There are a lot of humidity questions that get asked on this board so I wanted to cover some basics of humidity so everyone is on the same page.

First off, a humidor is a semi-closed system. It resides in the environment which is a very large closed system. Basic laws of physics state that in systems things flow from areas of abundance to areas of absence.

For example an ice cube melts because there is heat in the air that moves to an area where there is less heat, melting the ice. If you use a paper towel to clean up that melted ice, water is absorbed to the channels in the towel, so the excess water has moved into an area where there is an absence of water.

In our humidors we have three basic methods for adding or removing humiidty; The humidifying element, modifying the system itself (adding/removing cigars/blocks of wood in the humidor) and environemntal air (moist or dry.)

In a "perfectly balanced" humidor (there is no such thing, read on) there is a solution in the humidifying element that equalizes at a certain humidity. This solution is usually PG or some salt/gel combination. This means that with an approximate 50/50 mix of PG and water, the vapor pressure (water evaporating) will be at approximately 70% relative humidity.

When some water evaporates from this element, there is now slightly more PG left behind. Since PG is mildly hygroscopic (wants to absorb water) it will absorb excess moisture if the humidity in the box rises or will continue to lose moisture if the humidity falls. This fluctuates constantly and no humidor is ever "perfectly at 70%." It can't be unless everytime you opened the humidor you added a drop of water to the element to make up for the humidity you let out.

Most of us then get our humidor stabilized to say 72-70% and then when we see it dropping significantly say 67-68%, we add more moisture.

Now the other way to affect humidity is to change the system. You have a box that is "stable" at 70% and you add some fresh-rolled cigars that are at a humidity of 80%. Initially you will see a spike in humdidity somewhere between 70 and 80%. Then the element will attempt to absorb some excess humidity, but the more water it absorbs from the air, the less effective it is. So the humidity will stabilize somewhere above 70%. Now if it stabilizes at 72% you might not care and you let things go at that. It isn't worth fussing to get rid of that 2% of excess humidity, trust me.

But say the cigars were really wet and your humidity is hovering closer to 80% (you added a lot of wet fresh-rolled cigar, mmmm these are the problems we should all have.) You don't want the humidity to cause mold or other cigars to swell so you want to reduce it.

You have two options. Option A is to change the system. You can add blocks of cedar. (I dry them in the toaster oven on low to insure they are very dry.) Option B is to open the humidor to allow dry outside air in. Either way you will reduce the interior humidity.

Some people will say there is a third way to reduce humidity, to remove the element. If you have overwatered your element and it is the source of the excess humidity, then removing it will help. However if your humidifying element is properly set-up it will actually help by drawing moisture from the air and REDUCE humidity.

Now all of what I have said above applie to passive humidors. These are humidors where the moisture is controlled by absorbtion and evaporation. Active humidors act pretty much the same way except that they affect moisture control by monitoring the humidity and then using mechanical means to evaporate water adding it to the air or by using fans/damers to allow excess moisture out/dry air in.

So the next time you have a humidity problem take a look at your system and determine what has happened and once you understand the fluctuation, take the correct steps to amend it.

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

Thanks for the post BinDer, I know a lot of people still don't understand how it works and this will help them a lot.

Mike

Huh???????????????

very good post Binder.

Thanks, that was very informative. How do you overwater your humidification device? I usually fill mine until it doesn't absorb water any longer. Also when you let your humidor "air out" once a week how long do you do this?

Very complete explanation...glad you weren't expaining the Theory of Relativity!!

So we're supposed to put ice cubes in our humidor? Nah, good post Binder I'm sure it will help answer a lot of common questions.

Good post.

Bump

This may be a noob question but I was wondering what people think of the gel canisters you can put into the humidor in place of the credo?

Binder, I've noticed my sticks not in cello are a bit dry so I added some solution yesterday to my hygrometer. The RH has not changed today and remains at 70%. How fast or slow do changes occur? Will the RH read the same with the dry sticks becoming more moist or will the RH increase regardless of the conditions of the cigar?

quote:

Originally posted by EIM:
Binder, I've noticed my sticks not in cello are a bit dry so I added some solution yesterday to my hygrometer. The RH has not changed today and remains at 70%. How fast or slow do changes occur? Will the RH read the same with the dry sticks becoming more moist or will the RH increase regardless of the conditions of the cigar?

