Humidity beads question

MAJORdorMo

Ok, I just got a pound of humidity beads, and I'm a tad worried that I didn't charge them right. Here is how I did it:

I put about 3/4 of the beads in a mesh bag and dipped it intu distlled water (making sure to get all the beads). Then shook off the excess moisture when most of the excess was gone, I added the other 1/4 of the beads to the mesh bag.

This should be adequate, right?

j0z3r

Yeah, that'll probably work just fine. I've got a similar setup, beads in a mesh bag, and when I need to recharge them I use a spray bottle and go over the whole bag really good.. That way they don't get too wet, as too much moisture can crack the beads.

MAJORdorMo

Thanks for the reassurance J0z3r. I'm always nervous about doing something wrong when it comes to my humidification.

Now I can take my box of Verdadero Organics out of the Zip-Lock bag w/humipillow and my coolerdor is ready for my box of 5 Vegas Limitada 08s =D

phobicsquirrel

j0z3r:

Yeah, that'll probably work just fine. I've got a similar setup, beads in a mesh bag, and when I need to recharge them I use a spray bottle and go over the whole bag really good.. That way they don't get too wet, as too much moisture can crack the beads.

I was wanting to do the same but all the empty bottles I find in stores have a plastic smell in them. I am afraid of getting that smell in the beads somehow especially if the water sits in the thing. Did you get the bottle from a special store? A particular brand? Right now I just pour a bit in a cap and spread it around, problem is I get too much water in the device and I have to let it drain out, it's a real pain in the ***... I can't have a-r-s-e spelled out??? wtf!

jlmarta

For whatever it's worth, I don't 'charge' my beads at all. I think I've mentioned in other posts that I just leave my beads dry and I put a small custard bowl about 1/3 full of distilled water in my coolidor and then I just let the beads do what they're designed to do.

They'll absorb any excess RH or release moisture back into the air if the RH gets too low. This is their job. I figure if museums use these beads to protect valuable works of art, and the beads can be designed to maintain a given % of RH, why should I do the work?

In my earlier experience, before I learned that they'll do this, I had problems whenever I tried 'charging' the beads, no matter how little water I added. The RH would ALWAYS be too high and I couldn't seem to control it. The way I do it now, I don't have to worry about it.

Marty

j0z3r

phobicsquirrel:

j0z3r:

Yeah, that'll probably work just fine. I've got a similar setup, beads in a mesh bag, and when I need to recharge them I use a spray bottle and go over the whole bag really good.. That way they don't get too wet, as too much moisture can crack the beads.

I was wanting to do the same but all the empty bottles I find in stores have a plastic smell in them. I am afraid of getting that smell in the beads somehow especially if the water sits in the thing. Did you get the bottle from a special store? A particular brand? Right now I just pour a bit in a cap and spread it around, problem is I get too much water in the device and I have to let it drain out, it's a real pain in the ***... I can't have a-r-s-e spelled out??? wtf!

I bought my bottle at Walmart. I didn't check to see if it smelled plasticy or not, it wasn't a concern to me. And if it was smelly, then it hasn't transferred or I probably would have noticed by now.

kuzi16

jlmarta:

In my earlier experience, before I learned that they'll do this, I had problems whenever I tried 'charging' the beads, no matter how little water I added. The RH would ALWAYS be too high and I couldn't seem to control it. The way I do it now, I don't have to worry about it.

if they are the 70% beads thsi doesnt shock me.
i have heard that about them before.
for some reason the 65% beads dont do that as much. in the summer i have about 10% of the beads charged. in the winter i hav about 60% charged.
this time of year sucks. first its snow, then its rain. the RH is hard to keep steady. right now my beads are about 30-40% charged. some days the RH is high (68%) and some its spot on (65%)

im not to worried but when the temp is consistent then i have it at 65% all the time.

its just the "transition month" that sucks.

jlmarta

kuzi16:

jlmarta:

In my earlier experience, before I learned that they'll do this, I had problems whenever I tried 'charging' the beads, no matter how little water I added. The RH would ALWAYS be too high and I couldn't seem to control it. The way I do it now, I don't have to worry about it.

if they are the 70% beads thsi doesnt shock me.
i have heard that about them before.
for some reason the 65% beads dont do that as much.

No, the ones I have are the 65% jobs and I think they do a fantastic job.

Marty

TatuajeVI

Nice tip, Marty. I'll try that out with mine.

kuzi16

i have WAY to many beads in my humi. i guess that would explain why the above mentioned problem of over humidification when water is added is not so much a problem with my set up. i could see that being an issue.

and
after thinking about it i have had my RH spike up when adding water( but only when i added WAY to much). the 70% beads cant/wont bring it down as fast as the 65% beads do.