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Coolidor RH???

catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Posts: 7,000 ✭✭✭
in Cigar 101
So....I put the coolie together on Monday, tossed some cedar in there, did the wipedown as the cedar was very dry in this instance. Saw the inital spike over 90 for 1-2 days, pulled the sponge, tossed a gel jar in there and it hung in the 80's for the next 2 days. I left it open tonight while I smoked and it went down into the 70's. My experience is RH will drop with smokes, but are you guys seeing higher RH in the coolidors with less seasoning needed? I've always been patient with the humidor's honestly to get them dialed. I plan on using beads, just have not ordered them yet...though I have enough, I prefer overkill for regulation. I have enough gel for it now too, but the heartfelt beads have been the most consistent for holding RH IMO. Anyways, let me know your RH experiences with the coolidors. I am not in need of the storage...yet, but will be shortly. All I need is a reason to fill it and some BOTL's to mess with.

Comments

  • y2pascoey2pascoe Posts: 1,727 ✭✭
    catfishbluezz:
    So....I put the coolie together on Monday, tossed some cedar in there, did the wipedown as the cedar was very dry in this instance. Saw the inital spike over 90 for 1-2 days, pulled the sponge, tossed a gel jar in there and it hung in the 80's for the next 2 days. I left it open tonight while I smoked and it went down into the 70's. My experience is RH will drop with smokes, but are you guys seeing higher RH in the coolidors with less seasoning needed? I've always been patient with the humidor's honestly to get them dialed. I plan on using beads, just have not ordered them yet...though I have enough, I prefer overkill for regulation. I have enough gel for it now too, but the heartfelt beads have been the most consistent for holding RH IMO. Anyways, let me know your RH experiences with the coolidors. I am not in need of the storage...yet, but will be shortly. All I need is a reason to fill it and some BOTL's to mess with.
    I just ordered a cooler for my coolidor experiment, so my experience is nil. I'd say get some beads in it, shut the lid, and wait a week. See what is says then.
  • jasonusa1jasonusa1 Posts: 729
    Mine is a 48 qt with 1lb of 65 rh Conservagel beads. After cleaning it out, I wiped down a bunch of cigar boxes and put them in the cooler with the beads and two cups of distilled water for approx three days. Now with cigars in it as well, it is sitting at a consistent 66 as we speak.
  • Russ55Russ55 Posts: 2,765 ✭✭
    catfishbluezz:
    .... but are you guys seeing higher RH in the coolidors with less seasoning needed?
    Yes. Two of my coolers use the same humidity devices (boveda) as my humis, and maintain a higher RH using less of the same device. It's mostly the seal. I have two other coolers that I use with beads, and I'd suggest going with the 65 RH. Mine sit at about 67 with those. I can usually clean, and season a cooler in a day, maybe two if I'm busy.
  • bigharpoonbigharpoon Posts: 2,963 ✭✭✭
    Unlike a wooden humidor a coolidor will not absorb any humidity. The plastic is impermeable so all the humidity being absorbed is dependent on how much wood and cigars you place inside. With that in mind it takes no time to season the actual cooler but could take just as long or longer if you have a lot of unseasoned wood inside trying to acclimate.

    The two things you've put in there so far, the sponge and gel jar, are giving off humidity and no doubt the RH of the inside air is very high. It still takes a while for wood to absorb that moisture though so just because the air is full of moisture doesn't mean the wood is that saturated. You could take out the humidifiers and see what the RH levels out at to get a better representation of the seasoning.

    In general my cooler, with 65% beads half charged, holds RH amazingly well. Better than my humidors actually. Some have put weather stripping around the seal but I haven't found that to be necessary. I have a lot of wood and cigars inside which helps things stay even as well.
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Posts: 7,000 ✭✭✭
    I was thinking of grabbing another box tomorrow. It's held 72-74 cracked open for 3 hours too. I think I just overlooked it but it will settle with ease. Thanks guys....already thinking about filling it up!!!
  • The SniperThe Sniper Posts: 3,910 ✭
    If its holding high humidity, a couple things may help. First, take some of your humidifiers out and put some dry beads in if you have some... they will suck up some of the RH as they're designed to do and bring the overall humidity down a bit. Also, if your humidor has a drain plug at the bottom, leave that open... not only will that help bring your RH down a bit, its also great for air circulation. Finally if its already running high DO NOT use the weather stripping on the lid as that will only add to the problem. Hope this helps.
  • CvilleECvilleE Posts: 1,594 ✭✭✭
    The Sniper:
    If its holding high humidity, a couple things may help. First, take some of your humidifiers out and put some dry beads in if you have some... they will suck up some of the RH as they're designed to do and bring the overall humidity down a bit. Also, if your humidor has a drain plug at the bottom, leave that open... not only will that help bring your RH down a bit, its also great for air circulation. Finally if its already running high DO NOT use the weather stripping on the lid as that will only add to the problem. Hope this helps.
    So leaving the drain plug open will be ok? I would have thought this would be the same as leaving them out, since it wouldn't be air tight then....
  • The SniperThe Sniper Posts: 3,910 ✭
    First, sorry to leave you hanging on this - fighting off some sort of stomach thing and just checked in before returning to bed and praying for death to come. :-)

