Beads

taythegibs

Looking at beads (65-70% humidity, to purchase at the end of the month) and trying to decide what to do about getting some soon. I was looking for conservagel beads but cant find them anywhere, do they not make them anymore? If not then i guess i have to decide between the ebay beads (1 lb about $16), the Heartfelt beads (1/2 lb $21.50), or a cigar mechanic setup (about 2x as much as the others) To supplement or replace my CCom gel

Ive read both good and bad reviews on the ebay beads, and the seller im looking at has 100% positive feedback. Heartfelt would come from their site, and i dont know about the CM. Anybody gone with the CM or ebay beads?

Toombes

I just picked up my Heartfelt beads, but if you search the forum you'll find several threads about other members using silica sand kitty litter. Maybe one of them can shed some better light on the subject. I'm with you on this and diving into new humidification territory.

taythegibs

From what ive read kitty litter sounds to me like it only works at letting go of the moisture like gel, and dont you have to "train" silica? ....ill probably end up going with the heartfelt beads too.

jgibv

taythegibs:

Anybody gone with the CM or ebay beads?

I have both CM and ebay beads. CM in my smaller humis and ebay in the coolidor.
Both "brands" have been working well so far and I have no complaints about either. I've found that the CM units hold a bit lower RH (64-67) and the ebay beads are a bit higher (68-70) - but I'm not sure if that's due to the beads or the properties of the humidors since the coolidor is thicker & more insulated than the smaller humis.
The other thing I've noticed is that the CM beads don't seem to change color as much as the ebay beads do when they're dry. It's real easy to tell when the ebay beads are dry because they will turn bright white (like printer paper) but the CM beads only become a little less clear and I haven't once seen them turn white.

IMHO - ebay beads will be the best bang for you buck.
Heartfelt seems to have the best reputation if you don't mind spending some extra $$.
If you need humidifier cases for the beads & are looking to save a little money, then go with CM.

Trident

I just got an order in of beads from ebay for my large humidor. Put 3pounds of beads in the humidor and since putting them in a rock steady rh of 69%. Pm me if you want the guys email directly and maybe even get a better deal from him.

skweekz

Trident:

I just got an order in of beads from ebay for my large humidor. Put 3pounds of beads in the humidor and since putting them in a rock steady rh of 69%. Pm me if you want the guys email directly and maybe even get a better deal from him.

PM to you

Trident

Replied sir

taythegibs

Trident:

I just got an order in of beads from ebay for my large humidor. Put 3pounds of beads in the humidor and since putting them in a rock steady rh of 69%. Pm me if you want the guys email directly and maybe even get a better deal from him.

pm as well

Trident

Replied

Rail_Jockey

Pm to you

Trident

replied. I've gotten a few PMs about the beads, so I guess I should put up a little disclaimer. I personally do not know the person I got them from, and have only had ine for a day. But, my humidor seems to be holding pretty well with them in.

taythegibs

anybody gotten any response for the seller trident used? i got a raise at work so im about ready to get some beads and have already gotten responses from 2 other sellers...

Rail_Jockey

I searched for him, but couldnt find him selling anything he was selling.

taythegibs

he had a few cabinets for sale the other day but that was it, i wonder if he is getting out of the business?

taythegibs

i got my so called "beads" in today and quite frankly, im pissed. they sent me what i can only assume is gel and has the texture of a coarse sand. Before i bought i looked at the sellers reviews, went back several pages, all with positive reviews on the product, and had it narrowed down to two and chose this seller because they were a bit cheaper.

the so called beads-


i am about to write the seller, hopefully there was some kind of mix up, but i doubt it, both of the half pound bags say cigar beads on them.... so great, i now have a pound of gel.

Smokindaddy

I just ordered beads for my wineador today from cigarmony.com. Ive read a lot of good things about them and they are a little cheaper then heartfelt. There service is pretty on par as well, 20 mins after I placed my order I had an email stating the beads had been shipped with a tracking #.

MVW67

taythegibs:

i got my so called "beads" in today and quite frankly, im pissed. they sent me what i can only assume is gel and has the texture of a coarse sand. Before i bought i looked at the sellers reviews, went back several pages, all with positive reviews on the product, and had it narrowed down to two and chose this seller because they were a bit cheaper.

the so called beads-


i am about to write the seller, hopefully there was some kind of mix up, but i doubt it, both of the half pound bags say cigar beads on them.... so great, i now have a pound of gel.

Taylor what did you expect them to look like?.?? :-) pm to yeah!

cmartin

Pm Taylor

taythegibs

replying to pm's

KingoftheCove

They look OK to me, but maybe another pic with a reference point?
I'm not a bead expert - but am happy with what I have been able to do using heartfelt and kl.
This is my opinion only.
You don't want beads that "too big" (ie - green pea size is WAY too big) and you don't want to be dealing with "dust" either, so really small flaky "beads" are no good either.
Perfectly round beads are not better at maintaining rh than irregular shaped "beads", infact, the opposite may well be true.
In general, smaller beads are better at regulating rh - more surface area.
I have a feeling your beads are OK.....but let us know.

taythegibs

I wish they were bigger, they really aren't much different in size from some coarse sand i have for a sandblaster, but im going to put them to use as soon as i can get something to keep them in.... ill keep yall updated.