Need higher humidity

Pacman84

Hey guys I'm a newbie. Just got a 20 count humi I've been having trouble getting my humidity up it's at a constant 65 my room temp is at 73. I live in Texas I have three water pillows in there already just wondering what I can do to bring it up a bit any help would be appreciated

Vidarien

65 is perfect as far as im concerned. All of the other people here more expert than I will concur on this.

illinoisgolf99

a few questions before I answer: have you seasoned your humi yet? have you calibrated your hygrometer yet? if its 65 RH thats pretty good, I keep mine between 65-68 if I can.. if you really wanna bring it up though you can put in more humi pillows or just buy some gel or beads or a humidifier, hope that helps!

cholmes8310

Pacman84:

Hey guys I'm a newbie. Just got a 20 count humi I've been having trouble getting my humidity up it's at a constant 65 my room temp is at 73. I live in Texas I have three water pillows in there already just wondering what I can do to bring it up a bit any help would be appreciated

65 is where most around here keep it. I keep mine there. It won't hurt them at that humidity, but it's all a matter of preference.

ejenne87

Go here: www.heartfeltindustries.com. Get one of the smaller tubes of beads. Then, while you are waiting for the beads to get to you search these forums for "humidor seasoning" and you should be all set. If you are having troubles just let us know and we will help you out.

And welcome to the forums! I know I can speak for the rest of the guys when I say we hope you stick around!

bigharpoon

Welcome to the forum Pacman84. A humidor at a constant 65 sounds perfect, I wouldn't want it any higher. If you really want it to get higher than get some 70% beads but really I don't recommend it. Almost every cigar burns better at 65RH.

stephen_hannibal

65rh is just fine.

Pacman84

Yeah rubbed it down with distilled water and even left a small bowl with the water for acouple of days. Haven't calibrated the hygrometer

ejenne87

Pacman84:

Haven't calibrated the hygrometer

This is most likely your problem then. Are you still using the analog one that probably came with the humi? If so, I HIGHLY recommend getting a digital one. Which ever way you go make sure you calibrate it. I would still suggest getting some of the beads though, or even drimistat tubes or Boveda packs. I personally like the beads though.

Pacman84

It's a digital hygrometer sorry I forgot to mention that.

xmacro

Doesn't matter - calibrate it

Pacman84

How do I go about calibrating it?

cholmes8310

Pacman84:

How do I go about calibrating it?

either order a boveda calibration kit (for like $4) or you can do the old salt test. For the salt test, take a soda cap, fill it with salt, and then wet the salt just enough to get it wet. You don't want water standing on top of the salt. Place the cap in a zip lock bag and add the hygrometer. seal it, wait 6 hours (that's always the time I've been told), and then hold the button on the digital to reset the hygrometer to 75% rh. Should be accurate then.

However, some digital don't need calibration according to their instructions. I have a Xikar digital, and it's not recommened to calibrate them.

letsgowithbob

I would go down to your local cigar shop, and pick up a boveda pack. They are a no mess no fuss calibration kit for a hygrometer, Or I would order one from here. A harder way to do it, is to do the salt calibration. You take a ziplock bag, and put a plastic bottlecap full of damp salt in there. The damp salt is the key. It can't be too wet, or too dry, has to be damp. You put your hygrometer in there, and wait 48 hours, the salt will get the air to exactly 75 percent relative humidity. If you wait 48 hours, then whatever your hygrometer reads should be considered 75. (say it reads 81, then you just subtract 6 from your hygro to get what the relative humidity actually is)

Pacman84

Thanks I'm gonna try that.

letsgowithbob

damn cholmes..you must type faster than me.....lol...beat me to it.

Pacman84

would you guys recommend the drymistat tubes to boost up the humidity?

cholmes8310

Pacman84:

would you guys recommend the drymistat tubes to boost up the humidity?

that's a good option, or the cigar gel here on the site. I used the cigar gel to boost mine up from 60 to 67%.

Pacman84

For the tubes do I just add some distilled water inside and leave one in there? How does the gel work?

cholmes8310

Pacman84:

For the tubes do I just add some distilled water inside and leave one in there? How does the gel work?

Not sure about the tubes. The gel is easy. Take the top off, put it in the humidor. It can absorb like 400x it's weight in moisture. It's to be used in combination with other devices, but it helps regulate humidity better. When the gel crystals shrink up, you just add more distilled water or PG solution.

Pacman84

Thanks for the advice cholmes, it's the $9.95 on this website right? I have a 20 count humi, just wondering if it will fit ok in there with the cigars. Also, if I were to buy this, would I still need to use water pillows if so how many?

Pacman84

Or is the $4.95 gel?

cholmes8310

Pacman84:

Or is the $4.95 gel?

I bought the $4.95 cigar.com gel, works just the same. You will lose a little space in the humi.

Pacman84

Would this work better than beads? How does the gel work? Do I apply distilled water or just take the top off and leave it as is?