Storing Cubans and NCs together

[davo]

Ight boys I'll give it a shot see how it goes

Will keep u posted

Cheers

 

[davo]

Ok so I left open for 45 mins or so and it was just getting higher (remember I'm in Sydney Australia ) temps are 18 and rainy last few days ....

Anyway so I've now got the 2 heartfelt tubes in there which I've ran the mrs hair dryer over so there dry so they can Absorb some of the excess humidity (hopefully!!!)

Really annoying as the end on some of my Cuban monte 2s have split open a little grrrrrrr!!

 

[Jfire]

Just a FYI the heartfelt beads will help. But depending on saturation levels inside your humidor. It may or may not take one more during session with the hair dryer on the beads.

 

[davo]

Sorry mate I don't follow you ?? Are you saying depending on how high the humidity /saturation levels are I may have to keep drying the beads out and repeating the process ?? Or are u saying the beads won't handle keep being dried out from the hair dryer ??

Thanks for your info

 

[davo]

Well I might be winning the battle over night it's dropped from 73-74 to 69% as above mentioned I totally dried the 2 heartfelt tubes so it appears to be working hopefully this arvo it'll be lower where it should be 65%

Fingers crossed !!!

 

[Jfire]

You may have to yes the hair more than once. But I'd wait a week or so.

 

[rdomfoto]

Ok so update is I put a few more cigars in so appx 25 in total now, my heartfelt beads arrived (65%) plus I Teflon taped the analogue humidifier to get a good seal too. I'm still having high humidity 70-73 though what else can I do , coz it's starting to piss me off !!

Any helps appreciated

One of the other things to do is make sure that your hygrometer is accurate. Analog hygros are notoriously unreliable and you may want to (okay, you probably shouls) get an electronic hygro that you can calibrate. When I put my first tupperdor together I was freaking out because I couldn't get the Rh below 72%. Once I calibrated and tested the hygro, turns out I was actually right around 66%.

I, like a lot of the brothers here, use the Hygroset II. It's about $20 on Amazon and often cheaper if you keep an eye out.

 

[AdamJoshua]

I got rid of all my NCs, my CCs were talking to them and making them feel bad about themselves so I gave them away to foster families, let the healing process begin!

 

[jwintosh]

Haha. He said bugger.

 

[davo]

Yeh man I've got a analogue and a digital hygro so covered there ... Both have been calibrated also .

Home today and back up to 73 and no colour change to the beads so fuk knows what's goin on !!!!

Give it a few more days then if no good I'm going back to boveda instead of heartfelt

 

[davo]

Still at 73 aaaaarrrrgghh !!!!!

 

[FullBody Smoker]

Make sure to calibrate the hygrometer. Use the salt test, it's what most of us do. 20 oz. bottle cap, fill cap with regular table salt, wet salt until consistency of damp sand. You don't want a water puddle on top. Put cap into a ziplock with your hygrometer. Hygrometer should read 75% after 24 hrs. If not, you will know how far off it is or if it is adjustable you can calibrate it accordingly.

Preston

 

[FullBody Smoker]

Also, if you just bought your smokes they will come to you over humidified to survive shipping/handling. However, give the HF tubes a chance, the beads will absorb excess humidity eventually.

 

[davo]

Yeh I did salt test both hygros are good .

I've got the bovedas in there atm to try get it to 69% when it is I'm then going to remove the bovedas and throw the tubes in hoping they then further take it down to 65% I'll give it several days for them to settle down to 65% hopefully that works . If not I'll just stay with bovedas at 69%

Might be time for a new humidor maybe stepping away from the glass top although everything appears to be air tight

Bloody annoying

 

[davo]

There has to be a leak still 73

 

[Jfire]

Take the boveda out. Dry the beads totally with a hair dryer on Low. Once beads are dry......Only put the totally dry beads back in for a few days. Do not put the boveda back in anymore. Go from there......

 

[davo]

Thx Jolietilfire

gonna try that again now

Appreciate the help

 

[AdamJoshua]

Not sure why you would totally dry beads and put them back in, not really how they work.. I don't think.

First of all as people have said, or should have, it's not great to spray your beads, everyone does it but it's still not the correct way to use them and it damages them. If you want to raise the RH of beads put them in a ziplock baggy with a small plate with a damp sponge, dampened in distilled water. Let them sit for a few hours, remove the sponge and put in a hydrometer and let that sit then check the RH of the beads, repeat until the beads are where you want them, spraying them causes cracks to form, why people end up with lots of little pieces of beads and bead dust.

To dry beads you can spread them out on a tray of some type and put them in the refrigerator, the cool dry air in the fridge will slowly bring the RH down, without exposing them to heat, it's a very fast process so you need to check on them after a half hour or so, then bag them up with a hydrometer and check them again.

Not trying to be a douche but this is how Scott says to raise and lower the humidity of the beads and they will stay perfect for many many hundreds of years (ok not hundreds but lots and lots).

It's just time consuming and many people don't have the patients to do it that way.

Good luck getting your box all set!

 

[stukibuilt]

Not sure why you would totally dry beads and put them back in, not really how they work.. I don't think.

First of all as people have said, or should have, it's not great to spray your beads, everyone does it but it's still not the correct way to use them and it damages them. If you want to raise the RH of beads put them in a ziplock baggy with a small plate with a damp sponge, dampened in distilled water. Let them sit for a few hours, remove the sponge and put in a hydrometer and let that sit then check the RH of the beads, repeat until the beads are where you want them, spraying them causes cracks to form, why people end up with lots of little pieces of beads and bead dust.

To dry beads you can spread them out on a tray of some type and put them in the refrigerator, the cool dry air in the fridge will slowly bring the RH down, without exposing them to heat, it's a very fast process so you need to check on them after a half hour or so, then bag them up with a hydrometer and check them again.

Not trying to be a douche but this is how Scott says to raise and lower the humidity of the beads and they will stay perfect for many many hundreds of years (ok not hundreds but lots and lots).

It's just time consuming and many people don't have the patients to do it that way.

Good luck getting your box all set!

That is how Heartfelt beads work. I'm not sure who Scott is or what the beads you are referring to are made from, but there is nothing wrong with adding distilled water directly to the Heartfelt product or using a hair dryer to remove moisture more quickly.

Edit: I see Scott is the guy who makes the HCM beads. Two different products. http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php/45035-Shilala-HCM-vs-HF-beads

 

[Jfire]

Don't worry aJ has a way of ducking up even a know it all comment.......
Secondly.... (Since we are using terms like first of all)
I've used HF beads in 3 vinotemps and 2 desk tops since 2008. I know a few things about them. That I've learned from other guys that were more senior and knowledgable than me at the time. Drying the beads out will allow his humidor to finally come down to a acceptable humidity. Not only that he's in a humid area already. So guess what? Even if he fixes the problem with dry beads. They're going to get saturated in a very short time again. Because he probably has a leaky humidor.... I'm trying to help solve his problem. But it takes time and also takes people who leave the wrong suggestions to just read the thread.