Question about humidity beads

Hanibal

Will the world stop turning or will I suffer an other ill effects if I cut a few humidity beads in half to fit the shallow humidifier area of a metal tube type travel humidor?

I was given a tube type travel humidor with a hygrometer on top and a shallow humidifier on the bottom that had a green foam thing under the grate.  The foam had started to develop mold so I pulled it out and disinfected the entire tube (sans top with hygrometer) with white vinegar and then rinsed everything with distilled water. 

I have a jar of gel type humidity beads from Cigars International that I can use to replace the green foam but they are a tad bit too large in diameter for the shallow humidifier area.  I was thinking about cutting the gel bead balls in half to fit in there better.

If I do cut a few of the beads in half will this affect how they work?

Thanks for any advice about this.

Cheers,
-Jeff

blurr

I believe you are confusing gel and beads. What you have from this store is likely the gel jars with the kinda soft gel that slowly dries as it releases humidity, and you add distilled water whenthey shrink ie dry up. In this case you can cut up the gel chunks to any size you need and they should work ok still. Humidity beads are smaller almost perfectly round balls, and are much harder. They maybe could be cut in half, but it would be difficult as they are so small and relatively hard, and they basically crumble when you attempt this. For reference on these see conservagel or Heartfelt beads. So my guess is you have the gel with propylene glycol and these are ok to cut, may be slippery and difficult however. Humidity beads can be put in almost any type of container, you just shake a few beads into whatever and mist with water. Beads are harder and don't change size when they absorb water, they just have tiny pockets or holes that hold water molecules. The gels do grow as they absorb water. Either way you can make your own containers with whatever type you have, I assume you have gel.

Rain

Well said Jared.

Hanibal

Thanks for responding.  You are correct that what I have is a propylene glycol product but I think CI changed the product spec a bit ago because it is no longer the gel chunks instead they are little squishy balls that dry up and get smaller and then one just adds distilled water or PG solution to refresh them.

I wound up cutting a few of the balls in half as the whole balls were poking through the grate of the humidifier area.  It seems to be working good.  The tube (more like a pipe) is maintaining around 70%...I may pop the grate off and pull a couple out to see if that lowers it a bit closer to 65% and I am keeping an eye on the cut beads to see if that has an effect on how quickly they dry out....so far so good.

-jeff