Bead placement in humidor

gott.des.feuer

So I've had my beads for a few days now, but I haven't put them in my humidor because I'm trying to figure out what containers I want to/should use to achieve the greatest effect. I heard somewhere that they'll have a better effect when the most surface area is exposed, so I was thinking of getting some of these, in the 3" D x 9" W x 2" H size for my 150ct humi and 3" D x 12" W x 2" H for my 250ct.

My first question is, should I worry about those containers affecting the taste of the cigars if they're sitting iin my humidors? Second, is this even that big of a concern, or should I just get any old plastic container that's big enough to hold them and the right shape to fit in my humidors and quit worrying about it? My other idea was just modifying a pill box from CVS to hold them. P.S. Just answered my own question... those are epoxy coated steel, and thus I imagine would rust.

j0z3r

When it came time for me to figure out my bead situation, here's what I did. I went rooting through a cupboard until I found a small plastic container ( used butter container) grabbed it, filled it with beads and stuck it in the bottom of the humi. However, I supplement that with a large tube of beads on the top tray as well, so as to have two separate points of humidification... Anyway, that's my setup.

To answer your question, I'd say don't over-think it, just grab a smallish gladware container or something similar and roll with that. Oh, and use more than what is recommended for the cubic inches you need to humidify, I find that works pretty well too.

Joe

kuzi16

i cut up old cigar boxes and made boxes with vents in the lit. they take up a bit more room than a coffin box and i can put cigars over them.

madurofan

hmmmm kuzi damn good idea I might make one of those for the two ounce tubes I just ordered.

Smoke=Fire

kuzi16:

i cut up old cigar boxes and made boxes with vents in the lit. they take up a bit more room than a coffin box and i can put cigars over them.

And I'm still waiting for a picture

kuzi16

my wifa and are should be getting a digital camera soon. she wants to take it on vacation.

urbino

If the idea is to get as much exposed surface area as possible, why not just scatter a layer of beads across the bottom of the humidor? Are the beads not supposed to come in direct contact with the cigars? If that's the case, it'd be easy enough to lay a few thin wooden dowels atop the beads, and put your cigars on those. Just a thought from somebody who knows nothing about the beads.

j0z3r

If you were to do that, I'd imagine you'd have too much exposed surface area and the beads would dry out much, much faster.... not to mention it would make recharging them a bit difficult.

urbino

Ah, yes, I guess recharging could be a bit of a pain. You and your planning ahead. This is why they don't put me in charge of things.

j0z3r

urbino:

Ah, yes, I guess recharging could be a bit of a pain. You and your planning ahead. This is why they don't put me in charge of things.

haha. You know what they say hindsight is always 20/20, foresight usually wears dark glasses and walks with a red-tipped cane.

kuzi16

they dont let off more humidity if there is more surface area. they just work more efficiantly. they will only let off humidity up to the RH they are designed to hold. if the RH gets to high they will soak it up. the beads will keep RH better the more surface area there is. the amount of time between recharging should not change much as long as there are enough beads in there.

madurofan

kuzi got a quick question for you. I ordered those two 2 ounce black top tubes. One of them I'm using for actual humidification the other solely for regulating the humidity in my tupperdor that has my cigar oasis in it. The one for regulating should I even charge the beads or just stick them in dry and let the excess humidity and the oasis charge them. Also once they have all become moist(which should happen eventually because of the oasis) how would I dry them out? Just let them sit out in open air for a while?

kuzi16

i recently had to lover my RH because i over chargeds the beads. i too the beads out and took a hair dryer on cool and dried em out.

if you have the cigar oasis in there I would just use the beads to keep the RH from getting to high. personally i wouldnt charge those.

madurofan

Cool thats what I'll do then. I'm going to use the other tube in my desktop humidor (about 100 ct) I know a lot of you guys use the beads along with a sponge or something else to add some extra humidity. You think I'm cool with one of those Xikar jars of crystals and the beads in the same humi? The Xikar jar uses 80/20 solution.

kuzi16

it should be. If not you can always add more beads or another jar.

madurofan

Ok I was just making sure it shouldn't be a problem using a 80/20 solution in the crystal with the beads(which I will make sure to only use distilled on those).

kuzi16

yeah... the crystals and the beads work differently. the beads should only have distilled water.

madurofan

Right. Just because of the beads work they'll end up absorbing some of the humidity let off by the crystals right? Will this harm them any, in your opinion?

kuzi16

i dont think its the solution that evaporates off, just the water. i think the soulution just regulates how fast humidity is relaesed. i dont see it being a problem at all.

madurofan

Ok cool.