Hydra vs Cigar Oasis

Does anyone have any experience and thoughts they would like to share on active humidification systems? Specifically, I'd like to try to compare the Hydra versus the Cigar Oasis Ultra or XL. I see most people on here seem to be happy with heartfelt beads, but I like the idea of the active systems, assuming they work right, they should have a better chance of keeping my puros fresh and be less trouble than a passive system. I currently have a 150 count and a 50 count humidor at home, and a small 20 count on my office desk. I( also have 80 sticks still sitting in cigar.com baggies with pillows plus another 100 plus in various cigar jar, traveledor etc devices, so am thinking about purchasing another 250 - 300 count and fitting it with a Cigar Ultra XL, getting an additional XL for the 150 count, also an ultra in the lid of the 50, but am concerned about the number of problems I see for the CO products and it appears the built in hygrometers can't be calibrated, whereas the hygro in the Hydra can.

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xmacro

I really don't see the need for an active system unless you have a 300-count or more; the XL/hydra are meant for 300-1000 humidors, so to put one in your 150/50 counts is not only overkill, but you're losing room.

That said, I've got a cigar oasis with the XL reservoir on the bottom, and two small heartfelt 65% tubes on the top. (XL and XL plus are the same thing; only difference is the XL plus has a larger reservoir which you can buy separately for $15). The cigar oasis puts out humidity, and the beads are a back-up to ensure the humidity doesn't get too high. After 2 months, my humidity is always rock-steady.

Whichever you get, don't trust the active system hygrometer - you gotta know how much it's off by in order to set the proper humidity (eg - if it reads 5% high, and you wanna maintain 65%, you gotta set the oasis at 70% or so) - I've got 2 Xikar hygrometers in my 300-count, one on the bottom and one on top to make sure the humidity is correct. Once you have digital hygrometers in there, you can play with the settings on the oasis to figure what % to set

txjayhawk

I am running a hydra for my cabinet. I dont have any problems with it. Only suggestion...get an extra water tank just so it is easier to re hydrate when needed. Also..plan on gettign the fan kit if you are going to get a bigger humi.

MrMoke

the humi I am looking at buying is a 300 count, although one site i have seen it advertised as a 250. The Cigar Oasis blurb says to use the XL for up to 300 and the XL plus over that, the Ultra is supposed to be for 75 cigar humis max and will lid mount in place of a hygro and humidifier, also Cigar Oasis say the XL only takes up space of 8-10 sticks. Therefore my reasoning for getting an Ultra and 1 or 2 XLs, 1 for the 300, other for the 150 count I currently have, it's clear from posts I have read the Ultra won't humidify 100+ cigars, I have noticed the cigars in the bottom of my 150 seem a little dryer than the top where the humidifier is, which is why I want to go active, I was wondering what the difference is witht he Hydra SM it is priced close to the CO XL is about same size, but has the bonus of being hygroset so it can be calibrated. But havn't seen much posted on the Hydra here or elsewhere.

MrMoke

Also.... on the beads, am I right in assuming they are used to absorb extra humidity? If so, wouldn't you need to remove them periodically to a dryer environment to allow them to 'expell' the water vapor, lest they become 'full' and unable to absorb vapor?

MrMoke

I just noticed the Hydra looks exactly the same as the Humi-Care sold on CCOM so does anyone know anything about / have experience of the Humi-Care Electronic Humidifier?

urbino

My personal experience with the beads -- and I know I've heard others around here say the same thing -- is that they don't absorb humidity very well. If you're counting on them to play sort of a top-end limiter role, it might not work.

xmacro

MrMoke:
the humi I am looking at buying is a 300 count, although one site i have seen it advertised as a 250. The Cigar Oasis blurb says to use the XL for up to 300 and the XL plus over that, the Ultra is supposed to be for 75 cigar humis max and will lid mount in place of a hygro and humidifier, also Cigar Oasis say the XL only takes up space of 8-10 sticks.

