A series of concerns...

[MylesT]

Forgive me if this is in the wrong section.

I have a few concerns, and rather than start multiple threads, I thought I'd consolidate them into one.

First, all the cigars I've smoke from my humi lately have been both bitter and slightly sour. Normally this is over humidification, but my humi has a boveda 65RH pack in it (30 count humi) and a calibrated hygro reads 62. Could it be that the air inside is 62RH, but the box was under seasoned, and therefore drawing moisture from my sticks?

Secondly, and as importantly, I set up a mini-fridgeador last weekend (started a thread, but can't link...on my phone). It has 2 pounds of KL in it, but won't go above 58RH after 4 days. On top of this, there's a musty smell when I open it that wasn't present before adding cedar and KL. is this just the wood taking on moisture, or do I have a real problem? Don't wanna keep throwing money at it when I could save up for something else :-/

 

[ATL]

What kind is kl did you use? Also, I had a problem a few years ago where everything was bitter/salty. Turns out I was dehydrated. If your getting a lot of your stuff from the big sites, they often come too wet and need significant downtime.

 

[UpInSmoke]

Same things been happening to me with my tupperdors. Hygro reads like 63-65 and yet all my sticks perform horribly

 

[mdwest]

If your getting a lot of your stuff from the big sites, they often come too wet and need significant downtime.

+1... I order quite a bit off of c-bid, famous, CI, etc... I try not to touch anything I get from those places for at least a month or two... often longer...

58RH is about what most KL is going to come out of the bag/can at.. how much have you been spraying it? just 3-4 squirts should bring it up a couple of points (do that for 2-3 days, and you should be good).. could vary a little bit depending on where you are (somewhere really arid?)...

 

[MylesT]

I'm near Boston, so definitely not arid! A lot came from cigarauctioneer and CI, but both a month ago. It's the Mimi litter, which I was told here a lot of folks use. I've been spraying 3-4 times before I leave (11:30 am) and when I get home (1am) and the litter is in two 1lb containers. Any thoughts on the musty odor? Thanks for the help guys!

 

[smokemifugotem]

Not to be a hater because I know it gets a lot of love from people but I have never had humidity issues with my heartfelts. Yeah I know it costs more but it is a 30 count humi. You can get one of the cigar shaped tubes on the cheap and it will be more than enough. As for your new humi. A pound or more and some empty boxes and that puppy will hold steady at 65. Need to look at the cigars as an investment. 30 ct probably has 2-300 in sticks and once you fill your vino you could have up to 1000s. Make the 1 time investment...you will not be disappointed.

And like I said I don't use and have not used KL before but would be willing to bet it is part of the musty smell. Just my .02

 

[MylesT]

The KL has no smell...I checked....the boxes are kinda strong, but mostly cedary in smell. And nothing else is in there.

I also bleached it, and then let it air out for several days until there was no odor.

I really want to solve this so I can move into a better environment for my smokes.... :-(

 

[Rupe]

The KL has no smell...I checked....the boxes are kinda strong, but mostly cedary in smell. And nothing else is in there.

I also bleached it, and then let it air out for several days until there was no odor.

I really want to solve this so I can move into a better environment for my smokes.... :-(

First let me say that I use kitty litter and it works GREAT. Just because something costs more doesn't mean that it works better.

Now stepping off my KL soapbox.....In regards to your mini fridge. Are you running it or just using it as a "sealed box"? If you are running it the compressor from the fridge is going to dry out your cigars and keep them too cold. This is the same reason that it is not recommended that you put your cigars in your big refrigerator.

As far as the low humidity, did you season the cedar first before you put it in there? if you just put the cedar trays or boxes in the mini fridge without bringing them up to the humidity level you want first it is going to cause low humidity in the fridge. Just like the inside of your humidor you need to season the trays and boxes that you are putting in there.

As far as the musty smell, most refrigerators have a tube in the back that collects the condensation and drains it out somewhere. My guess is that the musty smell you are getting is coming from that drainage tube. This is the same reason that people put a box of baking soda in their refrigerator.

Anyway...just my 2 cents. Feel free to send me a PM if you need some additional help.

Rupe

 

[whodeeni]

The KL has no smell...I checked....the boxes are kinda strong, but mostly cedary in smell. And nothing else is in there.

I also bleached it, and then let it air out for several days until there was no odor.

I really want to solve this so I can move into a better environment for my smokes.... :-(

First let me say that I use kitty litter and it works GREAT. Just because something costs more doesn't mean that it works better.

Now stepping off my KL soapbox.....In regards to your mini fridge. Are you running it or just using it as a "sealed box"? If you are running it the compressor from the fridge is going to dry out your cigars and keep them too cold. This is the same reason that it is not recommended that you put your cigars in your big refrigerator.