The first question is do you have a digital or analogue hygrometer? Analogues are norotiously inaccurate and this may be your problem. Secondly, you should never need or want your cigars to be over 70% RH. Most people actually prefer it to be only between 65%-70%. I personally keep my cigars between 65%-68% and they smoke and age fine.

Smokie, I have a digital but have never done the salt in the cap in the zip lock bag test to check its accuracy. In the past I have been between 65-72% RH but since some sticks seen dry and aren't as tasty as I think they should be, my guess is the hygrometer may be reading low.

quote:

Originally posted by EIM:
Smokie, I have a digital but have never done the salt in the cap in the zip lock bag test to check its accuracy. In the past I have been between 65-72% RH but since some sticks seen dry and aren't as tasty as I think they should be, my guess is the hygrometer may be reading low.

Yeah it sounds like you hygrometer is off. At 72% RH your sticks would be too damp to smoke properly. You might start encountering tunneling or other problems. Try a salt test on your hygrometer and that should clear a lot up. Like you said, cap full of dampened (not drenched) salt in a ziplock bag, sitck in your hygrometer and close it up for 24hrs. When you check it, the hygrometer ought to read right at 70% RH. If it's off, note the difference and you're still in business. Good luck .

quote:

Originally posted by msaJeff:
This may be a noob question but I was wondering what people think of the gel canisters you can put into the humidor in place of the credo?

Jeff;
If you are referring to the little plastic jar with the blue gel in it...I have one in one of my humis, and it works pretty well. It's mainly chunks of jellied PG. I squirt some distilled water into it when the RH gets a bit low, and forget about it for a couple of months...If I add any additional water to the credo, RH gets too high..but I like to keep my RH at about 65-67.

The only disadvantage is the it takes up a lot of space in a smaller humi.
I should just go out and get some 50/50 solution for the Credos, but here in Florida, humidity kind of takes care of itself most of the time.....I only have to fuss with it for a few months in the winter.

I'll do that Smokie, thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by EIM:
I'll do that Smokie, thanks.

No problem bud. Hope everything works out for ya. Post any other questions you have and keep us updated .

Attention all who asked: If your humidity is low, don't add more 50/50 solution! Think about it; say your element holds 20 grams of 50/50 solution. The first time you soak it and the water evaporates over time you have 10 grams of Propylene Glycol left (approx. as some PG evaporates) If you add MORE PG solution your element isn't at 50/50%! It now has about 15 grams of PG and 5 grams of water. This means your element is trying to ABSORB moisture! You only ever add PG when an element is new or after a long period (say a year) when you want to flush the whole thing out with distilled water, let it dry thoroughly and recharge with fresh PG.

So if your humidity is low, add water. I usually don't fill my elements to the soaking point, I just add water dropwise once a month. excess water will wash PG out. For my Climmax beads, I dump a few ounces of water into the tupperware container and let the beads do the rest. They will soak up the water pretty readily.

You can overwater an element particularly if you let it soak in distilled water. It will lose some of ths PG and contain excess water. Also elements need to be moist but not dripping I have seem elements so full of water that the cigars closest to the element were soggy.

Again, add water drop wise to the element, don't soak it. I find it is better to add afew drops every now and again rather than soaking teh whole thing.

As for leaving my humidors open, I don't. If the humidity is high you could leave it open a few minutes a day to air out, checking it a few hours later to see where it stabilizes at. In the summer when humdiity is higher, you may need to add blocks of wood to reduce the humidity. Also I have experimented with cutting open dried out (they will be hard and stiff) Fuente humi paks that come with cigar boxes and putting the salt/silica contents in a dish. It will lower the humidity quite well, plus acts as a stabilizing force wants it attains some moisture.

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

I have a question about humidity:

Why is it so humid in the south and what can I do to stop it?

Thanks in advance.

quote:

Originally posted by Coriolanus:
I have a question about humidity:

Why is it so humid in the south and what can I do to stop it?

Thanks in advance.

If you will stay out of the south, there will be less hot air, therefore less humidity!