I am new to the forum so hello to everyone. This winter my humidor has been giving me horrible problems. It wont go above 62% humidity. I have salt tested the hygrometer within 2%. I light checked my humidor and there is no light. I have used a paradigm and 70% beads with no avail. It is less than a year old, and it was seasoned properly again, less than a month ago. It is not near a heating source either. I live in NJ and the humidity in my house is low but I think that I should be able to get it to atleast 67%.

Thanks

I'd suggest you check out "elaw's" excellent february 14 post on this very subject, under the topic "humidor probem." Elaw seems to know a lot about wood and he discusses approaches he uses to stabilize his humidor.

I have a beautiful desk-top humidor that I stored unused in my office (class A business tower with an extremely low ambient RH of 20) for about 4 months -- turned the wood into bone-dry tinder i suppose. Six weeks ago, I decided it was time to use it. I placed a flat dish (large surface area) of DI water in the humidor with a digital hygrometer. I went through 5 dishes over a 3 week period, and the darn humidor still wouldn't stabilize above RH45. Being entirely fed up, I took the dish out and wiped the entire interior of the humidor down with a LIBERAL amount of DI water == clearly, saturating the wood, but with no standing water. I put the DI water dish back in the humidor along with some RH65 Heartfelt beads, and within 1 day the humidity had stablized at RH65. No problems since.

Good luck.

I find that using a damp sponge rather than a dish of water will do the job much quicker since the sponge will have a much greater surface area than the dish. Just remember not to rest the sponge on the wood. I used an inverted bottle cap to keep it off the wood.

Blueox,

My humidor did sit unused for about 6 months. Maybe I have the same problem as you. I tried wiping down the inside with water only to have it be bone dry in the morning. Ill try wiping it down again.

quote:

Originally posted by DP0350:
Blueox,

My humidor did sit unused for about 6 months. Maybe I have the same problem as you. I tried wiping down the inside with water only to have it be bone dry in the morning. Ill try wiping it down again.

If you decide to wipe it down, you must only use a *minimal* amount of moister in the sponge so there is no "puddling or inhomogeneous streaking"... also it's useful to put the humidification device in there as well as a shot glass of distilled water. You might also put an additional humidification device in their if you have one laying around.

quote:

Originally posted by DP0350:
I am new to the forum so hello to everyone. This winter my humidor has been giving me horrible problems. It wont go above 62% humidity. I have salt tested the hygrometer within 2%. I light checked my humidor and there is no light. I have used a paradigm and 70% beads with no avail. It is less than a year old, and it was seasoned properly again, less than a month ago. It is not near a heating source either. I live in NJ and the humidity in my house is low but I think that I should be able to get it to atleast 67%.

Thanks

What size humidor? One fix is to buy an additional small humidification device and add a small amount of distilled water or solution to it, and "titrate" the humidity up to the desired level. When spring time comes and ambient humidity begins rising, you should remove the extra device. A digital hygrometer is definitely recommended.

I realize that many people say to never wipe down the humidor, but my local B&M recommended it after I had this same problem. I have a cabinet humi that seemed to never keep proper humidity levels. I wiped it down a couple times or when refilling the water and it has stabilized.

I just got finished recharging the system since I got my shipment in from cigarbid. I went a little nuts and won a ton of crap and now my humi couldnt keep up. I think by morning it will be good again. I just use a wash towel dampened with distilled water and wipe down the interiors. The wood will darken with the moisture and should be a little high on rh for 12 hours or so until it absorbs the moisture.

My experience tells me that this works and did not cause any wood damage. I just put too many cigars in the darn thing and it needed a boost. I can't wait until my office is ready so I can build the walk-in.

Hello and welcome !!The first thing I would adjust is the temperature. Most people can understand that winter causes humidity drops due to arid dry air, but the temp will also play an important role. You mentioned that you have had the humi for awhile and that it just started acting up this winter. That make sense to me. Try just simply moving your humi to a warmer spot in your house. I’m not telling you to put in on top of the register or anything, but just away from cold spots like doors or windows. I have found in winter I can’t put my humidors in one particular room because the lower temp affects my humidity level, out side of that I never check the temp. There is some crazy scientific formula for temperature verses relative humidity, it has been posted here on this forum somewhere. I don’t get in to the detail of it, but simply put, lower temps will produce lower humidity no matter how much moisture is introduced. I would also do as Jmunro suggested and add another temporary humidification device, i.e. humidifier or shot glass of distilled water. I keep a few spare jars of a product called “perfect store” around.. It very similar to the Boveda or Drymistat, only in a small jar with a lid. If I get a low reading for very long I just add the jar for a couple of days. They work great and are only about 3 bucks.
Good luck.

I just realized you posted that it was empty for 6 months, I would wipe it down!!

titration: the process of gradually adjusting the dose of a medication until the desired effect is achieved.

Sorry J I didnt know what that meant.

quote:

Originally posted by elaw:
titration: the process of gradually adjusting the dose of a medication until the desired effect is achieved.

Sorry J I didnt know what that meant.

It's used frequently in medicine, but I think it's really a chemistry term for an assay which was borrowed by medicine for our own purposes.

Thanks so much for the help. I wiped it down and now ill let it season for a full week without touching it. I also moved into my finished basement which is higher in humidity.

I had the same problem, I couldnt get my RH over 60% during the winter, So I bought 500g of acryl polymer (what you call 70% beads) and bought a few extra humidifiers, ripped out the green foam and filled with beads and stuck them in the humidor. Its now running happily at 70%