HELP. I can't get consistency in my Humi.

[BHalbrooks]

Well, as the Thread states, I either have really low (About 50% Humidity, which occurs most often) or high (Like 71% Humidity.) I've included Pictures of what I'm using, because I've almost literally no knowledge of what everything is called. I've been smoking for a couple years, but this has always been a huge problem. I humbly beg for help. :confused:

I've done the Dollar Bill test on the Humidor, and the seal seemed fine. But the Glass, and front part where the Hygrometer are could be the problem.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r232/22938/mailgooglecom-1.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r232/22938/2.jpg

[Blak Smyth]

The first question is did you do a salt test on your hygrometers?

[BHalbrooks]

No. I thought the Xicar being digital would work without it. Lately I've had really hot burning Cigars, figured that was a sign of under-humidification?

[shilala]

No. I thought the Xicar being digital would work without it. Lately I've had really hot burning Cigars, figured that was a sign of under-humidification?
That's step one of diagnosing your humi. You absolutely have to salt test your hygrometer. Doesn't matter if you just did it last week, it's absolutely critical.

I'm not sure when the dollar bill test came into being, but it really says absolutely nothing about whether the humi leaks or not. If you want to see all the places she's leaking, fill her up with distilled water and turn her over. You'll see exactly how bad she leaks and where.
At that point you can seal the glass with silicone and add some foam weather stripping and a latch and test it again.
If you can get the old girl water-tight, she's going to be air-tight. Period.
Good Luck, my man!!! :tu

[Blak Smyth]

That's step one of diagnosing your humi. You absolutely have to salt test your hygrometer. Doesn't matter if you just did it last week, it's absolutely critical.

I'm not sure when the dollar bill test came into being, but it really says absolutely nothing about whether the humi leaks or not. If you want to see all the places she's leaking, fill her up with distilled water and turn her over. You'll see exactly how bad she leaks and where.
At that point you can seal the glass with silicone and add some foam weather stripping and a latch and test it again.
If you can get the old girl water-tight, she's going to be air-tight. Period.
Good Luck, my man!!! :tu

Scott is very wise in this area, he recently did a great job sealing a huge cabinet:tu

Also after you try this fill and flip test, your humi will be nice and humidified:tu

[bobarian]

Calibrating the hygrometer is a starting point. Getting rid of all but one of those humidifiers is the second. Any ONE of them is sufficient for that size humidor. Sealing the glass top and the area around the built in hygrometer is the final step. :2

[BHalbrooks]

Oh I don't need a puck, and the gel beads? Interesting! I did the flip test. Needless to say I need to get some silicone... How would I seal the front hole where the hygrometer goes? It had a small leak. The glass was pretty bad though.

[jluck]

There's always the option to get a solid (bigger) humidor. you could sell the one you have. The glass view is nice but I think most are prone to leaking.

[Taki]

I am having somewhat of the same problem...it seems that the glass (all 4 sides of it) is just not the ideal situation for a humi, although I am having no problems with my cigars burning or otherwise. I am going to do a salt test shortly but all summer long I was running 68% and once winter hit, I started running around 55%-58% kinda a huge swing but it seems to happen every winter and I heard that this will happen during the winter months but that big of a swing sometimes worries me

[colinb913]

I have the same humidor, and the biggest problem I had when I first got it was the seal around the glass top. Try some silicone seal around where the glass, and wood meet, same with around the analog hygrometer. You'll be set.

[Hem]

I thought it was bad to soak the wood when trying to get your humi up to par?

[shilala]

Oh I don't need a puck, and the gel beads? Interesting! I did the flip test. Needless to say I need to get some silicone... How would I seal the front hole where the hygrometer goes? It had a small leak. The glass was pretty bad though.
Just pull out the hygrometer, spooge it up with silicone and jam it back in. I generally put a piece of scotch tape over the hole in the back of the hygrometer, that way I can water test again after the silicone is dry.

[shilala]

I thought it was bad to soak the wood when trying to get your humi up to par?
It completely depends on the construction of the humi.
The one we're dealing is laminate over composite. It's not even "real wood". It can't be harmed unless someone were to leave it full of water for days.
If you have a humi that's lined with real spanish cedar, say an 1/8" thick, then it's a different story. I'd attack that in another way altogether. I'd also consider what type of glue was used before I'd fill the humi with water. I'd set a fan up to dry the humidor after I wet it.

As a rule, distilled water doesn't harm spanish cedar, not a bit.
The reason why guys are told not to soak or spray their humidors is because if they do, then close it up and have a relative humidity at 80% or above (or standing puddles of water), mold will grow and stain the wood.
To make things simple, it's a lot easier just to say "don't do it".

