RH creeping up.......

KingoftheCove

One of my humis has been creeping upwards in RH, is now 72/73....I'm getting worried.
Humi has not changed - same beads, same sticks, same hygros (2).....but RH is creeping upwards.
A week ago I dried out the beads, put them back in, it went down to 70 for a day or so, now creeping again - the beads are still pretty much dry.

This humi has always been "higher" (at 70) than my other 2 - and I often wonder if Heartfelt accidentally gave me 70% beads for this humi, instead of the 65% like I ordered from them previously for my other humis (I asked them about that possibility - no answer yet)
Any ideas as to what I should do?
Should I simply remove the bead tube from the humi?
What short-term solutions do I have to bring the RH down?
thanks

wwestern

Take em out let it dry up some then put em back in and repeat if needed it will eventually even out... oh yeah and check your hygrometer just to be sure.

Rhamlin

That is strange. Have you recieved many new cigars lately? Maybe they were over humidified. But your thought on the beads sounds right.

KingoftheCove

wwestern:

Take em out let it dry up some then put em back in and repeat if needed it will eventually even out... oh yeah and check your hygrometer just to be sure.

Yeah - I did that - and I mean I had like 95% percent of the beads snow white.
It pulled my humi down from 73 to about 70, and that's it, and the beads looked about the same, and the rh started climbing
I am seriously beginning to suspect that these beads are in fact 70s.................easy test would be to put that tube in one of my other humis.....but don't want to do that.......probably just gonna get some more beads, and ask that they make SURE to give me 65s.
I guess the real test will be to see what happens in a few more weeks, if it stays at low 70s, then I'm pretty sure I have 70rh beads......if the rh continues to climb, then I have other issues - either 2 bad hygros, or too much moisture in my office (which I doubt)

jr_p951

I'd just switch them between another one of the other humis. As long as temp doesn't get high as well, you humi's will be ok. Maybe dry box a smoke a couple hours before to bring down the rH in the stick. Its worth a shot.

KingoftheCove

jr_p951:

I'd just switch them between another one of the other humis.....

Do you mean the beads, or the cigars?

Dry boxing? - yes, I am a fan.....and many of the sticks I smoke do well with a dry box of anywhere from 6 to 24 hours (JdN Corojos, Padilla Black Bears, Titans, GH 2002s, certain Diesels, Black Pearl Robustos, etc.)

camgfs

I would try switching the beads and the hygro(s), making sure to note which humi has what. That way, you could see if it might be a humi problem (warped lid, bad seal). Also, are all the humis in the same room? Different floors or window exposure can make a difference.

JDH

...Should I simply remove the bead tube from the humi?...
BR>That's what I usually do when the humidity goes over 70% (usually just after I re-hydrate, because I'm pretty bad about adding too much water.) The folks at Heartfelt ate topnotch, and I've never had a problem with any of their products, but as long as human beings do stuff, mistakes are gonna be made. 65% beads won't produce 70%+ humidity.

You could add a few extra cedar blocks if you have them.

KingoftheCove

camgfs:

I would try switching the beads and the hygro(s), making sure to note which humi has what. That way, you could see if it might be a humi problem (warped lid, bad seal). Also, are all the humis in the same room? Different floors or window exposure can make a difference.

Don't want to put those beads into a different humi - the humi they are in is rock solid as far as seal, etc.
Humis are in the same room, right next to each other.
I have 2 hygros in each of my humis - the chances of them both failing at the same time is remote - but it could happen.
I'm going to order some more 65% beads for now......and pull out the beads from this humi until the RH drops to under 70......and go from there.

jadelt

Has the temp changed?

Relative humidity is a function of moisture and temp.

"relative humidity will decrease as air temperature increases and increase as air temperature decreases"

Might be why we are seeing a lot of these questions lately

jlmarta

jadelt:

Has the temp changed?

Relative humidity is a function of moisture and temp.

"relative humidity will decrease as air temperature increases and increase as air temperature decreases"

Might be why we are seeing a lot of these questions lately

I always thought it was the other way around - that warm air will hold more moisture than cold. If a humi is sitting under a heat vent, I'd expect the RH to go up, all other things being equal.

jadelt

If the room temp where you keep your humidor is lower now than it was all summer, then try recalibrating your hygrometer in the cooler temps.

RELATIVE humidity is higher in cooler temps assuming the same amount of water in the air.

jlmarta

Okey dokey.

laker1963

jlmarta:

jadelt:

Has the temp changed?

Relative humidity is a function of moisture and temp.

"relative humidity will decrease as air temperature increases and increase as air temperature decreases"

Might be why we are seeing a lot of these questions lately

I always thought it was the other way around - that warm air will hold more moisture than cold. If a humi is sitting under a heat vent, I'd expect the RH to go up, all other things being equal.

