Humidor will not stay at 70-72!!

[REMogul]

I cannot seem to ever get my humidor to act properly! It always drop to mid to low 60's and I have the Boveda pouch in there and a little humidifier to give it an extra boost but always drops.

The humidor had a little leaflet that specifically said do not wet it since it may cause warping of the wood...I don't know what do but stales VSG's is not what i want! :hanghead:

 

[hawaiian]

So many things could be causing that but I'd start by getting a better hygrometer first. I personally have never seen a reliable or accurate built-in analog one yet.

 

[Ecks]

So many things could be causing that but I'd start by getting a better hygrometer first. I personally have never seen a reliable or accurate built-in analog one yet.

^ this to start with. Xikar makes a good hygrometer that displays both temp and rh and only runs about 10-15 bucks. Also are you using only a sponge for humidity control? If so I would recommend adding a few Boveda packs (About 4 bucks a piece) for the humidty level you are trying to achieve. Those packs are extremely low maintenance and work on both absorbing and releasing humidity to achieve the goal RH.

edit: you already mentioned Boveda packs, but do you have the recommended number of packs in the humi? Check the back of your pack and it will say how many cigars to how many packs are recommended.

 

[REMogul]

That's a possibility, on paper I am doing everything right so maybe I need to get a good electronic hygrometer

http://www.cigarsinternational.com/prodDisp.asp?item=M-HYG10&cat=10

Only $20

 

[StocktonJohn]

So many things could be causing that but I'd start by getting a better hygrometer first. I personally have never seen a reliable or accurate built-in analog one yet.

Agreed... Also, 70-72 is pretty high for VSGs, I keep mine at 65 or so.

 

[javajunkie]

is the boveda pack flat? if your hygro reads, ow, but the boveda still has goo in it, your hygro sucks. analog are notoriously poor for accuracy.

post more info. there could be a LOT of different potentials.

edit: NINJAS! NINJAS EVERYWHERE! O_O

 

[jimmypa]

Pretty much agree with everyone else, I also keep mine at 65 rh and my sticks have been smoking great right out of the humi

 

[AlohaStyle]

Yeah bro, I would definitely trust a fresh Boveda pack over your analog hygro any day of the week. What kind of boveda pack do you have in there? 69%, 72%? Even with boveda packs, they can be off slightly, but no more than 2 percentage points usually. Either stop looking at your analog hygro and trust your boveda, or buy a digital one, test it and adjust it accordingly.

 

[Knickerbocker]

Get a digital and try keeping your cigars at 64-66, you will thank us later.

 

[REMogul]

is the boveda pack flat? if your hygro reads, ow, but the boveda still has goo in it, your hygro sucks. analog are notoriously poor for accuracy.

post more info. there could be a LOT of different potentials.

edit: NINJAS! NINJAS EVERYWHERE! O_O

no it's leaning against the back...and Ninja's and VSG's my friend! I have a few Ninja's left...not making that mistake again lol

 

[hawaiian]

Get a digital and try keeping your cigars at 64-66, you will thank us later.

Totally agree. Don't worry too much about getting up to 70. I usually keep my sticks at 62-65 and I think they burn and taste much better.

 

[javajunkie]

no it's leaning against the back...and Ninja's and VSG's my friend!

actually meant is the pack flat, rigid, and dried up, or still pliant and full of goo. as in, if the boveda is fried, your humidor seal is bad, but if the pack is good, your hygro is bad.

also, meant thread ninjas. although the gurkha ninja was made by PDR, IIRC, and doesn't suck if you got a deal.

 

[AlohaStyle]

Also, I see you have the 72% pack. Do yourself a favor and buy a new pack sooner than later. Because the packs can vary by a percentage or two, your humi could actually be 74% which is way too high. I personally would buy the 65% pack, but you should for sure get the 69% as the highest Rh.

 

[Cigary43]

When I converted to kitty litter ALL of my RH issues stopped....22 humidors can't be wrong.

1. Use silica free kitty litter=Exquisicat Unscented
2. Use a shallow tray...the more surface area the better it works
3. See what your RH is after 8 hours and it's usually around 62 - 65% w/o spritzing DW...if it's below what you want allow about 2 spritzes of DW which should bump your RH ...check in a few hours.
4. Kitty Litter absorbs humidity but when DW is added it bumps up the overall RH. For 2 years my humidors have been at their absolute best...I never worry about RH anymore.

PM if you have any questions as I feel for those who still have anxiety over RH....this ends it and is cheap to boot...WIN WIN.

 

[REMogul]

Wow that is something I never heard before!

 

[Fat_Risling]

I use only boveda and think it works great. The problem with boveda and some other form of humidification together is they can work against each other. As a humidification device releases humidity the humidor can spike a little and the. Boveda pack will absorb that. So if you are using bovedas I recommend them only. Also for your humidor probably need another pack or two. I agree I prefer the 69% packs.

 

[Rupe]

My first thought is that you need at least one more Boveda pack in there. From the Boveda website:

How many Boveda Packs do I need?
There is a simple formula to determine how may Boveda Packs you require.

You will need one Pack for the Humidor itself and then one pack for every 50 cigars of CAPACITY. So if you have a humidor that holds 40 cigars, use 2 packs. If your box holds 75 cigars, use 3 packs. 100 cigars, 3 packs. You get the picture.

In other words for a 50 capacity humidor you should have 2 packs in there

One other thing that you might also consider is to check the seal on your humidor, especially around the hygrometer. Humidors with the external hygrometer like that have a reputation of being somewhat leaky.

Finally, make sure your hygrometer is calibrated. You may already have the humidity level you want in the humidor but you don't know for sure because your hygrometer is lying to you.

 

[REMogul]

Ok i am going to grab 1 more Boveda pack today!