    Right then... "air tight" is a bit of a misnomer as we tend to use it around the forums here. First, air tight is nearly impossible to actually achieve unless you have a reverse pressure air system, which no humidor I have ever heard of does - they're usually used by the military in chemical warfare command and control systems and such. While you DO want a nice tight seal on your humidor, you do NOT want an air tight seal. You need some airflow around your smokes, as its good for them. As long as you keep a fairly constant humidity yet maintain a little airflow, you're golden. This is one of the reasons you see the guys who have been around the hobby and forums longer telling newer members not to freak out when they post that their humidity has "dropped to 63%!" or "spiked to 72%!". Probably just due to airflow, and the couple percentage points of RH high or low isnt a world breaker.

    Now - every modern (read: purchased in the last 10 years NOT from someplace like Family Dollar or the like) cooler Ive ever seen used as a coolidor has a SERIOUS seal on it, which stands to reason since cooler manufacturers produce these things with an eye towards keeping food from spoiling, not maximizing cigar storage properties. Thats why its important to open up your coolidors everyday - gotta get some fresh air in there. For those of us who dont quite get around to opening up the coolidors quite so often, leaving the drain hole at the bottom open helps offset the difference. Without getting into a dissertation of air flow inside a confined space (this has already turned into a novel, and Im feeling not so hot again) , the fresh air comes in thru the bottom, where your humidification device is in 99% of coolidors, catches some of that humidification... remember, humidity naturally rises, taking some of the freshness of the new air up with it.

    Hope I got this right, and one of the sensei's around here can either expound on or correct what Ive said if they feel the need. Right now gotta go lay down before I fall down - peace out brothers!

  • CvilleECvilleE Posts: 1,594 ✭✭✭
    Thanks for the reply, and hope you get to feeling better soon man. I do open (burp) my cooler everyday and notice the difference using the same humidity measures in the humi vs. cooler. That is why I raised the question. Get well my friend, and thanks for your help.....
  • djbeeniedjbeenie Posts: 469 ✭
    catfishbluezz:
    So....I put the coolie together on Monday, tossed some cedar in there, did the wipedown as the cedar was very dry in this instance. Saw the inital spike over 90 for 1-2 days, pulled the sponge, tossed a gel jar in there and it hung in the 80's for the next 2 days. I left it open tonight while I smoked and it went down into the 70's. My experience is RH will drop with smokes, but are you guys seeing higher RH in the coolidors with less seasoning needed? I've always been patient with the humidor's honestly to get them dialed. I plan on using beads, just have not ordered them yet...though I have enough, I prefer overkill for regulation. I have enough gel for it now too, but the heartfelt beads have been the most consistent for holding RH IMO. Anyways, let me know your RH experiences with the coolidors. I am not in need of the storage...yet, but will be shortly. All I need is a reason to fill it and some BOTL's to mess with.
    I would use beads or Kitty Litter. I use KL and keeps my r/h between 63-67%.

    http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11256828

    Put your KL into these bags:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/HBH-Aqua-Pure-Aquarium-Filter-Media-Bags-4-x-12-12-pk-/350412529850
  • laker1963laker1963 Posts: 5,046
    djbeenie:
    catfishbluezz:
    So....I put the coolie together on Monday, tossed some cedar in there, did the wipedown as the cedar was very dry in this instance. Saw the inital spike over 90 for 1-2 days, pulled the sponge, tossed a gel jar in there and it hung in the 80's for the next 2 days. I left it open tonight while I smoked and it went down into the 70's. My experience is RH will drop with smokes, but are you guys seeing higher RH in the coolidors with less seasoning needed? I've always been patient with the humidor's honestly to get them dialed. I plan on using beads, just have not ordered them yet...though I have enough, I prefer overkill for regulation. I have enough gel for it now too, but the heartfelt beads have been the most consistent for holding RH IMO. Anyways, let me know your RH experiences with the coolidors. I am not in need of the storage...yet, but will be shortly. All I need is a reason to fill it and some BOTL's to mess with.
    I would use beads or Kitty Litter. I use KL and keeps my r/h between 63-67%.

    http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11256828

    Put your KL into these bags:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/HBH-Aqua-Pure-Aquarium-Filter-Media-Bags-4-x-12-12-pk-/350412529850
    When you are preparing a cooler for use, you really only need to clean it well to avoid odours inside. The seasoning of it only involves whatever amount of cedar you have added to the inside to the desired RH. You could just throw all the boxes you plan on using inside the cooler for a while with whatever humidification device you plan to use and wait for the interior to reach your desired RH. After that you are good to go.

    I avoid using varnished boxes inside my cooler as they don't allow proper transpiration of the moisture through the varnish. Coolers are by far the easiest method to store sticks and to get set up. IMO
  • catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Posts: 7,000 ✭✭✭
    FYI...the coolie has been chilling for a few days now at 68% RH, two boxes of cuban rounds broke up for their cedar, and 50-60 sticks... Now all I need is about 300 more to fill it up
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