too humid

A

Amy

Joined Nov 2003
2K Posts | 0+
Paradise CA
hello, first let me introduce myself. my name is james, i live in seattle, WA (eastside actually). long time cigar.com customer first time poster. im not a very heavy smoker, maybe 2 times a month but i really do LOVE a good cigar after a very fine dinner, or while playing poker or somthing.

now to the point of this post: my humidor seems to be very high humidity, no matter what i do it wont go down, its always up around 85, 90 when its stormy like now. im pretty sure my hygrometer is accurate, ive done the calibration where you put it in a plastic bag with a wet cloth, it reaches 100% like it should, i estimate my appartment to be around 50% humidity most of the time. is this going to damage my cigars? i have checked regularly for mold and have found none. is there somthing i could do to bring the himidity down? i had a sponge with distilled water in it for a while, i have since taken it out. and i have tried blowing a fan in the humidor for a few hours. the hygrometer goes down to about ambient but as soon as i close it back up it goes back up to 85 in a couple hours. i thought about putting one of those gel packs you always get with electronic devices in the box but im thinking that would be a bad idea. dont really want chemicals and stuff that says do not eat on it near my cigars.
 
No, not a wet cloth in a plastic bag. For information on how to run the test properly, do a "Google" search for "hygrometer salt test" or try the folks at http://www.cigarwise.com. Cigar.com may also have this information. If you find out your hygrometer is accurate, then just leave the lid on your humidor open until the reading goes down to the proper level. And yes, in places like Florida in the summertime, this MAY mean leaving it open for days!!! :shock:
 
another possible way to deal with this is using Climmax beads.
If you put them dry they will remove moisture from the humidor.
You may have to microwave them every now and again to remove the moisture from them.

you wrote:
i thought about putting one of those gel packs you always get with electronic devices
Click to expand...

Very good idea, basically what I wrote above (Climmax Beads)
is the same thing, but made for cigars and pre-set to hold the right
moisture level.

Also I think?
I put a post up here about Salt testing, do a search for it
if you don't find it, PM me and I'll help you with it.
Pretty simple to do and you will know for sure.

& yes a high humidity level can ruin your cigars and or make them smoke badly. Tight draw muted flavors all that happy stuff not to mention mold.
 
Also to speed it up put some extra cedar in there and remove it in week or two. It will absorb some of the extra moisture.
 
found the test you posted, does it have to be kosher? cant it just be regular table salt? is there a difference?
 
Yeah, being a Food Network junkie and half a Jew to boot, that really made me laugh. Don't worry, just get some salt out and find out where your hygrometer's at.

I can imagine his hygrometer going, . . .

"Hey, what're doin' with this salt you threw in here? No yarmulke? Oh great, I gotta spend 15 hours with this goyisha salt and no radio!!!" :cryinlaugh: :cryinlaugh: :sm_angel:
 
well, i did the salt test last night, this morning the meter was still reading 85% maybe i put too much water in the salt? its a little runny after sitting for a while. i just filled a bottle cap with salt and added water till all the salt was wet. what consistency should it be? like sand for building a sand castle? oatmeal like? i think the hygrometer i have is just crap. i got it as a freebee addin with my himidor. maybe ill swing by radio shack and get a digital hygrometer.
 
You mean you were testing an analog hygrometer that came with the humidor? I thought you were testing a digital!!! :shock:

What you need to do is go buy that digital, and wet the salt down, but don't make it runny, not even pasty, just wet, as in damp, but visibly wet to the eye, and use a DOUBLE BAG, NOT ONE BAG, A DOUBLE PLASTIC BAG!!! Also, go AT LEAST 15 HOURS, DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO SAYS 6-12 HOURS IS ENOUGH!!! 15-24 hours is more like it.

Use the one that came with the humidor to support your local sanitation department.
 
whats an average price for a half way decent hygrometer? the ones i fine on radioshack.com are too big and seem kindof expensive! i found one that has a lead that does the measuring, im thinking i could run that wire into my humidor and leave the main unit outside. wonder how hard it would be to seal the hole i make for the wire. i got some silicone like glue, i figure i could use it to seal the hole around the wire and leave my box open while the glue dries, with the cigars in a bag for safe keeping of course. all though, cigars laced with glue chemicals could make things interesting.... rofl
 
$20-30. I'm sure cigar.com has them. If not, somewhere around here are some of my favorite cigar web sites. Don't do any fancy rigging, just put it in and when you need to know, open the lid.
 
Hots cigars has a hygrometer the size of a cigar that runs about 19 dollars.

Another way to bring your humidity down when using oasis foam or a sponge to hold the moisture in your humidor is to use propylene glycol in a 50/50 solution with distilled water. The PG will not allow the humidity to rise above 70%. Propylene glycol can be purchased thru either Cigar.com or your local pharmacy.
 
i got a digi hygrometer from frys, but it doesnt work worth a damn, the temp seems right but the humidity is all over the place! gonna take it back tomorow.
 
You can find digital hygrometers that also display temperature here. They have both Prometheus and Diamond Crown in stock.
 
jihiggs, how did you have the time to do a proper hygrometer salt test on your new hygrometer to determine that it is indeed all over the place? I haven't been away for that long, have I?
 
duh, i have a time machine.








j/k, i havent done the salt test, the thing doesnt work PERIOD, either it goes back and forth between 30 and 90 or just reads hh or ll. i assume hh is the high point of what it is capable and ll is the low point. if i just leave it on a shelf it reads hh after a while. it seems to only work when i shake it around lol.
 
well i finaly got a digital that works right. turns out my box was completely dry. i guess the 50% humidity in my place was good enough to keep my cigars smokable. i had a sponge sitting in the box for about 36 hours, opened it up and saw it was still the same as ambient. i just did the first time use prep for the box, wet down the wood a bit and left a very damp sponge in it today, im gonna leave it closed for another day i think then ill put my cigars in it and keep an eye on the humidity.
 
Try NOT doing the "wet down the wood" thing. I know it's recommended in some sets of instructions, but it's not only unnecessary to condition your humidor but can warp the wood and damage the effectiveness of your humidor in the future. Just use the cup of water sitting on a paper towel method until it's conditioned.
 
i thought about putting hot water in it and letting it sit, not boiling hot, just 15 min old coffee hot. think that would be a bad idea? yea, the box did close a little different when i put some water on the wood, but honestly the box was only 40 bucks from ebay, it cant be that good anyway. still closes nice, doesnt slam if you let the lid fall, gets to a certain point and falls slowly on a cusion of air. if for some reason it doesnt work right anymore ill just have to put some soft rubber on the rim, that will keep it good and tight id say.
 
Put a cup of just plain cold water from the tap. Even better would be a cup of plain distilled water. I keep my distilled water at room temperature. As for the way it closes, that's what you want your humidor to do. It's called having a "good seal." In other words, the lid is a bit too tight. That's a good thing. That can mean two things:

(i) your humidor is properly manufactured to provide a good seal;

and/or

(ii) you have achieved a proper level of humidity for your humidor, and the wood has swelled to tighten the seal and keep it more airtight.

I will add this. Just as I've previously advised people not to get too indoctrinated by "The Church of the Seventy Percenters" and experiment with humidity levels as low as 60-62%, I also advise don't become a member of "The Church Of The Bad Seal." What I mean by that is that out of my four desk tops that keep the best humidity, the two that do so have the worst seals.
 
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