Did I mess up my humi?

I recently received my new "Charleston 150 Cigar Humidor". It has seven drawers and one giant wood/glass door. When I received it I noticed that the door was not air tight, in fact the gab between the door and the rest of the humi was so big that every time someone gave my desk a nudge it would bang off the humi a few times. I moved the bracket inside the humi such that the door now shuts very well. I mentioned this to the people I bought the humi from and they said:

"You actually do not want to have an airtight seal on your humidor. It needs to have air exchange with the outside, which is why they are built to not be airtight. A true airtight seal in your humidor will create mold on your cigars and or the interior of the humidor."

I am using propylene glycol not distilled water and I will be opening the door a minimum of once a week so I really didn't think mould could be an issue. I have not moved any of my cigars into the new humidor because I am still seasoning it but now I'm not so sure if I should leave the bracket where it is or move it back. Any suggestions?

[14holestogie]

As long as you hold the humidity under 70% you should be fine either way from a mold perspective.

[Cornrow_Wallis]

How is it supposed to hold its humidity without an airtight seal?

[hotreds]

Sounds kinda like the "mold vs plume" discussion. You need a good seal, and you need to check your humidity. That is why the better products will both add and subtract humidity from your humidor.

[quantim0]

Its ok if you have some air exchange, but too much will lead to trouble keeping the humidity up.

Look how many people here use coolers, they have an air tight seal. I haven't had any mold trouble in mine. It also may have to do with the fact that Im in it every day.

[bobarian]

Originally Posted by ShadowSmoker

I recently received my new "Charleston 150 Cigar Humidor". It has seven drawers and one giant wood/glass door. When I received it I noticed that the door was not air tight, in fact the gab between the door and the rest of the humi was so big that every time someone gave my desk a nudge it would bang off the humi a few times. I moved the bracket inside the humi such that the door now shuts very well. I mentioned this to the people I bought the humi from and they said:

"You actually do not want to have an airtight seal on your humidor. It needs to have air exchange with the outside, which is why they are built to not be airtight. A true airtight seal in your humidor will create mold on your cigars and or the interior of the humidor."

I am using propylene glycol not distilled water and I will be opening the door a minimum of once a week so I really didn't think mould could be an issue. I have not moved any of my cigars into the new humidor because I am still seasoning it but now I'm not so sure if I should leave the bracket where it is or move it back. Any suggestions?

From your description of your repair you should be fine. The statement from the source seems to be an excuse for poor workmanship. Many of us use coolers for storage and a cooler is as close to air tight as you can get. Mold is not caused by a lack of air movement, it is caused by high temperature(above 70) and high humidity. PG is fine for Rh control but doesnt your bottle say it should be mixed in a 50/50 solution with distilled water? At some point you may want to invest in Humidity beads(I use HeartfeltIndustries beads) they are much more trouble free than PG.

Please take a moment and stop by the New Inmate forum and introduce yourself.

Originally Posted by Cornrow_Wallis

How is it supposed to hold its humidity without an airtight seal?

This is exactly what I thought. I'm in Ontario Canada and it has been so cold outside that the baseboard electric heaters have been going non-stop and they suck the humidity right out of the apartment. I'm not so sure maintaining 70% humidity would be possible with it as open as it was.

Originally Posted by bobarian

From your description of your repair you should be fine. The statement from the source seems to be an excuse for poor workmanship. Many of us use coolers for storage and a cooler is as close to air tight as you can get. Mold is not caused by a lack of air movement, it is caused by high temperature(above 70) and high humidity. PG is fine for Rh control but doesnt your bottle say it should be mixed in a 50/50 solution with distilled water? At some point you may want to invest in Humidity beads(I use HeartfeltIndustries beads) they are much more trouble free than PG.

My bad, I should have been a bit more specific; the bottle came pre-mixed.

[bobarian]

Originally Posted by ShadowSmoker

My bad, I should have been a bit more specific; the bottle came pre-mixed.

Seasoning with PG will take a very long time. You can pick up a bottle of distilled water from the supermarket or local drug store for under $1. Pour some water in a small bowl and use this to season. http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=620

Originally Posted by bobarian

Seasoning with PG will take a very long time. You can pick up a bottle of distilled water from the supermarket or local drug store for under $1. Pour some water in a small bowl and use this to season. http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=620

I think the humi may have come pre-seasoned because the analog hygrometer was reading 70% when I took the whole thing out of the box and packaging. I checked the calibration to ensure it was working correctly. I've had all 7 humidifiers in there for over 24 hours now and the hygrometer says 72%. I was going to wait a few days and see what happens. Until then my old humidor is still doing the trick.