Trouble Controlling Humidity in Edgestar

I purcahsed an Edgestar 28 and turned into a humidor by following instructions on other links about hooking it up to a Ranco therm controller, putting in a fan on a timer to circulate the air, and then filling all the holes with silicone.

I purchased humidification 65% humidification beads, and currently have 1 pound or so stored in the mesh bags.

When I check my humidity, its all over the place. I have seen it at 65%, and then 30 minutes later it will be at 50%, and the later up to 70%.

I don't have any of the cedar shelves in yet, just my regular humidor and 2 more boxes of cigars.

I set the Ranco to kick on at 73 and bring the temp down to 70.

Any ideas on why the humidity swing?

[Volt]

Ouch - all you vino types with temp and rh issues. I like my coolador and beads. set and forget. Good luck.

[AlohaStyle]

There could be a few issues going on. What is the temp in your house? My house gets very hot so when that happens, my Edgestar has to run constantly which can really bring the Rh down.

Read this great thread from Chas (who builds the shelves) who did an experiment on Rh and how he shows the Rh swings when the unit cools.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19092

Also, I would recommend getting more beads to help stabilize it. Technically 1lb might be enough based on the recommended calculations, but I would definitely get at least another half pound, but more like another full pound. You should also space out the beads... some on the bottom, some in the middle if you can and some on the top.

[bobarian]

I use 1lb of 65% Heartfelt beads in two bags, one at top and one at bottom.

Drop your temp down to 66-67. Put a hygrometer inside a box or in your humidor. Rh will fluctuate as the unit cycles, but average humidity should be stable. If your cigars are smoking fine then dont worry so much you are ok. You dont need cedar shelves, but you could fill up the space with empty boxes, this will help keep things more stable.

[AlohaStyle]

Originally Posted by Volt

Ouch - all you vino types with temp and rh issues. I like my coolador and beads. set and forget. Good luck.

But some people can't get by with that... my house gets HOT!

[Montano]

Originally Posted by bobarian

I use 1lb of 65% Heartfelt beads in two bags, one at top and one at bottom.

Drop your temp down to 66-67. Put a hygrometer inside a box or in your humidor. Rh will fluctuate as the unit cycles, but average humidity should be stable. If your cigars are smoking fine then dont worry so much you are ok. You dont need cedar shelves, but you could fill up the space with empty boxes, this will help keep things more stable.

I just plugged my Edgestar in, put beads as Bob suggests above, filled it with boxes, and it has been rock solid @ 65/65.

Looks like the Rh is doing much better now. I put two more boxes in there to try and do some stabilizing, and I guess I need to be patient. Thanks for the advice.