Hydra and 3,000 count cabinet and beads -- HELP!

[BengalMan]

Alright, I'm in a bind here and I'm about at the point of going insane. I recently bought a 3,000 count cabinet. For humidification, I have a little over 4lbs of beads (some bags are 65% some are 70%). For some reason, the damn thing sat rock solid at 55%. :fl So I bought a hydra and filled it up and put it in last night. Since last night, the hydra has been going crazy. It keeps beeping every 2-3 hours like it's out of water. I have the hydra set to 65% and it has yet to reach that. Talk about frustrating. I go to fill it up, and it doesn't take anywhere near as much as it did when I started. Just now I moved the Hydra to the 2nd level of the cabinet and moved around the bags of beads. I will update the thread in a few hours with what the humidity is. I'm trying everything and I just can't get it to where I want it to be.

[chippewastud79]

Have you calibrated your hygrometers and tested your seal? :D

[BengalMan]

Dear lord.....

[chippewastud79]

Dear lord.....

Just getting the question out of the way ;)

[BengalMan]

Just getting the question out of the way ;)

I actually just replaced the battery in my digital to hygro to see where that goes. It's been about a year since I've replaced the battery. Hopefully everything will even out by tomorrow morning, the thing I just don't understand is why the Hydra every two to three hours beeps like it's out of water.

[Darrell]

Is it seasoned?

[BengalMan]

Yes

[Footbag]

I didn't think that you could use two different humidity beads, maybe someone in the know can weigh in about that.

[Darrell]

Yes

Are you certain?

To me it sounds like the wood is still absorbing a ton of moisture, bringing the RH inside down to very low. :2

[WhoDeySchenk]

Are you certain?

To me it sounds like the wood is still absorbing a ton of moisture, bringing the RH inside down to very low. :2

That's my first thought too. I would think something that size would take a LONG time to absorb and stabilize. My 150 ct. is still absorbing my humidity beads and it's only been a little over 3 months. But it's sitting low 60's w/ 70 humidity beads in it, and I'm refilling them once a week or two

[BengalMan]

I didn't think that you could use two different humidity beads, maybe someone in the know can weigh in about that.

Yeah, I've had two different kinds for some time now, it just evens out for the most part, my coolers were usually right around 67%.

[BengalMan]

Are you certain?

To me it sounds like the wood is still absorbing a ton of moisture, bringing the RH inside down to very low. :2

You could be right Darrell. If that's the case then I guess eventually it will even out. We shall see over the next few days. Just checked it, right now the Hydra is reading 58, the other digital is reading 52. At this point, I trust the Hydra a little more. Based upon what I've read, the digital on it is very accurate.

[BengalMan]

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

Stupid Hydra. I'm ready to spike this thing on the ground. lol. Just filled it back up and plugged in back in. When it started beeping it was up to 58, so were gaining ground at least. The little digital is still reading low though. I'm going to put the little digital in the Vino tonight over night. I know it's rock solid at 65%. See what it reads with the new battery in the morning.

[BengalMan]

I'm convinced the Hydra is broken. The alarm just went off again, this time, the whole thing is still full, it won't even take water. Is there away to turn off the alarm on the Hydra?

[shilala]

The hydra is doing exactly what it's supposed to do.
If the RH%age isn't rising in the vessel it's humidifying, it thinks it is empty and the alarm sounds.
It'll continue to do it until you plug up the leaks.
Sorry!!!

[groogs]

Not to knock the hydra, but I hate them. I would just use beads and some small PC fans or oust fans. Far less hassle, and no annoying alarms.

[MikeyC]

You could be right Darrell. If that's the case then I guess eventually it will even out. We shall see over the next few days. Just checked it, right now the Hydra is reading 58, the other digital is reading 52. At this point, I trust the Hydra a little more. Based upon what I've read, the digital on it is very accurate.

The Hydra has a adjustment dial on it. So, unless you've calibrated it and adjusted it, I wouldn't trust it anymore than any other uncalibrated hygro.

I'm convinced the Hydra is broken. The alarm just went off again, this time, the whole thing is still full, it won't even take water. Is there away to turn off the alarm on the Hydra?

There's a little button on the side of my Hydra which turns off the alarm although I think it's a temporary off.

Dumb question, is this the new large Hydra you're using?

[icehog3]

How long were you running at 55%? With a cabinet that large, it will take several days to bring it up to 65% if your cigars had all actually reached 55% RH.

[BengalMan]

It ran at 55% for about a week until I put the hydra in. I don't have a problem with the hydra taking time to bring the cabinet back up to 65%, that's expected as you said. The thing that I don't understand is why the stupid alarm keeps going off, especially when it doesn't even need to be filled.

Mikey, I'm using the smaller one, not the commercial. The original point of the Hydra was to help bring the humidity back up and maintain it. I have a ton of beads in there, I figured adding the Hydra would put things back where they need to be.

I guess now I have two new questions:

What's the best way to seal the doors on the cabinet if there is indeed a leak?
How do you calibrate the hydra? Just take take the top off and lock it in a tupperwear and salt test like usual? I guess I could also put it in a container with 65% beads for a few hours and see what it reads.

