humidity

zenith

The humidity in my humidor is reading 85-90. How do I get it back to 70? I have a basic humidifier and analog hygrometer.

Bob Luken

Welcome. Analogs are known to be off, sometimes way off. Do you have any cigars in there now?

Gray4lines

First, welcome to the forum! Hang around and you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know.

There could be a few issues here. First, have you calibrated your hygrometer? If not look up how to " salt test" a hygrometer to make sure your rh reading is accurate. If you don't have a digital hygrometer, I'd consider one.

if in fact your humidor is at 85-90 take your cigars out and place them in a ziplock bag until the humidy comes down. Try leaving the lid open for a few hous, using a hair dryer (low or no heat) on your humidifier to dry it out some, or placing some dry humidity beads or rice in (in a small dish) in the humidor to soak up the humidity.

if you haven't looked into beads or gel as a humidifier, you may want to. They are generally less hassle and easier to maintain. Sounds like you just have a little too much distiller water in there, though. Let us know how the process goes or if none of these suggestions help!

zenith

Yes I do. A couple of Ave Maria's, about 7 Genesis/ Project and a couple of singles, thus my growing concern. I did calibrate the hygrometer and it was all good until spring hit here in PA. and it's been 80+ humidity since.Temp in my house has been close to 72. I guess I better switch to the glycol beads instead of the basic sponge filled humidifier I have. I tried putting some rice in there to no avail.

Bob Luken

zenith:

Yes I do. A couple of Ave Maria's, about 7 Genesis/ Project and a couple of singles, thus my growing concern. I did calibrate the hygrometer and it was all good until spring hit here in PA. and it's been 80+ humidity since.Temp in my house has been close to 72. I guess I better switch to the glycol beads instead of the basic sponge filled humidifier I have. I tried putting some rice in there to no avail.

Your seal or lack of seal may be allowing the humidity into your humidor. No offence, but I would trust a ziplock and a boveda more than your humi. And I don't trust analog hygometers at all. They would be better of in a ziplock by themselves for now. Check out cat litter. Plenty of cat litter threads here. I think you could dry out your humi with it. Make sure it's 100% silica odor free.

http://www.cigar.com/cs/forums/thread/662651.aspx

Rain

Before you jump to KL, make sure you know what you're doing.For a humi, no cooler or wineador, I would go with beads.

Bob Luken

Rain:

Before you jump to KL, make sure you know what you're doing.For a humi, no cooler or wineador, I would go with beads.

Beads ARE Kitty Litter! Kitty Litter IS beads!

Bob Luken

Let me be clear about what I meant. Here's what I would do. You should take out your cigars and ziplock bag them. Get some silica cat litter ( It has to be the right kind ). And get some panty hose and fill those panty hose with some silica cat litter ( It has to be the right kind ). Then stuff that humidor with dry cat litter for 12 hours and check RH again. I think that will get your RH back down pretty quick. Repeat if nessesary. Then I would put those sticks back in there with NO humidification device and allow them to sit for a day and see what RH you get. I still think you have a bad seal and the high RH in your house is sneaking into your humidor. Using Bovedas are good because they would absorb excess moisture. After you get it going again I recommend two 65% Boevedas and see how that goes. If RH is still too high, Use the Bovedas in combination with a small amount of "dry" silica cat litter ( It has to be the right kind ). The kitty litter will also absorb excess moisture. Above all, check your seals on humidor while it's empty. I've heard that you can use masking tape to help reduce the gaps in seals (although I've not tried this yet myself.)

I realize there could be a better plan but if it were me that's what I'd try.

Rain

Bob Luken:

Rain:

Before you jump to KL, make sure you know what you're doing.For a humi, no cooler or wineador, I would go with beads.

Beads ARE Kitty Litter! Kitty Litter IS beads!

No way.

catfishbluezz

Let me guess, you wiped your humi down with distilled water correct?

Gray4lines

Warmer temps can make rh climb. Yes, id ditch the sponge humidifier. Just take it out for now and see if rh drops.

