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Humidity Meter

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Not sure if this is the right place but I purchased a Humidimeter by Cigars Medics (actually 2) and I was wondering if anyone else uses them and/or would be able to share anything about it's usefulness, how it works, etc.

One does not really NEED this device but I find that it is great for identifying overly humidified sticks (over 70%RH) and have found that cigars generally smoke very well when the reading is between 55-65% RH.

Does anybody know how it works, i.e. what it is actually measuring? Is it reading the water content of a solid (tobacco) and converting to a RH value or is it measuring the RH of the air inside the cigar? I have heard it is measuring water content and converting to RH but I would be interested to hear anything you folks have to say about this.

Thanks!
 
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I'm kind of surprised nobody has ever tried one of these. Are there like 5 people on this board nowadays? I'm glad it is still around but a lot has changed in 10 years!
 
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Did you explore or play around with them? I find they read reasonably accurately or the performance of the cigar matches with the numbers I'm seeing on this thing.
If I see anything close to 70% I don't smoke the cigar
If it's low 60s or even high 50s, most cigars burn great. If it's mid-60s, it could go either way

I have two of these with a calibration piece (70%) and the numbers seem to agree pretty well between the two units
 

icehog3

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Did you explore or play around with them? I find they read reasonably accurately or the performance of the cigar matches with the numbers I'm seeing on this thing.
If I see anything close to 70% I don't smoke the cigar
If it's low 60s or even high 50s, most cigars burn great. If it's mid-60s, it could go either way

I have two of these with a calibration piece (70%) and the numbers seem to agree pretty well between the two units
No, just heard acquaintances' experiences from them. Sounds like it's a useful tool for you.
 
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They measure the electrical resistance between the two pins. The more moisture there is in the tobacco then the better it conducts electricity and the lower the resistance. The resistance has been calibrated to read as the RH of the cigar . It is a true representation but it is actually measuring the electrical resistance.
Woodworkers use a similar device for measuring the moisture content of wood.
 

Rupe

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I have been toying with the idea of getting one for a while now for exactly the reasons you describe (being able to identify over-humidified cigars) @QiCultivator.

I stopped buying cigars about a year ago though so have not been adding any cigars to my stash from retailers and internet sellers that tend to keep them extra wet. In other words, I am at a point with my stash where I can trust the stability of the humidity because the cigars have been kept at 62-65% for a while now.

If I were still building my stash, I would probably pull the trigger on one of these so that I make sure I am not accidentally smoking something that is too wet.
 
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Yea, if you are buying cigars to smoke in a week or two the tool is probably a good idea. My problem is trying to smoke all the cigars I currently have so a couple of months acclimating in my humidors isn't a big inconvenience
 
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Yea, if you are buying cigars to smoke in a week or two the tool is probably a good idea. My problem is trying to smoke all the cigars I currently have so a couple of months acclimating in my humidors isn't a big inconvenience
Letting cigars sit and rest for a long nap is tried 'n' true...they'll acclimate eventually! I just overthink everything and I don't mind that
 
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I have been toying with the idea of getting one for a while now for exactly the reasons you describe (being able to identify over-humidified cigars) @QiCultivator.

I stopped buying cigars about a year ago though so have not been adding any cigars to my stash from retailers and internet sellers that tend to keep them extra wet. In other words, I am at a point with my stash where I can trust the stability of the humidity because the cigars have been kept at 62-65% for a while now.

If I were still building my stash, I would probably pull the trigger on one of these so that I make sure I am not accidentally smoking something that is too wet.
I have had too many bad experiences lately. At any given time, I generally don't have a large enough collection relative to my smoking frequency (1-3 per day most days) to just let cigars nap for months, in which case they would be fine. Good point, it's more for short term and I find it works pretty well.
 
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