[shilala]

I should also mention that there are step by step instruction threads here on how to fix and seal these kinds of humidors. I did a couple a long time ago but the pics are now gone. Someone else did one more recently, and for the life of me I can't remember who did it.
They should be in accessories discussion, I'd think. :tu

[crazyirishman]

There's always the option to get a solid (bigger) humidor. you could sell the one you have. The glass view is nice but I think most are prone to leaking.

Or if you wanted a project you could convert it using some Spanish cedar planks and hardwood...

[bobarian]

Oh I don't need a puck, and the gel beads? Interesting! I did the flip test. Needless to say I need to get some silicone... How would I seal the front hole where the hygrometer goes? It had a small leak. The glass was pretty bad though.

Looking at your original picture, I see five different types of humidification. Does the puck have a sponge or beads inside? If they are beads and you used your "Cigar Juice"(propylene glycol) to moisten them, then I am going to suggest you check the directions for the puck. Beads and gel should only be moistened with distilled water. PG solution will clog the pores of beads and render them useless. :2

Calibrate your hygrometer using the salt test shown in the stickies in the accessories forum.

Seal your humidor following Scott's suggestions or follow the thread in the accessories forum.

Choose one form of humidification. FWIW most of us here use either Scott's beads or heartfeltindustries.com beads. 1oz should be more than enough for that size humidor, but there is a calculator on the heartfelt site that will give you an idea of the amount needed.

[MrClean]

Brian I have that exact same humi, the seal around the lid seem pretty good on mine. But the glass and hydrometer need sealing (on mine they were bad).
The hydrometer should come out easily by pushing on it from the inside. Just run a bead of silicone around it and pop it back it.
The glass was a little more tedious. The four pieces of cedar that butt up against the glass, I removed those with a pair of pliers (I put a clean shop rag over the wood so I wouldn't damage/mar it). They are held in with little brad nails. The glass will have a couple of spots of silicone on it, it wasn't easy to get loose, but it's tough glass. I just cut away what silicone I could get to, closed the lid and pushed down on the glass, it'll come out.
Run a good bead of silicone all the way around the inside lip (where the glass sits). At this point I let mine sit for 3 days so the silicone could cure and the smell dissipate. I have a brad nailer so putting the wooden strips back in was easy, you could glue them I suppose.
If you don't want to take the lid apart, the only option would be to silicone it from the outside, which for me, wouldn't look as nice.

Good luck brother!

[Hem]

It completely depends on the construction of the humi.
The one we're dealing is laminate over composite. It's not even "real wood". It can't be harmed unless someone were to leave it full of water for days.
If you have a humi that's lined with real spanish cedar, say an 1/8" thick, then it's a different story. I'd attack that in another way altogether. I'd also consider what type of glue was used before I'd fill the humi with water. I'd set a fan up to dry the humidor after I wet it.

As a rule, distilled water doesn't harm spanish cedar, not a bit.
The reason why guys are told not to soak or spray their humidors is because if they do, then close it up and have a relative humidity at 80% or above (or standing puddles of water), mold will grow and stain the wood.
To make things simple, it's a lot easier just to say "don't do it".

Gotcha. I just got mine in the mail today from Cbid and have 2 small bowls of distilled in there along with the 2 pucks it came with..hoping for good results. Appreciate the clarification!

[BHalbrooks]

Wow thank you all!
So do you or don't you need to salt test a digital hygrometer?

[colinb913]

Yes you need to salt test it.

[crazyirishman]

Yes you need to salt test it.

Agreed. The crappy analog that came with my humi came 10% off. I used a digital backup so I knew it was wrong, and used the same digital in the bag with my analog when I salt tested. The digital was rock steady, the analog way off.

I think that most quality manufacturers will do everything in their power to make sure it leaves the factory as accurate as possible, but that doesn't prevent rough handling and wild temperature fluctuations during shipping.

[BnBTobacco]

That's step one of diagnosing your humi. You absolutely have to salt test your hygrometer. Doesn't matter if you just did it last week, it's absolutely critical.

I'm not sure when the dollar bill test came into being, but it really says absolutely nothing about whether the humi leaks or not. If you want to see all the places she's leaking, fill her up with distilled water and turn her over. You'll see exactly how bad she leaks and where.
At that point you can seal the glass with silicone and add some foam weather stripping and a latch and test it again.
If you can get the old girl water-tight, she's going to be air-tight. Period.
Good Luck, my man!!! :tu

You got it all right, Scott! I salute you! :salute:

[crazyirishman]

I get fluctuations in my humi too. It goes up and down the 54-68% range, but I'm just owing that to the dry winter weather.

