Humidor is at 70 without cigars, but once I put them in it goes up to 80 : (

nazehner

Hey guys. It has been awhile since I posted on here, but I just got my first humidor.  I put a shot glass of distilled water in, filled the humidifer with distilled water, salt tested my hygrometer, and seasoned it until the humidor was at about 70.  It didn't seem to take too long, 1 1/2 days, so maybe I didn't do it right.  Anyways, I left the humy closed for a day empty to make sure it was sticking at 70 and it was, so I filled it with about 90 sticks.  I come back the next day and it is up to 80.  I am using the humidifier that came with the humidor.  I got the Southport Large Humidor Mahogany off ccom.  I don't know what to do.  My budget is kind of tight, so springing for a digital and some beeds might be a hard sell to the wifey.

Thanks guys,
Nick

rwheelwright

First, if the cigars are humid and moist enough that might be the problem. Between seasoning it and moist cigars it might be too high. Personally, I would open it a couple of times a day and make sure that it is in a cool dry place. Before beeds I would do a digital hygro as you stated. You can get one cheap. $10 - $20. I definately understand the tight budget so do it when money permits. People here swear by beeds. I have yet to use them just because I have my stuff that I use already but I may try them out sooner than later. I bought the huge dome humi that came with to humidifiers. Right now I have neither in. I have two humi pillows uptop and one jar of gell at the bottom. The humidifiers got moldy even though I used distilled water and even after I boiled them. Plus I had a problem with this humi reaching 80%+. So, for now I have just what I mentioned in there plus it is extremely filled. I think I finally have it at 65% for the last 2 weeks.

4bob4

As mentioned the cigars may have been too moist and that is the reason your humidity spiked. The beads are also not that expensive but I too understand tight budgets as I have not bought a cigar in a while and supplies are dwindling. How big is the humidor? Is it stuffed to the brim with the 90 smokes or is there still a lot of room left over. I would say that the seasoning taking about 1.5 days is just about right (especially if the unit isn't that big). I'd probably take out the humidification device for a day and then put it back in and just check your humidity once a day and see if it starts to go down. Best of luck!

nazehner

Its supposed to hold 120.  It is pretty full, but there is still some room.  I am not sure I could put a full 120 in there.  Mostly cheapos, but I have a few good sticks in there.  Should I take the good sticks out and put them in a bag with a pillow until I get this worked out? I will take the humidifier out and let the box sit for a day or two. 

Thanks

Theedge

You could consider using the xikar proplylene glycol solution - I use it in both of my humidors and they always read at 70-72.  No worries.  I've been getting mine on ebay, you don't end up using very much.

shamrocked

I had the same problem with my humi - it is in a pretty cool place without much sunlight - with the distilled water i could never get it to stabilize at a standard temp/humi - decided to throw down a few bucks for the crystals and now my humi is spot on between 68-70 humidity - i usually open it once every couple of days for a cigar. i would definitely check into the crystals though - they have been great for me so far.

cabinetmaker

Take the humidifyer out and set it next to the humidor (or somewhere else) and allow the cigars and the humidor to come to equilibrium on thier own. I have one small one filled with cheap cigars with no humidifyer in it and humidity has been perfect over a month.