I bought the humidor below which is approximatley 1700 cubic incches. I have a digital hygrometer that I tested using the Boveda One Step calibration. I seasoned the humidor with the Boveda seasoning packs for 10 days. I then put in a 4 oz. Heartfelt 65% RH bead tube that is supposed to support 2160 cubic inches. I wanted to ensure that it will hold the RH before buying the cigars to fill it. After a couple of days, the RH does not reach 65%. It got to 62% once but ends up running lower (i.e. 55-60%).

I live in San Diego, so the temps have been good but the humidity has been very dry - especially since we have run the heater for a few days now.

I will use Doc's dollar bill test to check the seal today. For now, assume that I have a good seal for the following questions.

1) How much of an affect will an empty humidor have on the RH stability? Other than cigars, what can I add to help reduce the air?

2) How much of an affect will a dry house (i.e. running heater) have?

3) I have the humidor downstairs (no basement) in the coolest spot that does not have any direct sunlight and is the most temperature stable. The house temps in the summer can get into the high 70s during the day. What affect will this have on the cigars if the RH is maintained at approxiatley 65%? Will I get the beetles?


Humidor

Thank you for your help.

Terry

did you leave a shot glass or a saucer of distilled water in the humidor for 24 hours to humidify the interior? Might be something you want to try if you're not getting high enough on the RH. In my experience, adding cigars would only lower the humidity. I've had about a 5% drop going from an empty humidor to a 50% full humidor. I can't answer the question about the running heater. On #3, I think 70s should be ok.

#2. If you are using forced air (gas) heating it will be extremely dry air unless your HVAC system has a humidifier. I am guessing you do not have a humidifier on the system since you ask this question. Heat pumps do not dry the air quite as much.

I move my humi away from the air supplies during the winter.

The shot glass method works well with a new humi. Just monitor daily until you get where you need to be.

I seasoned the humidor with seven Boveda Seasoning Humidipaks (84% RH) for 10 days and then added the 65% RH Heartfelt beads tube.

it will be hard to keep a high RH with an empty humidor.... I'm not sure what size is 1700 cubic inches.. but it doesn't sound too big...

so this is what I'd do... put in a shot glass with distilled water along with your beads for a day or 2 more... then take out the hsot glass and add some cigars and monitor the RH... depending on the condition of the cigars you put in, it might either dip a bit or spike a bit, but eventually, in a matter of a few hours, it should stabilise back at where you want it to be..

add the rest of your cigars, and you'll most likely notice the same fluctuation as the first time.. and once again, it will be back to normal in a matter of some time..

just keep the beads in good shape after that..

I myself never was a big fan of beads.. I know lots of peiople use them over here, but I had issues with them a long time ago, and steered away from them eversince... I rely on OASIS power in my lareg cabinets, and solely use Boveda packs in all my small stuff (anything under a 50ct).. works like a charm

What do the beads look like, right now? If they are all white, then the humi has taken out all of the water from the beads. When used properly, about a third of the beads should be saturated and look translucent while maintaining the desired RH.

The beads take a while to find the right balance. Once that is done, they are very low maintenance.

I'm not familiar with the "tube" you mentioned, but the puck should work very well in a desktop humidor.

I have sprayed the Heartfelt bead tube with distilled water and even put a paper towel soaked with distilled water around it and let it set in a zip lock bag.

Concerned that only the outside layers may be turning clear, I poured distilled water direclty onto the tubes. After putting it back into the humidor, it only took a couple of hours before stabilizing at 65% and has stayed that way now for a couple of days.

The spray bottle was not getting them enough distilled water.

Thank you for your help.