The only difference between the XL and the XL plus is the reservoir ($15 for a new one on ebay) - the fans are identical from what I can tell, but the XL plus reservoir is not only twice the size, but it has a large hole in the center, directly below the fan, which aids in pushing out humidity (the Xl only has two small holes at either end of the reservoir)

MrMoke:
Also.... on the beads, am I right in assuming they are used to absorb extra humidity? If so, wouldn't you need to remove them periodically to a dryer environment to allow them to 'expell' the water vapor, lest they become 'full' and unable to absorb vapor?

I just take them out overnight, put them back in in the morning (note - my room humidity is around 40-50%, so this may not work if your room humidity is over the beads % rating)

MrMoke:
I have noticed the cigars in the bottom of my 150 seem a little dryer than the top where the humidifier is, which is why I want to go active,

Humid air always rises - you might try moving your existing humidifier to the bottom and see if that fixes it, rather than dropping more cash on an active humidifier

The Cank

I use an oasis xl for my 300 count and I love it ! Never a problem. The hygro on the oasis is off by about 5 percent but like said if you have a calibrated hygro to go by its all good.. The xl takes up a good amount of room in a 300 count so anything bigger will be overkill. My oasis stabilizes my humi in about 20 min. so trust me the regular oasis xl is plenty for a 300 count.

cabinetmaker

xmacro:
MrMoke:
the humi I am looking at buying is a 300 count, although one site i have seen it advertised as a 250. The Cigar Oasis blurb says to use the XL for up to 300 and the XL plus over that, the Ultra is supposed to be for 75 cigar humis max and will lid mount in place of a hygro and humidifier, also Cigar Oasis say the XL only takes up space of 8-10 sticks.
The only difference between the XL and the XL plus is the reservoir ($15 for a new one on ebay) - the fans are identical from what I can tell, but the XL plus reservoir is not only twice the size, but it has a large hole in the center, directly below the fan, which aids in pushing out humidity (the Xl only has two small holes at either end of the reservoir)

MrMoke:
Also.... on the beads, am I right in assuming they are used to absorb extra humidity? If so, wouldn't you need to remove them periodically to a dryer environment to allow them to 'expell' the water vapor, lest they become 'full' and unable to absorb vapor?
I just take them out overnight, put them back in in the morning (note - my room humidity is around 40-50%, so this may not work if your room humidity is over the beads % rating)

MrMoke:
I have noticed the cigars in the bottom of my 150 seem a little dryer than the top where the humidifier is, which is why I want to go active,
Humid air always rises - you might try moving your existing humidifier to the bottom and see if that fixes it, rather than dropping more cash on an active humidifier

Steam rises, humidity settles. In my humidor I have to circulate air up as there is a 5-7% difference from bottom to top. It can be even more if I turn off the fans.

letsgowithbob

I have the "treasure dome" humidor with a cigar oasis xl plus. I got the xl plus, because it is supposed to last longer between refills and that's about the only reason. I absolutely love my whole setup. I have two separate calibrated hygros. One of them is on the underside of the lid, and the other is on the bottom of the humi. The humidity is always 2 percent higher in the top of the humidor than the bottom, regardless of what hygrometer is where. I have no experience with the hydra, but I absolutely loooove the cigar oasis xl plus

xmacro

cabinetmaker:
Steam rises, humidity settles. In my humidor I have to circulate air up as there is a 5-7% difference from bottom to top. It can be even more if I turn off the fans.

Humid air is less-dense than normal air:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidity#Humidity_and_air_density

What I should've said is that humid air settles towards the top of the humidor, rather than the bottom. In my 300-count, I typically have 65% on the bottom, but 67% on the top due to the settling effect

cabinetmaker

Mine is just the opposite, my low RH is nearer the top, and high is at the bottom. Possibly the a/c and the fact that its stuffed full might skew my readings.