Humidity Issues

[seeharrison]

So I’ve got an Edgestar Wineador (with a plugged drain plug) and I can’t seem to get above 63%. I’ve got 10 Boveda 69% packs in it, but can seem to get it to 69%. It was a previously seasoned unit, but it started dropping about a week ago. Roughly 4 days ago I replaced all of my Boveda packs, but no luck. Any thoughts?

 

[ChuckMejia]

Were your drawers and shelves re-seasoned?

If not... they’re probably sucking the bovedas dry

 

[bwhite220]

Sounds like you are doing the right things. Only additional things I would check:

• Are your hygrometers calibrated? If yes, how long ago? It might be a good idea to recalibrate and see if they are reading how you think they're reading.
• You might check the seal on the door. There may be a small leak somewhere that has developed.

EDIT: one other thought; I know 10 Bovedas seems like a lot, but how big is your winedor? You might actually need more Boveda if the hygrometers are accurate and the door's seal is still perfect.

 

[Boudie]

Do you have water pooling in the bottom of the unit?

 

[seeharrison]

Were your drawers and shelves re-seasoned?

If not... they’re probably sucking the bovedas dry

They were...

 

[seeharrison]

Do you have water pooling in the bottom of the unit?

I do not...

 

[seeharrison]

Sounds like you are doing the right things. Only additional things I would check:

• Are your hygrometers calibrated? If yes, how long ago? It might be a good idea to recalibrate and see if they are reading how you think they're reading.
• You might check the seal on the door. There may be a small leak somewhere that has developed.

EDIT: one other thought; I know 10 Bovedas seems like a lot, but how big is your winedor? You might actually need more Boveda if the hygrometers are accurate and the door's seal is still perfect.

Hygrometers were calibrated about two weeks ago with the Boveda test kit. I guess I’ll add a couple more Bovedas.

 

[ChuckMejia]

Hygrometers were calibrated about two weeks ago with the Boveda test kit. I guess I’ll add a couple more Bovedas.

I’d say add a tray of distilled water on the bottom and see if the humidity rises. Maybe the drawers and shelves were super dry ...

 

[seeharrison]

Just wanted to provide an update. I’ve now got 12 Boveda 69% 60 gram packs, a pound of kitty litter and a small bowl of distilled water with sponges in it. Short of moving my cigars to an aquarium, not sure what I can do to improve humidity. We’ll see how this week goes. Before adding the additional Boveda and KL I was at 60%.

 

[bwhite220]

Do your cigars feel dried out or spongey when you lightly squeeze them?

 

[scott1256ca]

Have you checked the door seal? You could also put a thin bead of silicone around the glass if it doesn't seat well. Is there somewhere on the inside that can be leaking air? If you turn it off, does the RH climb back to where it belongs? If the door etc. is sealing then I would thing that 12 bovedas would keep it properly humidified unless the wineador is huge.The only other thing is condensation when it is running, but you say you aren't getting any water build up inside the unit.

 

[Fusion555]

12 x 60g Bovedas is not a lot in a wineadore, have you spritzed the KL a little? that and the DW will help, i wouldnt leave any sponges in there, let it settle now and see how it goes.

 

[seeharrison]

Do your cigars feel dried out or spongey when you lightly squeeze them?

They’re closer to the dried out side. As a temp solution, I’ve been putting stuff I want to smoke in my tuppador to get it where it needs to be.

 

[seeharrison]

Have you checked the door seal? You could also put a thin bead of silicone around the glass if it doesn't seat well. Is there somewhere on the inside that can be leaking air? If you turn it off, does the RH climb back to where it belongs? If the door etc. is sealing then I would thing that 12 bovedas would keep it properly humidified unless the wineador is huge.The only other thing is condensation when it is running, but you say you aren't getting any water build up inside the unit.

I checked the door seal and it’s a perfect seal. I’ve got the drain hole plugged, so it should be a nice airtight environment.

No condensation that I’ve seen. I haven’t tried turning off the refrigeration, so I may test that this week.

 

[seeharrison]

12 x 60g Bovedas is not a lot in a wineadore, have you spritzed the KL a little? that and the DW will help, i wouldnt leave any sponges in there, let it settle now and see how it goes.

I spritzed the KL, shook the pan to mix it up and spritzed it some more. I’ll pull the sponges tomorrow and see how it goes.

 

[seeharrison]

I’m still not seeing any improvement after upping my Boveda to 14 x 60. I pulled some cigars, one of my hygrometers and a couple of Bovedas and stuck them in a Tupperware container. Like magic I was rocking 69%. I pulled all of my drawers out of the wineador to check for moisture (condensation) and everything looked good. I double checked and triple checked the seal on the door and it all looks good.

Over the past month I’ve gone from about 100 sticks to 200 sticks. The only thing I can think is that this has thrown things off. Should I buy some of the 80%+ seasoning Bovedas to throw in there to try to bring it back up? I’m at a bit of a loss and need to get it sorted before the Texas summer shows up. Haha

Cheers!

 

[mpomario]

If you’ve double the number of sticks, it could be that they are sucking up RH. I have ran into that when putting boxes at the top. I usually gives the KL a few extra squirts each day for a couple days till it starts to level off. Just beware that you have to do it gradually giving time for stabilization and watch your gauges in each drawer. When you start getting close, slow down, add less squirts. You will hit a limit for your media and your sticks then you could have a big jump in RH so take care. YMMV.


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[seeharrison]

If you’ve double the number of sticks, it could be that they are sucking up RH. I have ran into that when putting boxes at the top. I usually gives the KL a few extra squirts each day for a couple days till it starts to level off. Just beware that you have to do it gradually giving time for stabilization and watch your gauges in each drawer. When you start getting close, slow down, add less squirts. You will hit a limit for your media and your sticks then you could have a big jump in RH so take care. YMMV.


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Yep, the 100 new sticks are 4 boxes sitting on the top shelf of my wineador. I think I found the culprit. I’ll start giving the KL a couple of sprays every morning until I see the RH move. I’ve been down in the low 60’s for about three weeks, so I’m ready to get my humidity back up.

 

[Bruce T.]

I was reorganizing my winador a while back. I grabbed a wooden cigar box from a closet and filled it with cigars that had been loose and put it in the winador. That box sucked up an incredible amount of moisture from the air in my winador. I put 3 Bovedas in the new box so the cigars would not be affected and the 3 Bovedas completely dried out in a couple of weeks. The dry wood was a real problem. I would think that your two boxes of unconditioned cigars would defiantly be your culprit.

 

[seeharrison]

I was reorganizing my winador a while back. I grabbed a wooden cigar box from a closet and filled it with cigars that had been loose and put it in the winador. That box sucked up an incredible amount of moisture from the air in my winador. I put 3 Bovedas in the new box so the cigars would not be affected and the 3 Bovedas completely dried out in a couple of weeks. The dry wood was a real problem. I would think that your two boxes of unconditioned cigars would defiantly be your culprit.

Right now I’m spritzing my tray of KL three times a day and I’m maintaining 68%. Here’s my new issue... I’ve got three boxes of CC’s that are about to come out of the freezer and need a home. Any tips on seasoning the boxes? Or should I pull all of the sticks out of the boxes and put them in my drawers. I’m wanting to age them for about a year.