in them that all the other gel jars have but at a better value. I have used them with great success. Start by removing all your other media and then, depending on how big your humidor is, add a pillow or two and wait to see where it levels off at and if needed add more until it sets. I have a huge plastic bin that is a little over half full and my humi pillows (12 total, overkill I know but I just add them when I get orders, no need to waste them) will keep my cigars at a solid 65% all day. I have an additional piece of floral foam PG/DW 50/5o that I can add to raise it up to 70 % RH. I keep my humi pillows in separate plastic sandwich bags (unsealed of course) and rest them on top of my sticks (since humidity falls) and keep my hygrometer on the bottom and it is rock solid at 65% RH with just the humi pillows. They require little maintenance and have been the most hassle free option that I have found. Just my $0.02, good luck.
  • beatnicbeatnic Posts: 4,133 ✭
    Some cigars have oily wrappers that hold a lot of moisture (i.e.:Gran Habano vintage 2000) These take well to a week of dry boxing before smoking.
  • bigmatt72bigmatt72 Posts: 89
    beatnic:
    Some cigars have oily wrappers that hold a lot of moisture (i.e.:Gran Habano vintage 2000) These take well to a week of dry boxing before smoking.

    So...keeping it at 65% or 67% will not do the trick entirely???? BTW I switched to distilled water and it is currently at 65%, but it is a new humidor so I thought I'd start with distilled. Ok when you say dry box would that be the same as putting them out on the counter provided they aren't sitting in the sun or sealing them in a box with no moisture and waiting a week. I was hoping that by changing the Rh that would fix the problem. No?
  • beatnicbeatnic Posts: 4,133 ✭
    No, don't put them on the counter. By dry boxing, I mean putting your cigars in an un humidified box. The RH will subside very slowly, and the outer wrapper will be the first layer to be affected. In theory, you are reducing the RH of only the outer part of the cigar and it will then burn more evenly. If you have some sticks that consistently tunnel, try this. Test them after a few days.
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