RTV to help seal a glass-top humidor?

Hi all,

I received a glass-top, 100-cigar capacity humidor for Christmas from my fiancee's parents. The problem is, it's not holding humidity (with the xikar crystal humidifier full, it's at 60, and only because it's full--when it gets time for refilling, it goes down to mid-50% and I'm going through a lot of PG). It had been suggested to me by my local cigar retailer that I use RTV or some kind of sealant, but I'm afraid it will change the flavor of the cigars, but I'm not sure if the smell will reach them.

I have already tried wiping the seals a few times with distilled water to make the cedar swell at the seals, but this has netted me little to no success.

Is RTV viable? Or is the humidor just unserviceable?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

Bob Luken

rchristian2:
The analog is now reading above 70%, and it's been in the bag with the salt since yesterday. May have been 24hrs by now.

edit: And since I hadn't said this before I don't think, thanks all of you for the help and the quick responses. I'm a new member here and think I may stick around.

That's good to hear you will be staying. This is a very welcoming community and we appreciate new guys adding in to the mix. Welcome. Take a look around and post in the "newbie welcoming thread" when you get a chance and let everyone say hi to you.

I will have our quarterly newsletter ready to mail out by the end of the month. Why snail mail? There are some items of interest among members (jokes, tips, and other) that we simply cannot covey online. Please send me a PM (Private Message) here on the forum with your mailing address included. You can give me home address or PO box # or even your work address if you can receive personal mail at work. Either way, I assure you I will not share your address with junk mail distributors.

How to send PM? There are a couple of ways to send a private message. You can click on the pull down menu box labeled "contact" to the far right on the row of menu boxes next to my avatar image in any post. Then select "send private message". Or click on my screen name next to my avatar image and in the next window look in the upper right hand for "send private message". And that's how you do that

avengethis

Is the digital still reading in the 70% range yet? Have you dropped the analog back into the humi to see what that is reading?

rchristian2

As soon as I popped it out and put the analog back in, it started reading in the 53%. The analog is calibrated now after I adjusted it to what it should be, and was never really far off in the first place. Not sure what the heck was the deal with the digital, maybe it DOES need a new battery. I know the digital was reading wrong because the analog went down to the low 60% when I popped it back in.

avengethis

So right now your analog is telling you it is in the low 60's in the humi? The digital is saying 50's now though? I would probably try swapping out the battery on the digi then. I'm not sure if you would need to recalibrate it or not after the battery change. It might not hurt.

rchristian2

I should have been a little more explanatory. The digital is not inside the humidor now, since I popped it out I left it next to the humidor. It's reading the RH in the air in that room, I assume.

edit: I put the digital inside the humidor and it's reading the same as the analog now. About 56%

avengethis

I would try re-seasoning the humi then at this point. Use a large bowl or tupperware container with a good amount of distilled water so you do not have to open the humi to fill it for at least 2 weeks. The goal will be to get it up into the mid 70's for at least a few days steady. Then at that point you would be able to remove the dish of distilled water and see if it holds steady where you want it for the humidification medium you are using. I use beads and they hold my cooler/humi steady at 65%.

edit - If you are going to use a product to seal it I would do it now with no sticks in the humi and let it air out completely for a couple days before starting the seasoning process. As far as a product the aquarium sealant stuff is the best.

rchristian2

Will do. Hate to need to season it again, but if that has to be done, then it has to.

It's a good thing I have another humidor, albeit one I have to open in order to see the humidity factor.