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BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE
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Humidification Beads
- Thread starter akpreacherplayz
- Start date
Just curious why you moved to Boveda? I've been considering moving from Boveda to beads because it seems like the Bovedas don't last that long.
I went from beads to Boveda, too. I have a SensorPush in a very good wood humidor and I saw the data when I used beads. I had 65% beads, I saw that when I hydrated beads the humidity would spike-up a few points sometimes to 70% or slightly higher. Within a day or two the beads would level off to 66% to 67% for 2 to 3 weeks. After that point, the humidity would begin to drop and go below 65%, alerting me I needed to hydrate the beads. Then this winter, a very cold and dry air winter, my humidor with the beads would only run about 62% to 63% on average. It was so dry in the house, humidity was being drawn out of the humidor faster than it could be replenished. Yet , when I humidified the beads, it would always spiked above 65% for a day or two. When I switched to the Boveda I went with their 72%, 320 gram packs. In fact I run 2 of them. My humidor has been nailed at 68% to 69% since the change at almost a flat line. My plan is to switch to two, Boveda 69%, 320 gram packs for spring and summer. My guess is it should run at 66% to 67% most of the spring and summer. If it runns too high I can always go to 65% oacks.
The Boveda will not spike or drop until it reaches the end of life (hard and crisp). If you play it right, they will last a long time. My two, 320 gram pack are more than what I need in my humidor but, with Boveda, it doesn't matter because it won't over humidify.
FYI - if you order Boveda from Famous you get the BOTL discount using their code. I assume Neptune will provide their BOTL discount as well.
The Boveda will not spike or drop until it reaches the end of life (hard and crisp). If you play it right, they will last a long time. My two, 320 gram pack are more than what I need in my humidor but, with Boveda, it doesn't matter because it won't over humidify.
FYI - if you order Boveda from Famous you get the BOTL discount using their code. I assume Neptune will provide their BOTL discount as well.
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Im switching from boveda to beads, mosty because i have a nice humidification device i want to utilize. The 320 holds my 120 count perfect as well. Just not a fan of hanging a cardboard box in my humi.
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Coincrazed
"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum."
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2017
- Messages
- 679
If you want cheap, CI has their Humicare blue beads and they work, at least for me.
I can't vouch for everyone, and a couple people I have talked to think they are garbage, but 1 container has kept my humidor at 70/70 for over 5 months.
I can't vouch for everyone, and a couple people I have talked to think they are garbage, but 1 container has kept my humidor at 70/70 for over 5 months.
I do recharge them. I've got 6 of the 69% Bovedas in my wineador and it only keeps 69% for about a week after recharging. It's typically between 62% and 65%. I've got roughly 150 cigars and 5 drawers. I guess I'll order another 4 pack of Bovedas and throw them in there. Thanks for the tip!
Cigary43
Just Another Ashhole
Shouldn't the criteria be....best quality of the media for it's intended usage? The "cheapest" tends to make me a little nervous when making informed decisions...kind of like saying what is the cheapest meat to eat...Ribeye or squirrel meat?
akpreacherplayz
The Preacher
Yes that is what I intended to say but it was a pretty late when I posted!
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My trick with Boveda's is i use those think cedar strips like brands like My Father's use in their boxes. About once a month, I soak the Boveda in a plastic tub in distilled water, pat dry with paper towels. So the excess moisture is removed from the think Ceder wood. Then the Cedar feeds the Boveda moisture. Boveda also can be rehydrated in a bowl of distilled water in less then 24 hours.
The good people at Boveda don't tell you this but it works well, and save you money.
The good people at Boveda don't tell you this but it works well, and save you money.
akpreacherplayz
The Preacher
Was going to say something similar. Am in the desert, very low humidity most of the year. Have a tray of KL at the bottom of the wineador that I spray with DW every other month or so. Use ten 65/RH boveda packs, and they look & feel the same as they did a year ago. RH stays right at 65.
I wouldn't be looking for the "cheapest" beads you don't want something cheap to regulate humidity for your expensive cigar collection. In all honesty if it's for a 150 count humidor or under I think boveda packs work best. That's what I run in all my desk top humidors from 50-150ct. Beads are good when you stepping into the larger storage like winadors, Coolidors or cabinets. In those cases I would use beads and boveda packs as well. Beads are one of those things if you buy a good quality pound or half pound of beads they will last you forever, and if you use in conjunction with boveda packs both media will last longer before needing recharged and the boveda will be there to protect you from large swings in humidity when your Coolidor/winador/cabinet is open or when humidity levels are challenged like is the case in the winter where I'm at.
I guess you could use beads and boveda in a 100-150 ct humidor if you wanted to, but I find boveda packs to be sufficient enough. I always use 1 60g boveda pack for the humidor itself and 1 60g pack for every 25 cigars that the humidor can hold. I also usually toss an extra 2-3 60g packs in as well just to make them last a little longer. Now if you are certain you want beads there are two brands of beads that are going to be the best and they will both last you a life time if you care for them right: HF (Heartfelt) beads and HCM beads. I use HF beads in my Coolidor and they work great in conjunction with boveda packs and I have HCM beads I am using for a winador project that is currently stalled as the winador that got delivered was damaged and I am waiting on a replacement. Personally of the two I think HCM beads are better due to the fact they are a clay based product and you can adjust them to be whatever humidity level you want them to be. But, I have more experience with HF beads and they work very good as well. Any other beads I wouldn't waste the money on them unless they were the xikar gel bead things that I hear work very well. Now I'm. Sure there are other bead choices out there but HF and HCM are what you'll find the majority of the people on here use (probably more so HF beads). Hope this helps a bit.
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I guess you could use beads and boveda in a 100-150 ct humidor if you wanted to, but I find boveda packs to be sufficient enough. I always use 1 60g boveda pack for the humidor itself and 1 60g pack for every 25 cigars that the humidor can hold. I also usually toss an extra 2-3 60g packs in as well just to make them last a little longer. Now if you are certain you want beads there are two brands of beads that are going to be the best and they will both last you a life time if you care for them right: HF (Heartfelt) beads and HCM beads. I use HF beads in my Coolidor and they work great in conjunction with boveda packs and I have HCM beads I am using for a winador project that is currently stalled as the winador that got delivered was damaged and I am waiting on a replacement. Personally of the two I think HCM beads are better due to the fact they are a clay based product and you can adjust them to be whatever humidity level you want them to be. But, I have more experience with HF beads and they work very good as well. Any other beads I wouldn't waste the money on them unless they were the xikar gel bead things that I hear work very well. Now I'm. Sure there are other bead choices out there but HF and HCM are what you'll find the majority of the people on here use (probably more so HF beads). Hope this helps a bit.
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akpreacherplayz
The Preacher
Helps thank you, I’ll have to shop around for these, one of the biggest considerations for me is shipping most places charge more to ship to me.
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I use Bovedas but you must be able to get KL up there, shallow trays/containers and spritz it when your Humidity drops
Exquisycat none perfumed crystals is a good one to use but i guess any Chrystal type none perfumed would work
Exquisycat none perfumed crystals is a good one to use but i guess any Chrystal type none perfumed would work