Thoughts?

Thanks everyone for their help thus far!

[icehog3]

I don't have a Hydra....is the alarm designed to sound when the resevoir is empty, or when the humdior is below the set RH for a period of time?

[md4958]

i dont have a hydra, but ill just throw this out there.. perhaps there is a clog of some kind, somewhere??

[shilala]

I don't have a Hydra....is the alarm designed to sound when the resevoir is empty, or when the humdior is below the set RH for a period of time?
Tom, the hydra doesn't know if it has water in it or not. It just assumes it's empty and sounds the alarm when the RH doesn't rise.
See, hydras are designed to work in a certain small environment. It knows it should run x amount of time until the RH%age rises. If it's run longer than x amount of time it assumes the RH hasn't risen because it's out of water.
The same thing that's happening to Ian happens when I use a hydra to condition beads in my cooler.
The beads suck up water so fast that the RH%age in the cooler doesn't rise fast enough and the hydra thinks it's empty. The squealing is enough to drive a guy nuts. :)

[DavenportESQ]

Do you have any boxes in yet? If not I would add some and see if that helps.

[HK3-]

Turn the alarm off so it will quit beeping.

-OR-

Put a bowl of distilled water in the humi and take out the dang hydra until the humi stabilizes.

Is 4lbs. of beads big enough for that size humi?

What are the dimensions Bengal?

[shilala]

Ian, you can get the RH up by adding a bunch of plates with wet sponges or wet paper towels.
If you want to season your beads with the hydra, place the beads and hydra in a tupperware container. It works great, I do it all the time.
I use a two gallon rubbermaid from walmart.
The small area won't let the alarm go off on the hydra and it'll stop making you crazy.
Once you've reconditioned the beads and you've alleviated the dryness in the cabinet with sponges, you can put the beads and hydra back in and it should keep up.
If it doesn't, your cabinet is leaking too badly for the stuff to keep up.
If I remember correctly you decided to use half the beads your cabinet calls for because friends of yours have gotten away with it. You may want to calculate your area again and make sure your cabinet has what it requires. :tu

[BengalMan]

I don't have a Hydra....is the alarm designed to sound when the resevoir is empty, or when the humdior is below the set RH for a period of time?

When the it's empty

[icehog3]

Tom, the hydra doesn't know if it has water in it or not. It just assumes it's empty and sounds the alarm when the RH doesn't rise.


That's what I would have guessed, but didn't know for sure without researching it. Thanks, Scott. :)

[BengalMan]

Scott,

I ordered half the amount from you, I had more than the other half already from Heartfelt. I bought 2lbs from you, I have 4 in there. I will add sponges and plates tonight and see how things look when I wake up tomorrow.

Hopefully it's not leaking really bad. If it is, I just have to figure out how to seal the damn thing, lol

HK3,

You can't turn the alarm off, stupid design, lol.

[HK3-]

Scott,

I ordered half the amount from you, I had more than the other half already from Heartfelt. I bought 2lbs from you, I have 4 in there. I will add sponges and plates tonight and see how things look when I wake up tomorrow.

Hopefully it's not leaking really bad. If it is, I just have to figure out how to seal the damn thing, lol

HK3,

You can't turn the alarm off, stupid design, lol.

Huh... Mine has a button on the side that says "Audible, ON OFF"

[BengalMan]

Indeed it does, but that only works when the alarm is actively going off. It's pretty much like the silent button for your cell phone.

[BengalMan]

Tom, the hydra doesn't know if it has water in it or not. It just assumes it's empty and sounds the alarm when the RH doesn't rise.
See, hydras are designed to work in a certain small environment. It knows it should run x amount of time until the RH%age rises. If it's run longer than x amount of time it assumes the RH hasn't risen because it's out of water.
The same thing that's happening to Ian happens when I use a hydra to condition beads in my cooler.
The beads suck up water so fast that the RH%age in the cooler doesn't rise fast enough and the hydra thinks it's empty. The squealing is enough to drive a guy nuts. :)

This makes complete sense, thanks for the info Scott. So I guess my question is, why the hell isn't the humidity raising? I think that then puts us back to the two likely scenarios: leak, or humidor is absorbing the humidity of 4lbs of beads and a hydra faster than all that combined can put it out. Somehow I don't think the ladder is true.....

[icehog3]

This makes complete sense, thanks for the info Scott. So I guess my question is, why the hell isn't the humidity raising? I think that then puts us back to the two likely scenarios: leak, or .....

Unless the Hydra is defective?

Might be good to put it in a small container with a hygrometer to see?

Hope you get it figured out, Ian.

[HK3-]

Did you try closing the door? :r

Sorry, I'm no help.

[BengalMan]

Unless the Hydra is defective?

Might be good to put it in a small container with a hygrometer to see?

Hope you get it figured out, Ian.

So do I, lol.

I loaded the humidor up with all the beads I have, a charged Hydra, and 6 half sponges throughout and I'm going to see what it's at tomorrow morning. If things are still wacked then I'm going to have to look into the above issue and a leak I think.

[Texan in Mexico]

I will be honest and admit I dont know the first thing but Im rooting for you!

Travis

[BengalMan]

Haha, thanks Travis!

[BengalMan]

Ok, since adding the sponges and all the beads and setting the Hydra to 65, the hygro on the Hydra is now reading at 67.8 and the damn fan has turned off for the 1st time since I've owned it. I think at this point, the best thing to do will be leave the sponges in there and the Hydra on for the next 3-5 days at least and let everything in there level out. I will update the thread tomorrow when I wake up and see where things are at. Thanks again for everyone's help!

[MikeyC]

How do you calibrate the hydra? Just take take the top off and lock it in a tupperwear and salt test like usual? I guess I could also put it in a container with 65% beads for a few hours and see what it reads.

It's hard to put the Hydra in a "sealed" environment like a plastic bag or tupperware since it has to be plugged in and the fan may fun and the alarm may go off while you're calibrating. Instead I just put a digital hygro that I know is calibrated correctly next to it in the humi and then adjust the Hydra to read the same after a day of sitting next to each other. Then I check them both a day later to make sure they're still in sink. I repeat this process until they consistently read the same RH %.

Ok, since adding the sponges and all the beads and setting the Hydra to 65, the hygro on the Hydra is now reading at 67.8 and the damn fan has turned off for the 1st time since I've owned it. I think at this point, the best thing to do will be leave the sponges in there and the Hydra on for the next 3-5 days at least and let everything in there level out. I will update the thread tomorrow when I wake up and see where things are at. Thanks again for everyone's help!

It does sound like the issue could be that the cabinet walls are still absorbing water. While I haven't dealt with a cabinet (yet :D ) I do have a large humi which I felt got up to the proper RH level more quickly because I wiped down the walls & trays a few times with D-H2O not just once.

[thebiglebowski]

i just wanted to say... we're all counting on you.

[BengalMan]

Ok, got up this morning, and guess what, NO ALARM. lol. Not only was there no alarm, but the cabinet was at 69% (Hydra is set to 65%) so not only was the humidity finally up, but the hydra fan didn't even have to run. I pulled 2 sponges out, and will continue to pull 1 sponge per day until all 5 are gone. It seems to be that like some have said, the cabinet was still absorbing humidity, and then when I filled it up, the boxes were absorbing the humidity as well and the hydra just couldn't keep up. I think by the end of the week everything will be stabilized and fixed. Thanks for everyone's help!

[shilala]

Ok, got up this morning, and guess what, NO ALARM. lol. Not only was there no alarm, but the cabinet was at 69% (Hydra is set to 65%) so not only was the humidity finally up, but the hydra fan didn't even have to run. I pulled 2 sponges out, and will continue to pull 1 sponge per day until all 5 are gone. It seems to be that like some have said, the cabinet was still absorbing humidity, and then when I filled it up, the boxes were absorbing the humidity as well and the hydra just couldn't keep up. I think by the end of the week everything will be stabilized and fixed. Thanks for everyone's help!

Go real slow, Ian. The boxes and humi will keep soaking for a good while.
If you want to keep your beads right on the money, set the hydra 3% below your desired setpoint.
That's what I do with mine and it works great.
When the hydra runs it seems to "run away". That little extra is enough to get the beads a couple %age points higher than the hydra's setting. That keeps the hydra from coming on until the beads lose a few %age points.
It's a neat little dance.
It doesn't break down until the hydra is empty.
In my winadors I never have to refill the hydras. Mind you, I took the foam out because they grow mold. That's gonna happen because of the high humidity inside the unit. It's impossible to avoid. So I tore out the mold foam and just use distilled water. I rinse out the cartridges on my hydras every now and then when it comes to ming so that the water stays clean.
In my displayadors (that leak) I have to refill the hydras now and again.
I haven't yet refilled them this winter.
If you go this way, you'll know when to refill the hydra when the evil squeal wakes you up in the middle of the night.
My point for this whole story is that if you find yourself refilling the hydra more than once a month, you've got a pretty massive leak.
If you can live with refilling it once a month, and you're happy with that, you don't have to fix anything. :tu
If you find yourself refilling the hydra every couple days or every week, you'll want to see what you can do with your cabinet to seal it up.
If the door meets the frame pretty well, you're probably losing all your humidity from around the glass. If you pull the glass out of the door and put a bead of silicone behind it, that should do the trick. :tu

[MikeyC]

Ok, got up this morning, and guess what, NO ALARM. lol. Not only was there no alarm, but the cabinet was at 69% (Hydra is set to 65%) so not only was the humidity finally up, but the hydra fan didn't even have to run. I pulled 2 sponges out, and will continue to pull 1 sponge per day until all 5 are gone. It seems to be that like some have said, the cabinet was still absorbing humidity, and then when I filled it up, the boxes were absorbing the humidity as well and the hydra just couldn't keep up. I think by the end of the week everything will be stabilized and fixed. Thanks for everyone's help!

Great news! I wonder if you had the new larger Hydra if that would have sped up the process. I think using the smaller Hydra in an unseasoned cabinet was pushing the limits of the device which might be why you were running into all your problems with the alarm.