You can get scientific about it. If your recharging three 60 gram Bovedas you shouldn't use more than 180 grams of distilled water. (either the direct contact method which I do or the cup filled with water) This prevents the Bovedas from blowing up like a balloon which could cause leaks.
Also note that the Bovedas are most accurate in terms of the rH that they regulate when they're closest to their stated weight, so it's good practice to recharge before they get bone dry.
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I put them in a ziplock bag with a paper towel around them, add some distilled water, wait. Works several times, for sure. If you wait until they get hard, like a cracker* hard, then not so much. There's a point of no return.
*Saltine cracker, not just your average redneck.
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So I've found a different method for recharging them. I've tried all of the different ways, including submersion into water, in a bag next to water, wet paper towel, and all the rest.
Problem with submersing them is like Chris said. They blow up like balloons, or the centers get perfect and the corners are still crusty. The problem with putting the next to water is it they take forever, and again you get in uneven rehydration. Don't get me wrong, both work fine, but I have found but the ones that get over humidified tend to release humidity above their stated RH percentage the ones with crusty corners work fine, but maybe to 98% of what they usually do. Definitely good enough to be hassle-free
Now, I will set the packs on top of a tray of humidified beads. The beads tend to want to release humidity at about 70%, so you don't blow the packs up like water balloons, and they release humidity evenly, so the humidity gets into all of the dry crusty corners. There's also a larger window between optimally charged and overcharged, so there's more room for error. If you forget about it for an extra day, you're not going to kill your boveda.
Doing it this way, I can use a plastic bag or I can just set the beads in the bottom of my humidor and recharge the boveda right in there. No extra containers required. This also doesn't saturate the paper or wrinkle it oh, so it still looks nice and pretty when you're done.
I found that this works really well with the eight and 10 packs, as well as the 60 g packs. I don't have any 320g boveda so I haven't tested out yet.
The trick with this one is to make sure that the boveda fits inside the tray so that no parts of the pack are hanging off the edge. Pretty geeky. But it's fun to play around with this stuff.
I found a couple of more edits while I was in there LOL. It's funny how it looks right on the screen, and then after the microphone goes off, Android changes it to whatever weird language it chooses to.
One more thing on the actual tip, recharging it this way would also work if you had the tray of beads just on a dresser or something. Doesn't have to be in a container. #Protip
Mine no longer blow up like balloons when I pre-measure the distilled water to match what's required to recharge them. I actually measure the actual weight of the Bovedas and subtract that from the rated weight for each pack, add up and add that amount of water.
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I just stick them in a Ziploc with distilled water and let them sit for 3 days. Works perfectly every time. I rest them on a paper towel for 24 hours to dry the paper then back in the humidor. No need to get fancy.
Trapped in the People's Communits Republic of Massachusetts.
@ShawnOL said:
I just stick them in a Ziploc with distilled water and let them sit for 3 days. Works perfectly every time. I rest them on a paper towel for 24 hours to dry the paper then back in the humidor. No need to get fancy.
Do you actually just drop the packs in the water(submerged)
That's what I and many others do, it's one of the fastest ways to recharge them. I would lay them out on a cookie cooling tray to dry when done, but lately I just fill the Tupperware with enough water to recharge the packs and leave it in there until a the water is gone.
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@ShawnOL said:
I just stick them in a Ziploc with distilled water and let them sit for 3 days. Works perfectly every time. I rest them on a paper towel for 24 hours to dry the paper then back in the humidor. No need to get fancy.
Do you actually just drop the packs in the water(submerged)
Yes, completely submerged. As soon as the outer paper looks dry they're ready to go back into service.
Trapped in the People's Communits Republic of Massachusetts.
Comments
Isn't that what you'd say if you were selling them?
I heard that we got the idea to recharge them from someone from Boveda years ago. I do it whenever my packs get low.
They do but you can.
Don't let the wife know what you spend on guns, ammo or cigars.
Nevermind....Peter covered it already.
How does one go about recharging them? Soak them in distilled water?
Some do, I'll place them in a sealed container next to a small cup filled with distilled water. Not in direct contact with the water.
Same
You can get scientific about it. If your recharging three 60 gram Bovedas you shouldn't use more than 180 grams of distilled water. (either the direct contact method which I do or the cup filled with water) This prevents the Bovedas from blowing up like a balloon which could cause leaks.
Also note that the Bovedas are most accurate in terms of the rH that they regulate when they're closest to their stated weight, so it's good practice to recharge before they get bone dry.
I put them in a ziplock bag with a paper towel around them, add some distilled water, wait. Works several times, for sure. If you wait until they get hard, like a cracker* hard, then not so much. There's a point of no return.
*Saltine cracker, not just your average redneck.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
No.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17
So I've found a different method for recharging them. I've tried all of the different ways, including submersion into water, in a bag next to water, wet paper towel, and all the rest.
Problem with submersing them is like Chris said. They blow up like balloons, or the centers get perfect and the corners are still crusty. The problem with putting the next to water is it they take forever, and again you get in uneven rehydration. Don't get me wrong, both work fine, but I have found but the ones that get over humidified tend to release humidity above their stated RH percentage the ones with crusty corners work fine, but maybe to 98% of what they usually do. Definitely good enough to be hassle-free
Now, I will set the packs on top of a tray of humidified beads. The beads tend to want to release humidity at about 70%, so you don't blow the packs up like water balloons, and they release humidity evenly, so the humidity gets into all of the dry crusty corners. There's also a larger window between optimally charged and overcharged, so there's more room for error. If you forget about it for an extra day, you're not going to kill your boveda.
Doing it this way, I can use a plastic bag or I can just set the beads in the bottom of my humidor and recharge the boveda right in there. No extra containers required. This also doesn't saturate the paper or wrinkle it oh, so it still looks nice and pretty when you're done.
I found that this works really well with the eight and 10 packs, as well as the 60 g packs. I don't have any 320g boveda so I haven't tested out yet.
The trick with this one is to make sure that the boveda fits inside the tray so that no parts of the pack are hanging off the edge. Pretty geeky. But it's fun to play around with this stuff.
They blow up like balloons, or the senators get perfect and the corners are still crusty.
lol
Speech-to-text LOL I guess I have some editing to do
aw, I like it the way it is, especially since it is true.
I found a couple of more edits while I was in there LOL. It's funny how it looks right on the screen, and then after the microphone goes off, Android changes it to whatever weird language it chooses to.
One more thing on the actual tip, recharging it this way would also work if you had the tray of beads just on a dresser or something. Doesn't have to be in a container. #Protip
gel beads or silica beads?
The kind that are on strings
Sorry. Wrong forum.
Mine no longer blow up like balloons when I pre-measure the distilled water to match what's required to recharge them. I actually measure the actual weight of the Bovedas and subtract that from the rated weight for each pack, add up and add that amount of water.
I just stick them in a Ziploc with distilled water and let them sit for 3 days. Works perfectly every time. I rest them on a paper towel for 24 hours to dry the paper then back in the humidor. No need to get fancy.
Trapped in the People's Communits Republic of Massachusetts.
I just put them in a ziplock bag with all the small 69% ones I get with orders, wait till they get soft again.
Do you actually just drop the packs in the water(submerged)
That's what I and many others do, it's one of the fastest ways to recharge them. I would lay them out on a cookie cooling tray to dry when done, but lately I just fill the Tupperware with enough water to recharge the packs and leave it in there until a the water is gone.
Yes, completely submerged. As soon as the outer paper looks dry they're ready to go back into service.
Trapped in the People's Communits Republic of Massachusetts.
Thanks for all the good info