Humidor help

Scottgst10

Hi everyone! This is my first post here on the forums and I need help already. I have enjoyed smoking cigars now for a little over two years and in that time I have really only gone to my local tobacconist and bought two or three cigars at a time and smoked them that day. I want to start my own collection to save time, money and gas spent driving to the store and back so I bought a humidor. I Attempted to season my humidor with the sponge and wipe method. http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/5151 I followed the instructions to the letter and my humidor went to 67% which is where I wanted it. It is very humid where I live so i figured this would be a good RH. However after around 36 hours I checked the RH and it had dropped to 60%. So i wiped everything down again and let it sit over night and it was back at 67% so I bought 10 $1 cigars to do a test run. My box sat at 67% - 70% for around two days then shot up to 80% for an hour then dropped to 60% again and the $1 sticks were all dried out so I don't think it is my Hygrometer. I would love some hints / tips as to what I am doing wrong. I know the Humidor I have will hold a good seal and keep the RH that I want because It is my fathers old one and he used it for decades. My best guess is the humidifier is going bad but i'm too inexperienced to know for sure.

Rain

A lot of people don't recommend wiping because it can warp the wood. Search around here, but if you put in a shot glass of distilled water and leave it for a few days, that would IMO be the better method. What kind of humidification device are you using? Also, how do you know the seal is good? I'm inclined to think that after decades you might have an issue. Search around for the dollar bill test. Good that you put some smokes in for a test run, they help regulate RH. How big is the humi?

RCY Cigars

Welcome to forum Scott. You came to pretty good place to get an answer to your question and maybe more questions afterwards. There's a section named Cigar 101. Click on that and in the search type just the word season. I'm sure your question will be answered. Once again, welcome to the forum and enjoy the hobby .

brianetz1

jd50ae

http://www.humidor-guide.com/

Scottgst10

Thanks for the response! Regarding my humidor It is a 100 count box and I tested the seal by placing a small smoke machine in the box then placing the box in a vacuum chamber (I work in a chemicals lab) The smoke was not visible and the vacuum pressure did not decrease which means no gas was introduced from the box to the chamber. SO the seal is 100%. I use xikar humistore crystals (a 100 count item) for humidification but I think Im going to try the shot glass method and see if that does the trick.

jsnake

Welcome to the forums. Seeing as you are taking the jump into getting your own humidor I hope you will stick around and contribute. We like new people. Especially ones with brand new empty humidors.

honorknight7

Rhamlin

You got to give it time especially in the winter. Figure on at least 3 days to a week. And leave it closed for a day before you check it. Each time you open it you let in air and moisture out. You should not have cigars in it until you reach the desired humidity level and it holds it for a day or two. And also know that unless you have an active humidification device such as an Oasis unit you will get the occasional spikes up and down of a few percent from time to time.

jd50ae

http://www.humidor-guide.com/