I just threw the sponge humidifier that came with my humi in there with some PG solution to supplement the jar that I already have in there and its been steady at 70% for about three days.

[Thrak]

Oh I don't need a puck, and the gel beads? Interesting! I did the flip test. Needless to say I need to get some silicone... How would I seal the front hole where the hygrometer goes? It had a small leak. The glass was pretty bad though.

I used THIS (http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/shop_product_detail.jsp?skuId=457797&productId=457797&WT.mc_id=Shopping_Feed_Products_Google_Free_Listin g) to seal my glass front\top humi. It worked REALLY well too!

Take one of the wax "blobs", pinch off a little bit, roll it into a long thin cylinder, and smash it into the seam between the glass and wood. I then went back with my thumb and slid along the seam applying pressure.

Its supercheap to do, the wax is odorless and there is no curing time either!

[crazyirishman]

I used THIS (http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/shop_product_detail.jsp?skuId=457797&productId=457797&WT.mc_id=Shopping_Feed_Products_Google_Free_Listin g) to seal my glass front\top humi. It worked REALLY well too!

Take one of the wax "blobs", pinch off a little bit, roll it into a long thin cylinder, and smash it into the seam between the glass and wood. I then went back with my thumb and slid along the seam applying pressure.

Its supercheap to do, the wax is odorless and there is no curing time either!

Holy crap.

How the hell did you come up with that, you resourceful bigger?

Are those fairly easy to deform to the shapes you need? Because I could definitely see this being a fix for some of those people like me that have leaky corners on their humidor baffles...

[Eros]

I have this same humidor. And my humidity has been dropping steadily since yesterday during the end of seasoning. I have beads in there right now. Can I just add one of those humidifying pillows to supplement the humidor until I find a fix for the seal?

[icehog3]

If you have a bad seal, you will continue to have to rehydrate/recharge your humidity source.

[Eros]

Actually I think my seal is ok. I'm not sure why I thought it was bad. I mean it's not world class but it's not bad. But the humidity is still dropping about 1% per hour:/

[icehog3]

You have been working on this humidor for what, a day and a half? Have some patience and see where it ends up staying at a solid RH after a few days. ;)

[Eros]

Ok. Will do. I know I am rushing things which is not what I'm supposed to do. I guess I'm just too excited!

[Hem]

How long would you recommend we keep the bowls of distilled water in the humi for while seasoning? A week? More? Less?

[Remo]

How long would you recommend we keep the bowls of distilled water in the humi for while seasoning? A week? More? Less?

A week or two Hem.. then take it out and check the humidity.

[Hem]

A week or two Hem.. then take it out and check the humidity.

Much appreciated brother! -(P

[crazyirishman]

The biggest mistake that I made my first time around was that I started the seasoning process and after a day the hygrometer was reading in the high 90's, being the impatient person that I am, I told myself if was done and started throwing sticks in there.

It's amazing how scientific it is to have our hobby, with the knowledge you need to have from hydrodynamics to botany to chemistry.

[shilala]

It's amazing how scientific it is to have our hobby, with the knowledge you need to have from hydrodynamics to botany to chemistry.
The list of applied science is never-ending. In time, everyone learns and understands it all through sharing. That's what's truly amazing. :tu

[Minus_Blindfold]

What can I do to increase humidity? Everyone says that 60 is fine but I would like to get it to 65 if possible! Thanks for all the help guys!

[Jasonw560]

What do you have in there for humidity? That's very helpful. And did you salt test your hygrometer?

[CigarNut]

What can I do to increase humidity? Everyone says that 60 is fine but I would like to get it to 65 if possible! Thanks for all the help guys!There are a ton of threads on this site that will help you with humidity. Search is your friend. Read, be patient, and enjoy your cigars.

You might also drop into the New Inmates Area (http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=7) and introduce yourself.

[Hem]

I've got a newbish question....what does it do when you have sticks in there while you're trying to season the humi? Does it prevent the humi from catching the right levels?

[Remo]

I've got a newbish question....what does it do when you have sticks in there while you're trying to season the humi? Does it prevent the humi from catching the right levels?

If it's a new humi the sticks will soak up the humidity, you need the cedar to become saturated (no wiping down the wood, could warp) gradually with the distiller water, once the cedar is saturated and holding humidity then add sticks, humidity will fall at first because of the sticks but will come back up.

[Hem]

If it's a new humi the sticks will soak up the humidity, you need the cedar to become saturated (no wiping down the wood, could warp) gradually with the distiller water, once the cedar is saturated and holding humidity then add sticks, humidity will fall at first because of the sticks but will come back up.


