Seasoning Humidor

[jebloom22]

I am currently re-seasoning my 100ct humidor (glass windows on top and front & and tray inside). I have distilled water on the tray and down below, and typically the rule of thumb for this size humidor (in my experiences) has been to leave it sealed to absorb the moisture for 7-10 days. I did, however, place a calibrated hygrometer in the humidor. Rather than play the guessing game of "how many days do I wait," I'm wondering if the hygrometer will tell me when the wood has absorbed enough moisture.

If so, what RH percentage should I stop seasoning at? I don't want to allow too much moisture to absorb because then my cigars (once they're put in) will have the responsibility of balancing things out (along with the HF beads of course).

I assume Jason (the king of cigar storage) will be responding to this one.

 

[Clint]

Very lightly rub the walls, trays, etc. with distilled water. Why? Because all of this surface area will suck the humidity right out of your elements right away. This will help the RH balance faster. Worst case scenario is that too much moisture is added, then you just crack the top until you get your desired RH.

Hope this helps

 

[Jwrussell]

I assume Jason (the king of cigar storage) will be responding to this one.

Wow, "King of cigar storage", I like that. :stretchgr

Wait until it hits 70 and then put your cigars and beads in. You should be fine.

I do NOT recommend the rubbing down of the walls and trays. There isn't a big risk to it, but I still don't recommend it. It will, as Clint notes, speed things up some. However, a better way to speed things up is to add some sterile sponges to your distilled water so that the sponges are about half (or less, no big deal) submerged. They will soak up the distilled water and add surface area that will help with evaporation.

 

[jebloom22]

Thanks. I decided with the purchase of this humi, not to wipe down the walls. I'd rather be patient than risk any damage to the wood.

I thought about waiting until it hit 70, but I'm guessing that much of that reading is due to the standing water (in the glass). I was wondering if I should go higher still...

In order to maximize absorption and surface area, I used a dessert glass, which has a small base, but a very wide mouth. The box has been closed for 4 days now, so I'll keep the sponge idea in mind for next time.

 

[OB-Left]

Wow, "King of cigar storage", I like that. :stretchgr

:youarethe:youarethe:

 

[dpricenator]

I let mt R/H get to about 80%, then removed the water and let it come back down to the desired RH before adding sticks and beads. By doing this you ensure, that the wood has absorbed what it needed to and then let off enough to equalize at 65% or 70% what ever you like.

 

[Jwrussell]

Thanks. I decided with the purchase of this humi, not to wipe down the walls. I'd rather be patient than risk any damage to the wood.

I thought about waiting until it hit 70, but I'm guessing that much of that reading is due to the standing water (in the glass). I was wondering if I should go higher still...

In order to maximize absorption and surface area, I used a dessert glass, which has a small base, but a very wide mouth. The box has been closed for 4 days now, so I'll keep the sponge idea in mind for next time.

Jeremy,

I assume that you are using 65% beads. If that is the case, 70% RH should be fine. If you want to be sure things are ready, pull the water out and close the humi back up with out anything in there. If the RH drops almost immediately and quickly, you aren't there yet. Having the window and the hygro in there will help you keep track, but still no need to rush things. If you really want your cigars to deal with the least amount of acclimation (in other words having them give off or take on moisture to even things out), then instead of adding the cigars and the beads, add just the beads first and wait for things to settle to 65% (or thereabouts). Then you can add the cigars. Keep in mind though, that if your cigars aren't already acclimated to a 65% RH environment that they will have to adjust anyway.

Keep us posted on how things progress.

 

[jebloom22]

Will do. I am using the 65% beads, but they've not yet been in the humidor. I have the cigars divided into three separate containers, each with a 65% tube, while the humidor readies itself. They're at a perfect 65/65 right now. I like the idea of taking the water out and seeing if there's a quick drop or not in RH. When the cigars are ready to go in, I'll have a tube on each side of the bottom, and one tube on the tray. I noticed that if you use more than a couple of cigars on the tray, the top and bottom of the humidor have varying RH (likely because the slits in the tray are mostly covered, thus not allowing for air to circulate). With the tubes on both sides of the tray, I can maintain 65% throughout (I hope).

 

[Jwrussell]

Sounds good. Keep in mind that if everything is stable at 65% and your Humidor is reading higher when you put everything in that the beads will need time to pull out excess humidity. Unless you let the humidity drop to close to 65% (as Dprice mentions above) you need to be sure that your beads have the ability to pull moisture out of the air. Check to make sure that there is the correct portion of white to clear beads (at least 25% white).

 

[jebloom22]

Sounds good. Keep in mind that if everything is stable at 65% and your Humidor is reading higher when you put everything in that the beads will need time to pull out excess humidity. Unless you let the humidity drop to close to 65% (as Dprice mentions above) you need to be sure that your beads have the ability to pull moisture out of the air. Check to make sure that there is the correct portion of white to clear beads (at least 25% white).

