The Humi Blues
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Good morning everyone.
I just purchased my first humidor. It's a medium size Savoy, Spanish Cedar lined with a good size humidification device. I brought it home and immediately conditioned it with distilled water and left the rag in it with a half full humi device over night. The following morning everything looked good, humidity hovering around 71. Upon returning home that evening I checked it again and the humidity had fallen to about 60. I proceed to recondition the interior and let it sit overnight again. The following morning the same is true. Humidity around 62. I am singing the Humi Blues over here as I am expecting a large shipment from cigar.com today. Any help from the forums would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
I just purchased my first humidor. It's a medium size Savoy, Spanish Cedar lined with a good size humidification device. I brought it home and immediately conditioned it with distilled water and left the rag in it with a half full humi device over night. The following morning everything looked good, humidity hovering around 71. Upon returning home that evening I checked it again and the humidity had fallen to about 60. I proceed to recondition the interior and let it sit overnight again. The following morning the same is true. Humidity around 62. I am singing the Humi Blues over here as I am expecting a large shipment from cigar.com today. Any help from the forums would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Comments
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First - take a deep breath and relax
Your shipment from cigar.com should come with some pillows. You can keep the cigars in the bag (or move to a tupperware with a pillow or two) until you get your humi straightened out.
The best advice for conditioning a humidor is to stick a dish of water in it for a week. Just leave it closed. This will activate the cedar gradually (if you go too fast, you'll warp the wood and ruin your seal). Once it's well-activated, you need to get your humidification device running. You can use PG solution in your humidification device. Many people here use beads in lieu of the built-in device.
Make sure your hygrometer is properly calibrated, and that your humidor is properly conditioned, then slowly add cigars to the humidor over a few days, then let everything settle and rest a bit until you've gotten it all under control. Don't worry too much about your cigars for right now. They'll be fine.
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this is a very common issue with a first humidor. you buy it and you wanna stock that puppie up. slow down. take the time to season it right. there is a good amount of wood in there and it needs to be seasoned. this takes time. its worth the wait.
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Thank You both for you replies. I will definitely take the time to properly season the humidor. I think i'll take the open dish approach from this point on. I've also been reading up on hygrometer calibration thinking that perhaps this could be a part of my problem. Specifically the salt test. However, i have also read that Humipacks can be used in place of the salt test to accomplish the same thing. Am I correct in assuming that the "pillows" mentioned by dutyje are in fact humipacks?
Thanks
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They are different. Boveda makes a humi-pack that is guaranteed to produce an environment of a specific rH, and you use that to calibrate your hygrometer. The salt test is easy and reliable.. just don't over-moisten the salt (your target is a damp salt solution)
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nope. completely different things. water pillows look like pillows... and they are full of water. humi packs look like white flat (ish) squares with the words "humi-pac" on them ... or does that have a k on it?Okemah:Am I correct in assuming that the "pillows" mentioned by dutyje are in fact humipacks?
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Good to know. Thanks again!
I think I might end up investing in some Humidity Beads.
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That would be a wise choice, I have beads and its a set and forget type thing....Okemah:Good to know. Thanks again!
I think I might end up investing in some Humidity Beads. -
So I performed a salt test to no avail. Perhaps I got the salt to wet or didn't use enough. /shrug
I decided, however, to change the parameters a bit and used one of the Humi-Care packs sent with shipments from cigar.com. It boasts a RH of 68% for 15-20 cigars. I placed it in a gallon ziplock bag with my hygrometer and lo-and-behold it worked. spot on 68% reading.
I have also placed a shot glass full of distilled water inside my Humi and have not seen it's interior in a couple days and do not plan to for a couple more. /crosses fingers.
I have been researching Humidity Beads and have found Heartfelt Industries. But oh the choices. 60%-65%-70%, dish, tube, aluminum plate. My gut reaction is to go for the 70% plate and replace the humidification device on the lid.
Thoughts?
Thanks.
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check on the shot glass. you may need more water. the humi may have soaked it all up. make sure trhere is a hygromiter in there too.Okemah:I have also placed a shot glass full of distilled water inside my Humi and have not seen it's interior in a couple days and do not plan to for a couple more. /crosses fingers
