I purchased a Thompson humidor and seasoned it properly and did all of the instructions it had enclosed to properly have it in working condition. After that process, I noticed the hygrometer would be around 80. I was told that if I left the humidor open for an hour, that would decrease (which it did) but then it shot right back up to 80 again. I tried seasoning again but same results occurred. What do I do?

I have been using distilled water for everything...

I am new to the humidor world as well... first humidor i have ever owned!


I want to get my humidor to around 65-70 to be safe... whats a good way to keep it around there?

Get yourself a digial Hydrometer. Analogs are notoriously inaccurate. Also, what type of humidification device are you using? Try picking up "The Puck". I bought one about a month ago and my humity levels have stayed within 3 points of 65%.

quote:

Originally posted by The EVP:
Get yourself a digial Hydrometer. Analogs are notoriously inaccurate. Also, what type of humidification device are you using? Try picking up "The Puck". I bought one about a month ago and my humity levels have stayed within 3 points of 65%.

Here is the link to my humidor... Diamondback Humidor

You need to calibrate your hygrometer most likely. Did you do the salt test? If not, search the topic for instructions. I'm sure it's been gone over plenty in the forums.

quote:

Originally posted by BMJpflueger:
You need to calibrate your hygrometer most likely. Did you do the salt test? If not, search the topic for instructions. I'm sure it's been gone over plenty in the forums.

i could not figure out how to calibrate my hygrometer properly. i tried 3 different methods, but none seemed to work. the directions said to put the hygrometer in a warm towel for 30 minutes, which i did do

Humidors, especially less expensive ones, tend to take some time before they stabilize. Take out completely the humidifying device, and see where it takes the humidity level. It should be around 68-72% -- given the water saturated in the wood. Wait till it naturally falls down to 65% (maybe a day or two, depending on ambient RH in your room). Then add only a few drops of water at a time to your humidifying device and check it often -- once a day -- to keep it at 65% (adding a bit of water or getting the device out, depending if it's high or low). After a few weeks, it should become more stable and you will know how much water to add at which intervals.

Well, fill a bottle cap (from a bottle of Pepsi or something) with salt, saturate the salt with some distilled water and mix it up for a minute til the salt gets kind of gummy. Place the bottle cap and hygrometer in a plastic bag and seal it. Let it sit in the dark overnight and then check the reading in the morning. No matter what the hygrometer says, it's definitely going to be 75% humidity. For example, tomorrow morning if it reads 85 then you know your hygrometer is off by 10%. Sorry for the rambling, I hope this helps.

just a suggestion on what i did to calibrate both of my humi's. at my local cigar shop they sell two way packs. they are small paper packages that give off humidity. some boxes of cigars have them in them when you open one (for example my box of a.fuente hemingways had one, i think most fuente boxes do). the ones i have seen come in different levels like 60%, 65%, 70% and 75%. i grabbed one and put it and my hydrometer into a zip lock and put it in a drawer over night. the next morning it should read the level you bought and you can adjust accordingly of that calibaration.
heres a link to what i am talking about.
http://www.bovedapacks.com/
some people even use them as their main humidification system (for smaller humi's)
just to let ya know it took both of my humi's a while before i got them to work perfectly, dont worry it will happen.
well good luck!

thanks for all of your help...


i'm going to do the salt test tomorrow and see how things go...

I have done the salt test and the hygrometer has read 74%. It's been 3 days since seasoning and the humidor is at a consistent 80%. Is this a faulty box?

I also performed a flashlight test and no light appeared to be seeping out anywhere... I have taken out the hydrometer and let it sit for a few hours... the humidity is still sitting around 78%

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rcsst12,

I have searched the forum alot but i want to know if I should just return this humidor and invest in a new one or if I should just try to maintain this humidor as best as possible...

I heard that adding cigars will drop the humidity a bit, but how many cigars should I add? My box can hold around 125 cigars. I also wanted to possibly invest in some beads but am not sure what %. i live in Pennsylvania so it is always very humid in these parts...


any help is greatly appreciated!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rcsst12,

Patience buddy. The humidor certainly sounds fine. What condition are the cigars in that you want to introduce to the humidor? Are they dry or are they going directly from one humidor to this new one?

one humidor to another...

If I'm reading right, you said the humidity level went down about 2 or 3 percent over a few hours by keeping the humidifier out. Just keep it out until the level gets around 70 to 72%(keeping the lid open for 15 minutes at a time will accelerate this) then put the cigars and humidifier in and just monitor it. We're starting to split hairs here a little bit. You're on the right track, just be patient with it.

rc, one more thing, I also live in PA and from experience I can tell you that over the summer you won't have to touch the humidifier much but over winter, it'll get dry quick.