humidification difficulties

Hey guys,

I have a small desktop humidor (~50 ct?) that has worked fairly well until this winter. Lately I am having a hard time keeping the humidity above 65%. I only have about 3 stoges in there at the moment because I am wary to buy more with the humidification so out of whack. I have a puck and a humitube in there that I charge with PG solution regularly but it doesnt seem to help, and what's weird is that i haven't had to charge the tube in a long time. I figured the cold PNW winter air and our new furnace may be affecting it so I put a humidifier in my room; I know this is probably a big no-no, but the only way I can keep the humidity up is by cracking the humidor a little and pointing the humidifier directly at it (the wood doesn't get wet but it lets some very humid air in). I just recalibrated the hygrometer a few days ago and am still having this problem.

Any ideas why this is happening? Do I need to add more cigars or some beads? I dont want to have to point the humidifier at it too much longer

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Lee.mcglynn

StogieBrogie:
Hey guys,

I have a small desktop humidor (~50 ct?) that has worked fairly well until this winter. Lately I am having a hard time keeping the humidity above 65%. I only have about 3 stoges in there at the moment because I am wary to buy more with the humidification so out of whack. I have a puck and a humitube in there that I charge with PG solution regularly but it doesnt seem to help, and what's weird is that i haven't had to charge the tube in a long time. I figured the cold PNW winter air and our new furnace may be affecting it so I put a humidifier in my room; I know this is probably a big no-no, but the only way I can keep the humidity up is by cracking the humidor a little and pointing the humidifier directly at it (the wood doesn't get wet but it lets some very humid air in). I just recalibrated the hygrometer a few days ago and am still having this problem.

Any ideas why this is happening? Do I need to add more cigars or some beads? I dont want to have to point the humidifier at it too much longer

first welcome! Second take the time and read the threads! Third never use pg solution every time! Fourth have you seasoned the humi?!and fifth get rid of the puck!!

New Boots

First off, WELCOME!

More cigars will help, the more sticks you have in there, the less space the humidification devices need to humidify. However, even sitting at 63%, 62% is just fine. My guess is the lack of sticks, is your biggest issue. Yes, winter can be rough on a humidor, especially one of the smaller ones. Get some sticks in there, and see if your issue doesn't go away.

Edit: I just saw Lee's post. I forgot to mention, ditch the puck!

MorganGeo

I'm using Boveda packets during these winter months. Worth the money and no headaches.

cbuck

I received a 69% Boveda Pack in a trade with RCY/Rick. In Connecticut, my humi sat at 67 % since I put it in. In Florida on vacation now, and sitting at 70 %. Seems easy enough. That is since Thanksgiving. Not sure how long they last.

Bob Luken

I would take the few sticks you have left and put them in a Zip lock bag with the humitube. (or better yet a Boveda packet.) Then you can re-season the humidor. Don't wipe it down. Use a shallow container of distilled water and allow the distilled water to indirectly absorb into the interior wood of your humi. This may take a week. Your cigars will be fine in a zip lock bag for a long time. Get a good digital hygrometer if you don't already have one. After you get it re-seasoned, consider using Boveda packets. Boveda packets are the easiest thing to use in a small humidor. And search these threads for tips but don't hesitate to ask us anything. Good luck.

New Boots

How to season/Re-season ---->>>> HERE

Cigary

Welcome and hope by now you're getting your humidor issues corrected. Smaller humidors tend to come with these problems and after the last 20 years of having so many different kinds and sizes I'm a firm believer that bigger is truly better. Depending on the maker of your unit....a lot of the smaller humidors are not made very well...it's just a fact and in order to get them to hold RH one has to get the best possible type of media that will work. I've used pillows in the past with any humidor that is a 50 count type or less and boveda paks work as well. I won't even waste time putting in KL or Beads in a unit that is that small because one is constantly in and out of them all the time and you end up losing RH and the numbers constantly changing. Sooooo,,,,,what is one to do when these issues you speak of happen a lot? I would probably take out all of your cigars...put em in a ziploc bag with a pillow or use a small tupperware while you take your wood humidor and season it...again in case you did or didn't before. Take a small sponge with DW and lightly....key word is lightly...go over the inside of it and the inside top....keep the top open for a couple of days while it dries and then put your hygro inside and close for 24 hours...open and hopefully it will read at least 70%...if it doesn't and it's high let it sit one more day and then fill it at 3/4 ....not full and see where it reads after about 8 hours and use whatever media you want...I'd use a Boveda pak if it were me but everybody is different.

Rain

If you're going to wipe, be very careful.IMO, setting the distilled water inside and letting sit is the safer option. No way you can warp the wood like that.

StogieBrogie

Wow, so many responses! I did look through some threads but I'm new to this site and maybe didn't search for them very well; I didn't see any that seemed to be in as bad a situation as me. I did season the humi when I first got it last year, and heard re-seasoning is unnecessary but maybe I'll give it a try. I'm DEFINITELY going to get rid of the puck and put my stoges in a zip lock bag since I only have a few of them. Thanks for the help everyone!

PsychoSJG

The main problem is having 3 cigars in a 50ct humidor. Every time you open your humidor you let the humidity out, and that a lot of empty space to bring rh back up in. It takes all the moisture out of the wood and cigars to equalize it. Send me you address and I'll help you with this problem.

kuzi16

this is what i put in another thread not too long ago.

kuzi16:
if your humidor is less than 70% full then it will have a harder time maintaining humidity no matter how good the box or hygrometer is. wood, air and cigars are all hygroscopic (they hold moisture). however they are all hygroscopic with different rates of moisture loss. the hygrometer reads the humidity in the air. when you open the humidor the air will almost instantly go to the RH of the room.
wood helps the recovery.
cigars help the recovery. Humidification devices work harder with less wood and fewer cigars.

if you have few cigars and you check the RH often, the recovery will be more difficult so even though your humidor is working correctly the humidity will be low.

scientific reasoning that you need more cigars.

youre welcome.