Home Cigar 101

Heartfelt beads

Jjk918Jjk918 Posts: 11
I have a 125 count humidor that's about full. I use 65 r/h Heartfelt beads and my humidity stays at 70 r/h. I have 2 digital and 1 analog hygrometers and all are calibrated. No a big deal, just wondering if they sent the wrong beads or what.
«1

Comments

  • Usaf06Usaf06 Posts: 10,932 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I have 70 rh beads and average between 65-68 in my two
    "I drink a great deal. I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two-hundred-percent form."
    -- Winston Churchill

    "LET'S GO FRANCIS"     Peter

  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    If you just put some new cigars in you may see an increase temporarily, but that's not bad.  If they were dead on accurate @65, and stayed there, I would question my hygro's, lol.  Mine go up and down a little depending on seasonal conditions here.  
  • Jjk918Jjk918 Posts: 11
    Ok thank you.
  • LiquidChaos66LiquidChaos66 Posts: 3,767 ✭✭✭✭
    edited April 2016

    I have 65% heartfelt beads too... they usually leave my humi around 65-68... but I can regulate it by changing the size of my water cup that I use to provide the humidity. I leave my beads dry and let them absorb the excess humidity until I see the RH go up higher than I want (I cant do that as of now... my new hygrometer is being shipped as we speak.... so I have no gauge at all LOL) When the RH gets too high I take the water cup out or change it to a shot glass. the regulate that way.

    Life is like a blind fiver. You never know what you're gonna get.
  • Jjk918Jjk918 Posts: 11
    I have my beads in a Tupperware dish. When I recharge them, I dip them in distilled water. Excess water is allowed to drain and I put them back in the dish. There is no water in the bottom of the dish. 
  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Uh, the beads are intended to absorb excess moisture from the air and release it when necessary. They're not intended to be humidifiers. If you saturate the beads they can't absorb as they're supposed to. 

    The proper way to use them is to leave them dry and use a humidifier to hold the water. Some folks use a shot glass or similar and some folks use a puck-style humidifier. 

    I think this is the most misunderstood element in all of cigar-dom and I can't count the number of times I've explained it....  B)

  • avengethisavengethis Posts: 5,686 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That is inaccurate according to heartfelt @jlmarta. They are just like bovedas in the fact that they are a 2 way humidification device. I use 65% beads in 1 cooler and it is always rock solid at 65. If it goes lower I know I need to add moisture to my beads.
    Team O'Donnell FTW!

    "I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
  • LiquidChaos66LiquidChaos66 Posts: 3,767 ✭✭✭✭
    jlmarta said:
    Uh, the beads are intended to absorb excess moisture from the air and release it when necessary. They're not intended to be humidifiers. If you saturate the beads they can't absorb as they're supposed to. 

    The proper way to use them is to leave them dry and use a humidifier to hold the water. Some folks use a shot glass or similar and some folks use a puck-style humidifier. 

    I think this is the most misunderstood element in all of cigar-dom and I can't count the number of times I've explained it....  B)


    You sir were the one who taught me how to use them... lol
    Life is like a blind fiver. You never know what you're gonna get.
  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That is inaccurate according to heartfelt @jlmarta. They are just like bovedas in the fact that they are a 2 way humidification device. I use 65% beads in 1 cooler and it is always rock solid at 65. If it goes lower I know I need to add moisture to my beads.
    I see that Dave, at Heartfelt, has now added a line of humidifiers containing beads. I can only assume he has picked up on the propensity of some forum members to insist on using them in this manner and intends tocapitalize on that. Nothing wrong with that. After all, this IS a capitalistic nation. I applaud him for doing that. 

    It doesnt, however, change the nature of silica gel beads for humidity control. According to Wikipedia, they are used to remove moisture from the air. I find nothing in the description of silica gel where it refers to using the beads 'wet' as a humidifier. 

    Try this: throw a sponge into a bucket of water. When it's saturated, take it out and place it on a saucer or other flat surface. Now, how much more moisture do you think it will absorb out of the air??

    If you read far enough in the Wikipedia item, it says, for instance, that one of the uses for silica gel is to control humidity in places like museums where art objects sometimes require humidity control. Can you envision a museum hiring someone to go around wetting all the silica gel wherever it's being used??
  • Jjk918Jjk918 Posts: 11
    I didn't explain throughly, I dip half of the sack into the water, the beads on top remain white and dry. This seems to work for me. Stays at 69-70 r/h. I am probably doing it wrong, I saw the setup on Cigarobsession video on YouTube and tried it.
  • avengethisavengethis Posts: 5,686 ✭✭✭✭✭
    http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/faq.asp

    Read the first FAQ. Heartfelt beads are not pure silica gel.
    Team O'Donnell FTW!

    "I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
  • avengethisavengethis Posts: 5,686 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Also @jjk918 read the very bottom. It specifically says to not dip them it submerge them in DW.
    Team O'Donnell FTW!

