Xikar

[Griz]

does anyone have any experience with the Xikar hygrometer like this; https://www.xikar.com/products/humidification/digital-hygrometers/#
I saw they say no calibration needed, they are to reset themselves. Cigar Monster has them listed today for $22.98. Just curious if they are good or not and if they are accurate.

 

[Arione]

I use the round, its not terrible, but the 4 I have have a gap of 10% high / low

 

[dizzy]

I actually prefer them, but thats just my two cents

 

[Monsterdg]

I believe I have the previous version, as I have a calibrate button on mine, but otherwise it's the same (I use the rectangle). Works fantastic, had it for a couple of years now.

 

[StogieNinja]

New ones=not calibratable=suck
Old ones=calibratable=Great

 

[rraming]

I have two of the rectangle non-calibrating ones - one reads perfect, the other is way low. I have heard this from others as well - I would look elsewhere. I have a Diamond Crown that has been accurate for over 20 years - digital.

 

[Rupe]

Xikar used to have a great reputation but because their stuff is produced in China it is a crap shoot as to what you will get for quality sometimes. I had some spotty issues with the old style (calibratable) Xikars not wanting to calibrate correctly and switched over to Hygrosets about 2 years ago. Just my opinion here but knowing that the ones you can calibrate can be all off kilter I would be very hesitant to trust the ones you can't calibrate. Apparently some of the comments above reinforce this.

On a side note, why does Xikar do this? I have a V-cutter from them that is a piece of crap too. I realize that they have a lifetime warranty but if you are billing yourself as a "premium" accessory company why would you produce stuff that doesn't work right. personally it has made it very hard for me to consider ANY Xikar products going forward.

 

[LBuzzer]

I'm testing one of the square ones now in a wineador. I have two older round Xikar and the new square one sitting next to each other on the same shelf and the new square one is 6-7 % lower on RH than the two round ones. I'm going to have to salt test the square one before putting it in service.

 

[Mr.Maduro]

My is very good. But have heard the opposite as well.

 

[jeffturneraz]

I have 2 of the older round Xikar that do have a calibrate button.

I am totally happy with them, they are on point, but I did have to use that calibrate button on both, so as for the ones you posted the link to...

...actually StogieNinja said it better than me:

Old ones = great
New ones = suck

Never tried a new one but the simple fact that I have needed that button on both of my older ones alone makes me assume they suck.

 

[heavyd]

I have grown tired of sending stuff back to Xikar for Lifetime Warranty Service, especially considering the USPS rate hikes. It gets expensive.

 

[Master Shake]

I have two of the rectangle non-calibrating ones - one reads perfect, the other is way low. I have heard this from others as well - I would look elsewhere. I have a Diamond Crown that has been accurate for over 20 years - digital.

I spent a decent amount of money on a Diamond Crown about 5 years ago and its non-calibratable and its off by 7% all the time. Not the worst, but certainly not what I expected either, especially for the money I paid.

I do wonder why Xikar decided to get rid of the calibrate feature. Doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

 

[Kloned]

ok guys now this thread has me worried when I first started getting storage supplys I went with Xikar because I was under the assumption they where the top! I have 2 of the newer style ones that you can not calibrate I had them side by side in my coolidor and both were reading the same thing for days,

So my question is should I be good to go? if not please point me in the direction of a good one to get please, I would rather spend the money on new good ones then second guessing these ones

Thanks
Clint

 

[Craig Mac]

Test it for accuracy with a Boveda pack before spending any money. Xikar is guaranteed, if it is more than 2% off you should be able return it.

 

[Kloned]

I will have to get some more packets I sent all I had out in bombs hehehe, I have hartfelt beads in my desktop so im not to worried about that one but in my coolidor I have KL that I set off of the Xicar hygro

 

[rraming]

O

I have two of the rectangle non-calibrating ones - one reads perfect, the other is way low. I have heard this from others as well - I would look elsewhere. I have a Diamond Crown that has been accurate for over 20 years - digital.

I spent a decent amount of money on a Diamond Crown about 5 years ago and its non-calibratable and its off by 7% all the time. Not the worst, but certainly not what I expected either, especially for the money I paid.

I do wonder why Xikar decided to get rid of the calibrate feature. Doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

Thinking they are all a gamble. I would only buy one that has the calibration button- IMHO

 

[Cigary43]

Hygros....as they go I have the rectangular one among the 30 plus hygros I own. I like Xikar products as most of them are very good with their lifetime warranty so if you get something you can send it back if they don't work. Since I own so many hygros I can affirm that I own a lot of different brands and the ones I use most can be found at Walmart or just about any hardware store. I bought a lot of mine at Walmart where they are $8 and they are the Accurite brand of hygro. What I did was to buy dozen and then put them all into a zip loc and did a salt test with the one hygro I know to be perfect. After a day in the bag any hygro that was within 1% I kept and the rest went back to the store...( 8 passed with flying colors while the other 4 ranged from 3 to 7% off so I took back the bad ones and traded those in and bought another dozen. Did the test again and with the 16 newer hygros...12 passed again while 4 failed. That started about 4 years ago and to this day ALL of those Accurites are dead nutts on and I keep them and use them all and occasionally only need a battery every year or year and a half.
http://www.weatherconnection.com/product.asp?itmky=311535&s=froogle&gclid=CNO8mczCor0CFYuXOgod2RMA4g only takes one AA battery and one great thing about these is that when put into my tupperadors you can see the readings right through the tupperware w/o opening it.

 

[Mr.Maduro]

Hygros....as they go I have the rectangular one among the 30 plus hygros I own. I like Xikar products as most of them are very good with their lifetime warranty so if you get something you can send it back if they don't work. Since I own so many hygros I can affirm that I own a lot of different brands and the ones I use most can be found at Walmart or just about any hardware store. I bought a lot of mine at Walmart where they are $8 and they are the Accurite brand of hygro. What I did was to buy dozen and then put them all into a zip loc and did a salt test with the one hygro I know to be perfect. After a day in the bag any hygro that was within 1% I kept and the rest went back to the store...( 8 passed with flying colors while the other 4 ranged from 3 to 7% off so I took back the bad ones and traded those in and bought another dozen. Did the test again and with the 16 newer hygros...12 passed again while 4 failed. That started about 4 years ago and to this day ALL of those Accurites are dead nutts on and I keep them and use them all and occasionally only need a battery every year or year and a half.
http://www.weatherconnection.com/product.asp?itmky=311535&s=froogle&gclid=CNO8mczCor0CFYuXOgod2RMA4g only takes one AA battery and one great thing about these is that when put into my tupperadors you can see the readings right through the tupperware w/o opening it.

Genius! Something I would like to think I would think of if I needed that many. Well done sir.