Bit the Bullet and Bought a Humidor

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Northern Neil

Northern Neil

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The other day I was at a local tobacconist talking to them about humidors as I am interested in starting a collection of Cuban Cigars. Talking with the gentleman working the counter, he explained that they work with every humidor they sell to ensure what is purchased will maintain 70% humidity in our dry climate. This gave me confidence in the purchase, and I walked out with a new 100 count humidor. I probably paid a high price, but the piece of mind knowing it will hit 70% humidity with no futher modifications justified the purchase.

As I wait for my new order of cigars to arrive in the mail, I will be seasoning my humidor. Expecting everything to be ready to go in 2 weeks time, which should be inline with the arrival of my cigars!
 
Thanks for the suggestion, but for the time being I am going to stick with the recommended Brigham humidifier. This way I know the solution is easily available and no need to order online.

So when you say set it and forget it, I'm assuming that you still need to maintain the fluids.
 
I bought one two weeks ago. My biggest obstacle to maintaining humidity so far has been leaving the lid closed. I am very proud of it, in a sick, self gratification, sort of way.
 
I've thought about trying those humidifying beads. Dave, I'm inclined to trust your experience so if you say they work I think I'll have to take a stab at 'em.

How do you actually use them? Do you buy the sticks and just lay them in the humidor with a divider separating them from contacting the cigars, or do you rig them to the ceiling of the lid? Or are you actually using the loose beads and keep them in a muslin/mesh/whatever bag?
 
I think the beads are the best and easiest way to keep you humidity level where you want it, I have had those other rectangular type give me grief, just remember if it is a analog type hygrometer they are almost always wrong, but you should check all hygrometers analog and digital by doing a salt test first, the digital ones can be calibrated, but if it's an analog type you have to remember how far off it is and factor that into what your reading on the gauge
 
I see a ton of these different gel bead humidifiers on the market. Are they all basically the same thing, just different manufacturers? The humidifier I got with my humidor is the Brigham 250 which is hygroscopic and will maintain 70% humidity.it just needs to be refilled every so often with a 50/50 water / PG solution.
 
Let us know how it goes. I pretty much gave up on keeping cigars because I couldn't keep the humidity at the right level, the dry winters would come around and there goes all the cigars.
 
idbowman":34rlm1qy said:
I've thought about trying those humidifying beads.  Dave, I'm inclined to trust your experience so if you say they work I think I'll have to take a stab at 'em.  

How do you actually use them?  Do you buy the sticks and just lay them in the humidor with a divider separating them from contacting the cigars, or do you rig them to the ceiling of the lid?  Or are you actually using the loose beads and keep them in a muslin/mesh/whatever bag?
Click to expand...
They have a few different options. They do sell little pucks which velcro right into the place of the original humidifier. Before I moved to a cooler, I had one of the pucks and one of the mid sized tubes in a humidor. Now I just have two of the socks, each with half a pound of beads, on opposite sides of the cooler. Over at the cigar forums folks come up with all sorts of ingenious ways of storing the beads. One of the more common is inside old ammo boxes.
 
Northern Neil":er9wuqoq said:
I see a ton of these different gel bead humidifiers on the market. Are they all basically the same thing, just different manufacturers? The humidifier I got with my humidor is the Brigham 250 which is hygroscopic and will maintain 70% humidity.it just needs to be refilled every so often with a 50/50 water / PG solution.
Click to expand...
Definitely use what you have, if you find that it works for you stick with it. No sense in wasting money on something you don't need.

The reason I like beads more than the gels is that beads charge with distilled water, no need to keep PG on hand. The other is that, I am not exaggerating when I say I have never had to recharge the beads in my cooler.
 
As is my habit I'd like to post here and recommend Boveda packs. No fussing about with spraying down beads, etc.
 
Northern Neil":megxjq5r said:
I see a ton of these different gel bead humidifiers on the market. Are they all basically the same thing, just different manufacturers? The humidifier I got with my humidor is the Brigham 250 which is hygroscopic and will maintain 70% humidity.it just needs to be refilled every so often with a 50/50 water / PG solution.
Click to expand...
If yer gonna use a medium that uses PG, you only start with 50/50.
Water evaporates; PG doesn't.  You just add (distilled) water after that.
 
Hermit":s51y6hma said:
Northern Neil":s51y6hma said:
I see a ton of these different gel bead humidifiers on the market. Are they all basically the same thing, just different manufacturers? The humidifier I got with my humidor is the Brigham 250 which is hygroscopic and will maintain 70% humidity.it just needs to be refilled every so often with a 50/50 water / PG solution.
Click to expand...
If yer gonna use a medium that uses PG, you only start with 50/50.
Water evaporates; PG doesn't.  You just add (distilled) water after that.
Click to expand...
I was told specifically to only use the solution as the gel crystals will loose their 'structure' and potentially start to leak on the cigars. In all honesty, a $5 tube of solution is not going to break the bank, and far less expensive than ruining my cigars.
 
I don't know anything about gel crystals,
but as water evaporates and you keep
adding 50/50, the percentage of PG is
gonna go up. Unless I'm wrong. ;) 
 
Go beads! I wouldn't use any other mechanism. The directions on the bead cylinders from Heartfelt say to add enough distilled water to turn 70%? of them to clear. Non-hydrated beans are opaque. They really are the best solution as they are dependable. Beads work both ways, to increase or decrease humidity. I had to recharge mine when the seasons changed.

The advice about calibrating your hygrometer is on target. They are often off by 2-4%. Only if you know the margin of error can you really know if the rH is on target.

Welcome to the wonderful but very expensive world of cigars. I would urge caution. Cigars are a delight but their cost can bust you. They busted me. Smoke up and smoke less. My plan, having re-entered this world, is to smoke one $10 cigar a week.
 
Okay, when it come to refilling the humidifier, if you have too my PG in the solution, your RH should drop correct? And if the solution has too much distilled water, the RH will rise?

Of course the manufacturer wants you to only use their solution, but I should be able to tell from the RH of my humidor, what to add whether it be the 50/50 solution or just distilled water right?
 
Northern Neil":g10hysjc said:
Okay, when it come to refilling the humidifier, if you have too my PG in the solution, your RH should drop correct? And if the solution has too much distilled water, the RH will rise?

Of course the manufacturer wants you to only use their solution, but I should be able to tell from the RH of my humidor, what to add whether it be the 50/50 solution or just distilled water right?
Click to expand...
PG will still try to regulate to 70% but if the medium has too much PG,
there's less room in the medium for it to absorb water.  
Too much water will raise the RH.

Do we have any chemistry guys here who can explain that better?
 
Forget about PG. Heartfelt beads are the way to go. Cigars guys all say the same thing. Become a member of CigarAsylum, and if you ask the questions that you've been asking, they gonna say the same thing. Beads are the most dependable and easy solution. I wouldn't trust them, however, without a calibrated hygrometer in place, but maybe that's just me.
 
Thanks all for you comments and advise. I have been seasoning my new humidor for a little under a week, and it has been holding 70% RH for the past day and a half. I think I am going to stick with the system I purchased with the humidor, and follow the directions that came with the accessories. I will look into other options if the current setup has any flaws.

Thanks again for the great advice.
 
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