Sponges are a "one way street" for humidity. They only release it. You need a "two way" system; beads, boveada or gels will absorb excess humidity and release when rh drops.

Bob is right, unscented silica cat litter is the same material as beads. If you dont wanna fool with that, buy thelowest rh heartfelt beads (in a disk, tube, or nylon sock...doesnt matter) and throw them in your humi.

Cigary

When summer hits is when we see a lot of posts about High RH in our humidors. Here in Hotlanta we see some real moist days and it used to play havoc with my humidors. KL is one answer but if you want a quick fix I've used those small silica pouches we've all seen....I have a few that are small and others that are twice as large and they work very well and absorb RH pretty quickly. That's just a short term fix though and I'm sure you want something that will keep them at the RH you like. Beads work great...tends to be expensive if you have a large collections KL works just as great....only takes a day to dial in the RH you want Floral Foam.....it works but you take a risk of this stuff getting mold/bacteria Gels....they work but that can get expensive with a large collection 50/50 mixes....this works well but you need to ensure that you have a 50/50 mix and that means you are married to this type of humidification if you use it. Boveda Paks....work very well but not a great idea for large collections

catfishbluezz

Cigary:

When summer hits is when we see a lot of posts about High RH in our humidors. Here in Hotlanta we see some real moist days and it used to play havoc with my humidors. KL is one answer but if you want a quick fix I've used those small silica pouches we've all seen....I have a few that are small and others that are twice as large and they work very well and absorb RH pretty quickly. That's just a short term fix though and I'm sure you want something that will keep them at the RH you like. Beads work great...tends to be expensive if you have a large collections KL works just as great....only takes a day to dial in the RH you want Floral Foam.....it works but you take a risk of this stuff getting mold/bacteria Gels....they work but that can get expensive with a large collection 50/50 mixes....this works well but you need to ensure that you have a 50/50 mix and that means you are married to this type of humidification if you use it. Boveda Paks....work very well but not a great idea for large collections

We have teh exact opposite problem in CA lol... Humidity drops from dry heat, almost have to reseason at times. I still have two small containers of d/water in one and it's low. Good thing I like them dry.

Lee.mcglynn

I'm sweating my a$$ off here in pa and humidity is high but I use 65% boveda and that's where my rh holds...yup boveda again lmao

Cigary

I have a condo in San Diego and often wonder why I am spending summer here in Atlanta? Probably because I have my whole collection here but next summer...will be in SD from May til Oct...no more sweating my *** off.

rzaman

I am in a pretty good shape. The weather is usually cigar friendly here but not perfect.

Bombay

Didnt want to start a new thread....quick question because this has never happened to me and I think I know the answer but no question is ever dumb, right? When the temp spikes in your humi does your humidity also take a dive, esentially does the temp rise and automatically humidity drops. Just put in a new Boveda pack and noticed after a relocation that the temp spiked and humidity crashed not crazy but definitely 4/5 points.

Cigary

Since I have over 30 humidors made from wood, tupperware, coolerador I feel I can answer this from experience. Having a stable RH is key and while temps do rise and fall depending on where you have them in your home RH usually will not fall. In one room I keep about 4 humidors and the daily temp may get up to around 80 degrees and I will check my tupperadors because I can see through them and I have my hygro positioned where it can be see easily. I like my stuff stored at 65% and even if the temps soar into the low 80's my RH is still at 65-67% and I use KL. I'll even check the wood humidors and it's the same..rock solid at 65 - 67%. The best place to store your stuff is not hear any outside walls as heat tends to bake the outside of your homes...find a place that is as close to the ground ( basements are wonderful ) where no ambient light can shine and thus making temps rise. I've put humidors in closets in the dark where no light source can get to it and I've put coolers in those closets with the humis inside if the A/C goes on the fritz...use the blue ice as that will keep the temp in the cooler at a nice temperature. I know there are those who can't afford to keep the air on while they are work so this kind of thing is helpful...block ice and a cooler or I can even show you the Redneck way of making an A/C where it can cool a room down to the mid 70's even though it's almost 95 outside.