    "I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
  • Jjk918Jjk918 Posts: 11
    Yeah I saw that. Learn something new everyday.
  • LiquidChaos66LiquidChaos66 Posts: 3,767 ✭✭✭✭
    Don't let it discourage you at all... It will all work out in the end
    Life is like a blind fiver. You never know what you're gonna get.
  • matkn293matkn293 Posts: 3,565 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Just get a spray bottle and fill with DW. A few spritzes here or there will do the trick rather than fully saturating the beads in water. 

    Life is too short to smoke bad cigars!!!

    Oh when the Blues, Oh when the Blues, Oh when the Blues go marching in!


  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/faq.asp

    Read the first FAQ. Heartfelt beads are not pure silica gel.
    I read the first FAQ. Then I read the second one. Here's a copy of the second one and some info from the Wikipedia item:

    How do I add distilled water to the beads when they get dry?

    "There are a number of ways to do this. You can just pour distilled water on the beads. A lot of folks do it this way but the beads can fracture when it is done this way. One thing to remember, fracturing will not affect the efficiency of the beads or ruin them in any way, they will still do their job. A good rule of thumb is 25ml of distilled water per pound. 


    Then, in the Wikipedia item, there's this statement:

    Some types of silica gel will "pop" when exposed to enough water. This is caused by breakage of the silica spheres when contacting the water.[4]

    Now, in Dave's answer to the first question, he says that the beads are definitely not silica gel but in his answer to the second question he says the beads can fracture when in contact with water. Do you not see a contradiction here?

    I'll tell ya what - why don't we just agree to disagree and leave off beating this dead horse. There are those of you who are just not going to accept the logic of this and will continue to believe that you have to wet the beads. And then, there are those of us who never wet them but who use a humidifier along with dry beads and whose humidity stays rock solid at the design specified by the beads purchased. Personally, I find it difficult to argue with success. 

    But it I also find it very tiring trying to convert the masses so this will be my last attempt at it. Those of you who are 'wetters' just go on wetting your beads if that's what you believe, and I'll continue doing it the way it works for me. 

    Thanks for the give-and-take and the mental stimulation it provided. That part, at least, was enjoyable....  B)
  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    I did the beads for a couple of years, no problems just some white pixie dust from them in the humi's.  Now I'm doing Boveda, no muss, no fuss, no pixie dust.
  • WylaffWylaff Posts: 5,269 ✭✭✭✭✭
    My understanding was that you wet them if you rh is lower than the beads, and you put them in dry if it is higher. Seems simple enough...
    "Cooking isn't about struggling; It's about pleasure. It's like sǝx, with a wider variety of sauces."

    At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    No further comment.....
  • johnnyBjohnnyB Posts: 1,553 ✭✭✭✭✭
    fin
    Non Crux sed lux
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,004 ✭✭✭✭✭
    jlmarta said:
    No further comment.....
    attorney movies my cousin vinny
  • Usaf06Usaf06 Posts: 10,932 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Lmfao.
    "I drink a great deal. I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two-hundred-percent form."
    -- Winston Churchill

    "LET'S GO FRANCIS"     Peter

  • Usaf06Usaf06 Posts: 10,932 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Usaf06 said:
    ****.
    Apparently LM FAO is blocked
    "I drink a great deal. I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two-hundred-percent form."
    -- Winston Churchill

    "LET'S GO FRANCIS"     Peter

  • Jjk918Jjk918 Posts: 11
    Sorry for causing all this commotion with that question. Everybody's gonna hate the new guy!



  • YaksterYakster Posts: 25,528 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I've actually been following this thread and learning more about using Heartfelt Beads so I feel like I've learned something for if and when I set up a Coolidor.
    I'll gladly bomb you Tuesday for an Opus today. 

                  Join us on the New Zoom vHerf (Meeting # 2619860114 Password vHerf2020 )
  • LiquidChaos66LiquidChaos66 Posts: 3,767 ✭✭✭✭
    Jjk918 said:
    Sorry for causing all this commotion with that question. Everybody's gonna hate the new guy!




    WAY TO GO!!! YOURE RIPPING APART OUR FAMILY!!!!

    11 posts and you've pissed everyone off.... I kid I kid! ;-)

    Welcome to aboard BTW.

    Life is like a blind fiver. You never know what you're gonna get.
  • Dark_RoastDark_Roast Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭
    Jjk918 said:
    Sorry for causing all this commotion with that question. Everybody's gonna hate the new guy!


    Everybody loves the new guy! These Heartfelt beads have a mysterious use. Possibly the manufacturer perpetuates this with their misleading information. Keep the consumer confused and you don't have to take responsibility. Confusion is their defense. Last thing they want is a law suit. "Hey my 50 boxes of Opus were destroyed by your beads WTF!" "I wi ll see you in court!" 
  • dirtdudedirtdude Posts: 5,641 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm confused
    A little dirt never hurt
  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    Jjk918 said:
    Sorry for causing all this commotion with that question. Everybody's gonna hate the new guy!



    Not at all, this is what the forum is about, like the cello, no cello debates.  
Sign In or Register to comment.