Warm air will hold more RH then will cold air. The rest was good advice. Recalibrating your hygrometer is always a good idea. I recently had to change out some batterries in two of them as well, so I took the opportuntiy to recalibrate them and I did it in the garage where I keep my coolerdor always. They were out by a couple of points each. The last time I calibrated them was in the house where it was much warmer.

jadelt

laker1963:

jlmarta:

jadelt:

Has the temp changed?

Relative humidity is a function of moisture and temp.

"relative humidity will decrease as air temperature increases and increase as air temperature decreases"

Might be why we are seeing a lot of these questions lately

I always thought it was the other way around - that warm air will hold more moisture than cold. If a humi is sitting under a heat vent, I'd expect the RH to go up, all other things being equal.

Warm air will hold more RH then will cold air. The rest was good advice. Recalibrating your hygrometer is always a good idea. I recently had to change out some batterries in two of them as well, so I took the opportuntiy to recalibrate them and I did it in the garage where I keep my coolerdor always. They were out by a couple of points each. The last time I calibrated them was in the house where it was much warmer.

"relative humidity will decrease as air temperature increases and increase as air temperature decreases" is correct....... either do your own research or you can read this link if you wish...

Warm air does hold more MOISTURE .... BUT..... "Relative humidity" is the relationship between how much moisture Air CAN hold vs how much moisture is in the air.....so once again..... with a given amount of moisture in air, the RH will go up as the temp drops because the air cannot hold as much moisture at a lower temp so the RH goes up..

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/wfaqhumi.htm

boydmcgowan

KingoftheCove:

camgfs:

I would try switching the beads and the hygro(s), making sure to note which humi has what. That way, you could see if it might be a humi problem (warped lid, bad seal). Also, are all the humis in the same room? Different floors or window exposure can make a difference.

Don't want to put those beads into a different humi - the humi they are in is rock solid as far as seal, etc.
Humis are in the same room, right next to each other.
I have 2 hygros in each of my humis - the chances of them both failing at the same time is remote - but it could happen.
I'm going to order some more 65% beads for now......and pull out the beads from this humi until the RH drops to under 70......and go from there.

King, just a thought . . . Its been as foggy as **** this past week in Redwood City, so I'm imagining things have been pretty moist over the hill on the ocean. Even though your humi's create a little micro climate the outside weather can and does affect the rh in your humidors, and even though rh typicall rises in your humi's during the warmer months, I would still think that all the fog might be just throwing things out of whack right now. Maybe I'm way off base here, but in either case, what I'd do, is not panic, but make sure to keep them cool (under 68 degrees) until you figure out the rh thing or it figures itself out.

Anyway no real advice to offer except for some patience, maybe pull the humidification, maybe dry the beads again and see if it creeps up again, and see if next week things are more normal.

boydmcgowan

jadelt:

laker1963:

jlmarta:

jadelt:

Has the temp changed?

Relative humidity is a function of moisture and temp.

"relative humidity will decrease as air temperature increases and increase as air temperature decreases"

Might be why we are seeing a lot of these questions lately

I always thought it was the other way around - that warm air will hold more moisture than cold. If a humi is sitting under a heat vent, I'd expect the RH to go up, all other things being equal.

Warm air will hold more RH then will cold air. The rest was good advice. Recalibrating your hygrometer is always a good idea. I recently had to change out some batterries in two of them as well, so I took the opportuntiy to recalibrate them and I did it in the garage where I keep my coolerdor always. They were out by a couple of points each. The last time I calibrated them was in the house where it was much warmer.

"relative humidity will decrease as air temperature increases and increase as air temperature decreases" is correct....... either do your own research or you can read this link if you wish...

Warm air does hold more MOISTURE .... BUT..... "Relative humidity" is the relationship between how much moisture Air CAN hold vs how much moisture is in the air.....so once again..... with a given amount of moisture in air, the RH will go up as the temp drops because the air cannot hold as much moisture at a lower temp so the RH goes up..

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/resources/askjack/wfaqhumi.htm

Ok so I think your both right, but talking about slightly different things.

Jadelt yes, cool air causes fog and such outside, which is I think what your referring to. Typically our setups are all inside, under much more controlled environments. So the outside moisture can have an affect, but it typically has the reverse effect in the winter months becuase out indoor temps are cool, the humidors are cool, and we're running the heaters which is all very dry air. Thats why typically people find that they need to charge their humi's about twice as often in the winter months than they do in the summer.

Laker is spot on when talking about humidor humidity. Typicall in the summer its more humid outside, doors and windows are open, that air comes in the temperature rises in the houses, and the little controlled environments that we have our humidors in ar exposed to more of the outside world. Guys that live in areas with high humidity actually don't really need to charge their humis at all and guys like me in CA, go from onc a month in the winter to every other month in the summer.

So yeah your both right.