As far as the low humidity, did you season the cedar first before you put it in there? if you just put the cedar trays or boxes in the mini fridge without bringing them up to the humidity level you want first it is going to cause low humidity in the fridge. Just like the inside of your humidor you need to season the trays and boxes that you are putting in there.

As far as the musty smell, most refrigerators have a tube in the back that collects the condensation and drains it out somewhere. My guess is that the musty smell you are getting is coming from that drainage tube. This is the same reason that people put a box of baking soda in their refrigerator.

Anyway...just my 2 cents. Feel free to send me a PM if you need some additional help.

Rupe

^^ Great Suggestions!

 

[TravelingJ]

Not to be a hater because I know it gets a lot of love from people but I have never had humidity issues with my heartfelts. Yeah I know it costs more but it is a 30 count humi. You can get one of the cigar shaped tubes on the cheap and it will be more than enough. As for your new humi. A pound or more and some empty boxes and that puppy will hold steady at 65. Need to look at the cigars as an investment. 30 ct probably has 2-300 in sticks and once you fill your vino you could have up to 1000s. Make the 1 time investment...you will not be disappointed.

That's pretty much how I feel on the subject (though, I use HCM beads) Just add a couple of spritz every so never, and you stay rock solid.

 

[MylesT]

The KL has no smell...I checked....the boxes are kinda strong, but mostly cedary in smell. And nothing else is in there.

I also bleached it, and then let it air out for several days until there was no odor.

I really want to solve this so I can move into a better environment for my smokes.... :-(

First let me say that I use kitty litter and it works GREAT. Just because something costs more doesn't mean that it works better.

Now stepping off my KL soapbox.....In regards to your mini fridge. Are you running it or just using it as a "sealed box"? If you are running it the compressor from the fridge is going to dry out your cigars and keep them too cold. This is the same reason that it is not recommended that you put your cigars in your big refrigerator.

As far as the low humidity, did you season the cedar first before you put it in there? if you just put the cedar trays or boxes in the mini fridge without bringing them up to the humidity level you want first it is going to cause low humidity in the fridge. Just like the inside of your humidor you need to season the trays and boxes that you are putting in there.

As far as the musty smell, most refrigerators have a tube in the back that collects the condensation and drains it out somewhere. My guess is that the musty smell you are getting is coming from that drainage tube. This is the same reason that people put a box of baking soda in their refrigerator.

Anyway...just my 2 cents. Feel free to send me a PM if you need some additional help.

Rupe

Not running, just used as a sealed box. I had no way to really season the boxes....been spritzing them lightly when i hit the litter. I just got home from work...still 58RH....not sure about the tube, but it didnt smell musty until i got the litter and wood in and started adding moisture.

 

[Rupe]

Not running, just used as a sealed box. I had no way to really season the boxes....been spritzing them lightly when i hit the litter. I just got home from work...still 58RH....not sure about the tube, but it didnt smell musty until i got the litter and wood in and started adding moisture.

It sounds like your cedar boxes need to get seasoned better which is more than likely the reason for your low humidity. You can use your fridge to do the seasoning. My suggestion is to wipe them down with distilled water and place them into the fridge with a dish of distilled water and let them get to the moisture you want. From my own personal experience I can testify that without seasoning them correctly you will be fighting low RH for awhile.

As far as the smell, I still don't think that it is coming from the cedar or KL. See If you can locate where the drain tube connects on the inside and seal it up with some no odor silicone. I would also recommend scubbing the inside of the fridge again thoroughly with some Oxy Clean and some elbow grease. I know that every refrigerator that has been sitting unused for awhile that I have ever encountered has an odor to it that is on a scale from slightly musty to really nasty......Good luck!

Oh and don't let the haters discourage you from using kitty litter. I have heard a lot of "I don't use it but" statements from people who have never tried it. Generally they are also shilling for Heartfelt or HCM beads in the next sentence. I just spritz my kitty litter with a little distilled water every now and again and my humidity stays rock solid at 65%

 

[smokemifugotem]

Like I said...no dog in fight. Just this is not the first thread on KL in 5 years and just repeating info from others. Just a bunch of people that have had inconsistent results from it. Which honestly is not shocking due to all of the brands, different conditions stored, different climates etc etc and it is at the end of the day not made for what we use it for. But I am also a right tool for the right job type of guy.

But back to topic get a couple small bowls and put a half inch to an inch of distilled water in them. Put them in opposite areas of your humi than the KL. just make sure you check it daily or twice a day. The beads will pull the moisture from the air. Should take a couple days but will pull the humidity up in the humidor. Best of luck!

 

[MylesT]

Thanks guys! Its up to 59 now, so it looks like its slowly doing its thing....only aiming for 62-64 as its going to be my daily humi, so i guess it isnt that bad!

Rupe, i'll give it a look...guess i should have that of that in the first place...

 

[Gravity]

Making sure to use only distilled water, correct?

 

[MylesT]

Making sure to use only distilled water, correct?

absolutely