salt test / Little Havana hygros

[seriesV]

has anybody seen or used those small cigar-shaped hygrometers made by Little Havana? Last week, i got 2 from the company, as i have been expanding my humidor line up and i dont want anymore wasted space in my desktops. I already had 2 other digis, but both are larger and stand up, and 2 analogs. I had never done the salt test with any of them, so i set all 6 out on the counter for several hours while i procrastinated getting the salt stuff ready. The wierd thing was, 1 of the perfectos was reading about 6% higher RH than the other one, which was still a few % off of the rest. temp was all within about 1.5 degrees, but i care more about RH. So i mix up the water and salt, put everything in a tupperware for a day, and come back to check. (i had put those little round sticker labels on each hygro before to write down the % each was off) Well, when i check the gauges, both alanogs were +3%, the 2 big digis were +1 and 2%, and one perfecto was +5%, the other was +9%! the strangest thing about it was it was all different amounts off as compared to ambient readings on the counter and later in my bedroom with the a/c on. different as is the ones that read higher than others in the salt test read lower than others outside of it.

My point basically is, i dont know if i did the salt test right (im pretty sure i did, but i took some pics just in case), and im confused to hell about why some read lower in the air than others, but higher in the salt test than those same other ones. Also, why there is a 4-6% difference between two of the exact same hygros - the little havana perfecto ones, and i was curious to know if anyone else had any experience with those partictular hygros. i know this is a long post and im still a newb, but any help/insight would be GREATLY appreciated...

 

[seriesV]

oh, and 1 other thing: i have some 65% heartfelt beads, have had a small tube full sitting in my desktop and 2 large tubes in my bigger (~300 ct) humidor for about 2 weeks now, and the humi readings are still like 10% off (corrected) in the big one and about 5% off (corrected) in the desktop. its also wicked humid here in the summer (most days upper 90's% RH), so i took out the humidifer from my big one a couple of days ago but no significant change yet. i am getting sick of damp smokes really really fast.

 

[vperlman]

I, personally, have stopped paying attention to my hygros (coincidentally, the perfecto-shaped ones from Little Havana). I just use the beads and pay attention to their appearance. I couldn't tell you if the humidors and cigars are exactly 70%, but the sticks feel and smoke well, and that's all I really care about.

 

[caudio51]

Vic has it right, use the hygros as a guide but don't go nuts. Pay more attention to how your cigars are smoking.

With that said, I would reccomend picking up the boveda pack hygro test bag. They will be a nice medium to really test your hygros and make sure it is consistent. I have two of the little havanas and they seem to be pretty on.

 

[seriesV]

I, personally, have stopped paying attention to my hygros (coincidentally, the perfecto-shaped ones from Little Havana). I just use the beads and pay attention to their appearance. I couldn't tell you if the humidors and cigars are exactly 70%, but the sticks feel and smoke well, and that's all I really care about.

Vic has it right, use the hygros as a guide but don't go nuts. Pay more attention to how your cigars are smoking...

thats the thing though, some look and feel dry (and crack when i cut them) but smoke ok, others seem fine but draw poorly, like theyre too damp. i dunno, im just getting frustrated because i want to simply enjoy my cigars, and not try to meticulously care for them only to fight for a decent cloud of smoke. if theres one thing i hate its a cigar that doesnt draw well, and the frequency that i run into that leads me to believe its related to my storage. probably about 1/5 to 1/4 of the sticks i light up leave me at least slightly dissappointed with the amout of smoke i get.

 

[caudio51]

What temperature are they being stored at?

 

[seriesV]

i cant say for sure, i have a desktop in my room w/o a thermo (untill i figure out the little havana hygros) where the ambient temp ranges from low 70's to low 80's, lately its been about 75 most of the time cuz i need the a/c on to sleep during the day. my big one is in the basement and the hygro/thermo usually reads around 65-73 deg (if my memory serves me, i dont pay too close attention to the temp). both are out of the sun too.

 

[Ratbert]

I have two of the Little Havanas and really think that they do a great job. I ran the salt test with both and a slimline Prometheus digital and one LH was nailed right at 75%, with the other one and the Prometheus being +2%.

I am ordering a Boveda calibration pack and will test them again with salt and with the Boveda and post the results. I'm interested in seeing how accurate the salt test is...obviously there's going to be more possible variation with it than when using the Bovida.

 

[vperlman]

thats the thing though, some look and feel dry (and crack when i cut them) but smoke ok, others seem fine but draw poorly, like theyre too damp...

Do you periodically move your cigars around in the box? Humidity within any humidor varies astonishingly from one place to another. If the cigars are in there for any period of time and you aren't rotating their locations, you may end up with some dry sticks and some wet ones.

 

[seriesV]

i probably dont move them as often as i should, maybe once every few months when i get ambitious i'll rotate throught the whole humi and try to rearange everything, space management is an issue, but i have 2 new humidors waiting to be filled, so maybe spreading the stash out a little will help.
i dunno, maybe im making a mountain out of a mole hill, i dont smoke nearly as often as i want to, and in the winter it's next to impossible: no smoking in the house; and wonderful NY state had to ban smoking inside, which leaves either the casino (i already spend 40+ hours there a week, enough is enough) or the 1 local cigar bar, or outside, and i dont care what anyone says but sitting in the snow in a columbia coat and trying to smoke with gloves on just kinda robs the pleasure from cigars for me.

i was just really startled by the discrepancies between the hygros and questioning my salt test methodology. im thinking its time to call up the little havana cust service for a replacement (or 2), i mean a 3% guarentee is a guarentee, after all

 

[vperlman]

... im thinking its time to call up the little havana cust service for a replacement (or 2), i mean a 3% guarentee is a guarentee, after all

Their customer service seems to be excellent, and I am sure they will honor the guarantee with no problem.

 

[caudio51]

I really don't care what my hygros are off, as long as I know what the difference is, I can usally do the math in my head