RH Too High - How Can I Bring It Down?

Pete557

Hi fellow enthusiasts, While I am new to this forum, I am not new to cigars. I have been smoking for around 8 years or so. And all along, the one thing that I always seem to wrestle with is my humidor. I'm hoping to get some guidance on keeping my humidor at the right RH. I have a table top box that fits about 40 fully loaded - although I've had as many as 25 and as little as a few in there. I started using the Propylene Glycol solution with the silicone beads about two years ago and they were keeping it a pretty steady 68-70%. Lately though, it's gone up to 80% and won't come down. I took the humidifier out altogether but it's still up there. What can I do to lower the RH in the box? Also, I live in central Florida where we use air conditioning indoors 80% of the year. Outside humidity can get as high as 98% and as low as 40% depending on the time of year. Thanks and Merry Christmas to those celebrating it. Pete

PAtoNH

Have you salt tested your hygrometer? How full is your humidor now?

Bob Luken

Oops, double post.

Bob Luken

Pete557

Thanks for that great information. Y'know, sometimes it's the simple things that we miss - like the possibility of a malfunctioning hydrometer. It's the analog one that came with the box, so I think I'll just go and invest in a digital one. I'll look into those Boveda packets as well. Thanks again for the help. Happy holidays.

Bob Luken

Pete557

OK, so I did the salt test on the old hydrometer and it will not calibrate, so it seems it was malfunctioning. Makes sense since my cigars still smoked well despite the apparent 80% RH that the old meter indicated.

Yesterday I bought an Xikar digital hydrometer/thermometer. I haven't re-seasoned my humidor in awhile so I wiped it down with distilled water and let it sit for a couple of hours. I reloaded my cigars (about 25 of them) last night and this morning it appears to be reading a steady 68% RH and 69 degrees F.

So it appears the mystery is solved. Thanks for all the advice! Much appreciated.

Lee.mcglynn

You should stick around!

New Boots

Lee.mcglynn:

You should stick around!

...and invest in a larger humi!

Pete557

I intend to...Stick around, that is. In regard to the larger humi....probably soon.