I'm having a difficult time seeing the clear/white ratio inside the tubes. I haven't sprayed the beads down at all yet, because they instantly went right to 65% right out of the envelope. They've been in the tupperware for a week now. No fluctuation.

 

[Jwrussell]

Yeah, that can be an issue when using the tubes. You can play it by ear. Just pay attention to the RH. If once you put them in the RH pegs at higher than 65% and stays there you may have too many beads saturated to be able to pull the excess. Easiest way to deal with this is a bowl of some kind and a small funnel. Open the tube over the bowl, pour out the beads and you'll be able to see the beads and can then proceed to one of a couple ways of drying them out if needed. Afterward, it is a small matter of carefully putting the beads back in the tube using the funnel.

Chances are you won't need to do this. Sounds like your cigars were pretty much already at 65% to begin with so there should still be plenty of room for moisture to be pulled in to the beads if necessary.

 

[jebloom22]

The humidor was showing an RH of ~71-72% so I pulled out the distilled water yesterday, and within 1-2 hours, the RH dropped to 56%. I put a 65% bead tube in there for another 1-2 hours, but no significant change. I put the water back in, and will wait another few days.

I don't get the impression that the cedar absorbed enough moisture, and expect that my cigars would be responsible for giving some up if I put them in now. I'll continue to update.

 

[OB-Left]

Your moving in the right direction. Good job. :applause:

 

[dpricenator]

The humidor was showing an RH of ~71-72% so I pulled out the distilled water yesterday, and within 1-2 hours, the RH dropped to 56%. I put a 65% bead tube in there for another 1-2 hours, but no significant change. I put the water back in, and will wait another few days.

I don't get the impression that the cedar absorbed enough moisture, and expect that my cigars would be responsible for giving some up if I put them in now. I'll continue to update.

let the rh get to 10% or so higher than desired, then remove the water. then let it back into the desired rh.

 

[jebloom22]

UPDATE:

Loaded the humidor with cigars and the 3-65% tubes. It's been 36 hours, and my recently calibrated digital hygro is showing 60%.

Hoping the beads are able to get me to 65%... Seasoned with distilled water in for ~10 days. Highest I got in that time period was 72%. It sat there for 4-5 days at least, so I figured I wasn't going to get a higher RH by letting it continue to sit.

How long should I allow the beads to do their job before I formulate a Plan B? Again, I'm at 60%, but it's only been ~36 hours. The humidor's capacity is about 100, and there are currently ~95 cigars in the box.

 

[Jwrussell]

I would give it a few more days. If you want to check you can always pull the beads out and see what they look like (dump them into a bowl from the tubes to check, helps to have a small funnel to get them back in easily). You are looking for about 75% clear, 25% white. If it seems like the beads are mostly bone white (dry) then add some distilled water to them.

 

[jebloom22]

The bead sticks should be fine. I emptied them and sprayed with distilled water just last week. When they were each in their own sealed container with cigars, they were all reading between 66-67% RH, which means I sprayed them just a tiny bit too much. I would hope that the humidor's RH improves from 60% within a few days, especially since I have three tubes in there, and the box is just under its capacity.

 

[jebloom22]

Down to 59% now (temp is at 65.5 degrees)

 

[jebloom22]

Another Update:

Pulled the bead tubes (all 3) out and saw that they were already no longer 75/25 (wet/dry). I sprayed them all down again, and probably got them to about 80/20. It's been nearly a week, and although the RH got up to 61%, it is now back down to 59%.

Why can't I seem to maintain 65%? I had seasoned the box for nearly two weeks before the beads went in! I don't get it. Box seems to have a nice, tight seal. Humidor is at least 80%+ filled.

I'm planning to pull the beads again this weekend to verify if they are drying out again (releasing more moisture). If they have whitened up again, I'll add more water.

Definitely frustrated here.

 

[Jwrussell]

I'm sorry you have having such a difficult time, bro'. I went back and re-read the beginning of the thread and it sounds like you waited about 2 weeks before moving the sticks and beads in. That should have been plenty of time to get the humidor seasoned. In fact, I'm a little surprised the RH wasn't reading higher than the 71-72% you noted at that point.

When you say that the beads were no longer 75/25, any idea what kind of ratio you were seeing? Where they pretty much bone dry?

I hate to say this, but everything I'm reading about your situation says, "leaky humidor" to me. You mention glass top and front and those types of humidors kind of have a reputation for not always having the best of seals around the "glass" (in quotes because it is often plexiglass or plastic). Have you tested the seal on the lid using the dollar bill method or in any other way?