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RH Too High - How Can I Bring It Down?

Pete557Pete557 Posts: 7
in Cigar 101
Hi fellow enthusiasts, While I am new to this forum, I am not new to cigars. I have been smoking for around 8 years or so. And all along, the one thing that I always seem to wrestle with is my humidor. I'm hoping to get some guidance on keeping my humidor at the right RH. I have a table top box that fits about 40 fully loaded - although I've had as many as 25 and as little as a few in there. I started using the Propylene Glycol solution with the silicone beads about two years ago and they were keeping it a pretty steady 68-70%. Lately though, it's gone up to 80% and won't come down. I took the humidifier out altogether but it's still up there. What can I do to lower the RH in the box? Also, I live in central Florida where we use air conditioning indoors 80% of the year. Outside humidity can get as high as 98% and as low as 40% depending on the time of year. Thanks and Merry Christmas to those celebrating it. Pete

Comments

  • PAtoNHPAtoNH Posts: 429 ✭
    Have you salt tested your hygrometer? How full is your humidor now?
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,736 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Oops, double post.
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,736 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Welcome to the forum Pete. There are lots of ways to regulate RH but I'm gonna skip everything else and tell you what I think is the EASY way. There's nothing or more easy for a small desktop humidor (in my opinion) than Boveda packets. They get the job done very effectively without having to fiddle with any PG solutions or distilled water They come in several different RH ranges. My personal preference is to use one of the 69% packets in tandem with a second 65% packet. That way I end up with a RH somewhere in the middle.

    Boveda Link

    (Yes, it's a good idea to salt test your hygrometer to make sure it isn't lying to you. And make sure you have a good reliable digital model hygrometer. Xikar or Hygro-set make nice little round digital models that are more reliable than the analog hygrometers that typically come with desktop humidors.)

    (One way to bring down RH is to leave the lid open on your humidor for a while to immediately bring down RH but only if the RH in your house is below your target RH.)

    (Boveda packets are not the only method I use. In fact, I'm a big kitty litter fan and I use other products as well but I was just giving you the advice I would want if I were in your situation.)
  • Pete557Pete557 Posts: 7
    Thanks for that great information. Y'know, sometimes it's the simple things that we miss - like the possibility of a malfunctioning hydrometer. It's the analog one that came with the box, so I think I'll just go and invest in a digital one. I'll look into those Boveda packets as well. Thanks again for the help. Happy holidays.
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,736 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Happy Holidays!
    Also I forgot to mention that if you use gel jars (and other humidification devices that give off moisture) in tandem with Boveda packets it will, in most cases, help your bovedas last a lot longer than compared to using Bovedas alone. But as always, keep an eye on that hygrometer so you can be sure you don't over-saturate the gel with PG solution or distilled water.
  • Pete557Pete557 Posts: 7
    OK, so I did the salt test on the old hydrometer and it will not calibrate, so it seems it was malfunctioning. Makes sense since my cigars still smoked well despite the apparent 80% RH that the old meter indicated.

    Yesterday I bought an Xikar digital hydrometer/thermometer. I haven't re-seasoned my humidor in awhile so I wiped it down with distilled water and let it sit for a couple of hours. I reloaded my cigars (about 25 of them) last night and this morning it appears to be reading a steady 68% RH and 69 degrees F.

    So it appears the mystery is solved. Thanks for all the advice! Much appreciated.

  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    You should stick around!
    Money can't buy taste
  • New_BootsNew_Boots Posts: 2,651 ✭✭
    Lee.mcglynn:
    You should stick around!
    ...and invest in a larger humi!
  • Pete557Pete557 Posts: 7
    I intend to...Stick around, that is. In regard to the larger humi....probably soon.
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