Oh...yea...I knew that....brb

[Minus_Blindfold]

After using the search tool and reading up on some of the help given by people, I am still having some troubles. I'm sure I could have looked more but it is what it is. I live in Iowa, so it is the middle of winter here. I have 65% rh beads and I have about 15 cigars in a glasstop (I know) 50 count humidor. I can't get the rh above 60 or 61. I did a salt test before even seasoning my humidor and it was at 72 so I calibrated it to 75. Then, a week later I did a "towel test" and it was at 98% which is where it was supposed to be. So the hygrometer is fine. Any suggestions? I know this has been answered, but it is a little different for everyone imho.

[jluck]

After using the search tool and reading up on some of the help given by people, I am still having some troubles. I'm sure I could have looked more but it is what it is. I live in Iowa, so it is the middle of winter here. I have 65% rh beads and I have about 15 cigars in a glasstop (I know) 50 count humidor. I can't get the rh above 60 or 61. I did a salt test before even seasoning my humidor and it was at 72 so I calibrated it to 75. Then, a week later I did a "towel test" and it was at 98% which is where it was supposed to be. So the hygrometer is fine. Any suggestions? I know this has been answered, but it is a little different for everyone imho.

How could you know if your first post was less than 24 hours ago? If your hygrometer is calibrated, humidor is properly seasoned and you have 65% RH beads, shut your humidor give it a week to stabilize. In the mean time introduce yourself in the inmate processing area,commit just a bit of effort in the search box,be patient,if your still having a problem post a new thread of in beginners questions instead of hijacking another persons thread.
Sticky threads are your friend.
:2

[Minus_Blindfold]

Sorry...

[jluck]

Sorry...

Nothing to be sorry about. Just some pointers that will help you alot along the way here. This place is full of great and helpful people but some input and effort from newbies required. standard forum etiquette. (And I'm still a newb too) just trying to give the "in a nut shell" reply.:tu

[ApexAZ]

After using the search tool and reading up on some of the help given by people, I am still having some troubles. I'm sure I could have looked more but it is what it is. I live in Iowa, so it is the middle of winter here. I have 65% rh beads and I have about 15 cigars in a glasstop (I know) 50 count humidor. I can't get the rh above 60 or 61. I did a salt test before even seasoning my humidor and it was at 72 so I calibrated it to 75. Then, a week later I did a "towel test" and it was at 98% which is where it was supposed to be. So the hygrometer is fine. Any suggestions? I know this has been answered, but it is a little different for everyone imho.

Did you season your humidor prior to putting the beads and cigars in?

[pnoon]

After using the search tool and reading up on some of the help given by people, I am still having some troubles. I'm sure I could have looked more but it is what it is. I live in Iowa, so it is the middle of winter here. I have 65% rh beads and I have about 15 cigars in a glasstop (I know) 50 count humidor. I can't get the rh above 60 or 61. I did a salt test before even seasoning my humidor and it was at 72 so I calibrated it to 75. Then, a week later I did a "towel test" and it was at 98% which is where it was supposed to be. So the hygrometer is fine. Any suggestions? I know this has been answered, but it is a little different for everyone imho.

Be patient. Give it time (week or more) to stabilize.
And if it is still at 60-61, ask yourself "how are the cigars smoking?" If you are happy with the cigars, don't sweat a few percentage points.

:2

[Thrak]

Holy crap.

How the hell did you come up with that, you resourceful bigger?

Are those fairly easy to deform to the shapes you need? Because I could definitely see this being a fix for some of those people like me that have leaky corners on their humidor baffles...

Yeah they're super easy to deform... they're made for little kids ears so they have to be somewhat soft ya know.

:)

[smitty81]

This is what I used to seal my glass up.

http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/adhesives_sealants/sealants/Permatex_Flowable_Silicone_Windshield_and_Glass_Se aler.htm

low/no odor.

It's slightly more runny then regular silicone so it is able to flow into the crack between the wood and glass to make for a good seal. It's not so runny that it goes everywhere and makes a big mess though.

I ran a small bead around the inside of the humidor and let it sit over night.

The key to making it work and look nice is just cutting a small hole in the nozzle, take your time and try to have a steady hand.

This stuff worked great for me.

[jluck]

This is what I used to seal my glass up.

http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/adhesives_sealants/sealants/Permatex_Flowable_Silicone_Windshield_and_Glass_Se aler.htm

low/no odor.

It's slightly more runny then regular silicone so it is able to flow into the crack between the wood and glass to make for a good seal. It's not so runny that it goes everywhere and makes a big mess though.

I ran a small bead around the inside of the humidor and let it sit over night.

The key to making it work and look nice is just cutting a small hole in the nozzle, take your time and try to have a steady hand.

This stuff worked great for me.

I thought I had saw it all in the permatex world but this is a new one! thank ya'