Beads that stink

[Alwayslit]

I have a pound of beads and they just started to have an unpleasant odor. Should I dry them out and try again or get new ones. I've only used distilled water on them.

 

[Alwayslit]

Just smelt them again, ammonia. Are these salvageable?

 

[iCraig]

When I had smelly beads, I baked them in the oven at about 200 til they dried out. That seemed to help a lot with the smell.

 

[dpricenator]

stop peeing on your beads. Problem solved

 

[BigFoot]

stop peeing on your beads. Problem solved

either that or stop using the recycled Fresh Step beads....

 

[njstone]

I'm not sure if beads absorb odors or not, but if they were in a bin with cigars that are maturing and giving off a lot of ammonia ... maybe.

Yea, I'd try them out thoroughly, then maybe even wet them and dry them out again, giving the beads a chance to shed the ammonia smell along with the moisture. You've got nothing to loose, you can always buy new ones if that doesn't work.

 

[Alwayslit]

stop peeing on your beads. Problem solved

......use a depends so no accidents......though it might be my 5 year old:grin:

 

[theshoreways]

Yea, I'd try them out thoroughly, then maybe even wet them and dry them out again, giving the beads a chance to shed the ammonia smell along with the moisture. You've got nothing to loose, you can always buy new ones if that doesn't work.

I cleaned out a pound and a half of HF beads with a little thing of activated charcoal I ordered off amazon for like 5 bucks. I put the charcoal and the beads in a ziploc bag. Worked pretty well. Try letting the beads dry out too, that helps.

What brand of beads are you using?

 

[Alwayslit]

heartfelt. What were they placed in or on to dry them out in the oven.

 

[njstone]

heartfelt. What were they placed in or on to dry them out in the oven.

jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with raised edges (so they don't roll off, lol). Nothing rusty, of course.

 

[Alwayslit]

Just put them in a ceramic bowl at 200. Thanks for the help. I really didn't want to s-can these.

 

[theshoreways]

The whole smell issue is part of the reason I switched to the HCM beads.

From their site:
"The beads themselves do not absorb anything but moisture and ammonia, so they never become contaminated by free hydrocarbons or other matter the way silica-based products do. (This is why the silica-based products turn yellow over time)."

I'm assuming this also means they do a better job at odor control, but I'm really only speaking from my own positive experience.

But I would definitely try and salvage what you already have!

Hope this helps.

 

[njstone]

The whole smell issue is part of the reason I switched to the HCM beads.

From their site:
"The beads themselves do not absorb anything but moisture and ammonia, so they never become contaminated by free hydrocarbons or other matter the way silica-based products do. (This is why the silica-based products turn yellow over time)."

I'm assuming this also means they do a better job at odor control, but I'm really only speaking from my own positive experience.

But I would definitely try and salvage what you already have!

Hope this helps.

If they absorb ammonia, then they will smell like ammonia. Unless there is another chemical in there that changes the ammonia into something else (there isn't), then the ammonia is still there ... it will come out eventually. Ammonia-wise, the beads of which you speak are identical to the ones he's using.

The hydrocarbons that they are talking about are what make some beads turn slightly yellow or brown ... it's not harmful nor does it cause odors, it just discolors the beads. These guys are saying that theirs do not do that, which differentiates them from the competition.

 

[theshoreways]

Makes sense. I have no expertise in the area, so I will defer to yours. Thanks.

If they absorb ammonia, then they will smell like ammonia. Unless there is another chemical in there that changes the ammonia into something else (there isn't), then the ammonia is still there ... it will come out eventually. Ammonia-wise, the beads of which you speak are identical to the ones he's using.

The hydrocarbons that they are talking about are what make some beads turn slightly yellow or brown ... it's not harmful nor does it cause odors, it just discolors the beads. These guys are saying that theirs do not do that, which differentiates them from the competition.

 

[Jfire]

I'm pretty sure that the HCM beads don't smell after several years of use by the guys that have them. Dump the Hfs and get the shililah beads. Gonna do this in another year or 2.

 

[CigarNut]

Both HF and HCM beads absorb ammonia -- and you want them to do that so that the ammonia is not in the air to taint your cigars.

I don't know how to clean HF beads -- there have been several suggestions here and I would recommend that you give one (or more) of them a try.

Due to the sponge-like design (you can see a picture of an HCM bead under an electron microscope on my website) of the HCM beads they have a very large capacity to hold moisture and ammonia, so you are unlikely to have problems in this area...

 

[Alwayslit]

either that or stop using the recycled Fresh Step beads....

......these are the ones you sold me. How many cats do you have?:wink:

 

[Headbanger]

Several years of perfect use and the kitty litter I have are doing just fine in all the coolidors.

 

[BigFoot]

O

......these are the ones you sold me. How many cats do you have?:wink:

Lol....definatly not Fresh Step then, probably Shop Rite brand, god know I can't afford name brand!:stretchgr

 

[Alwayslit]

I cleaned out a pound and a half of HF beads with a little thing of activated charcoal I ordered off amazon for like 5 bucks. I put the charcoal and the beads in a ziploc bag. Worked pretty well. Try letting the beads dry out too, that helps.

What brand of beads are you using?

......thanks for the great idea. I dried them out and put them in a ziplock with the activated charcoal
for ten days.......no smell:smile: