Help!!! - Cigar Asylum Cigar Forum

I have just discovered that my beads have turned woolly in my coolidor. It is at 68-70 every time I go in and just noticed the beads were discolored. I picked out a wrapper that had fallen in. Any help is much appreciated!! Thanks all!!
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Do you mean woolly like moldy, or just discolored like a faint brown color?
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Dang, headed out the door and can't wait for the followup response. If they're moldy I don't know what to say, but I'm sure someone with more experience will come along. However, I do know that if they're just discolored, a slight brown discoloration is normal and harmless since the beads just take on a tint from the tobacco oils.
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If they are not just simply discolored as Jesse described, a good photograph will help greatly in helping you solicit some advice / answers.
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Take a pic Stephan, it would help allot. Or better yet maybe a description of what "woollly" is lol. You make it sound like they have grown moldy or fuzzy.
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At 1st glance it appeared moldy to me. Now that I look again it seems just discolored. Here is a pic.

Attached: photo.JPG (44.2 KB)

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How often are you recharging them? Mine did turn a shade of brown, but not that color.
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Originally Posted by EricF:
How often are you recharging them? Mine did turn a shade of brown, but not that color.

:-)

Also - have you been recharging with distilled water or tap water?
Posted via Mobile Device
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Originally Posted by zappaFREAK:
At 1st glance it appeared moldy to me. Now that I look again it seems just discolored. Here is a pic.

Hard to tell from a small photo like that, but it does appear as if it might just be discoloration. Although if they are fully saturated, and have been that way for some time, I suppose they might be able to mold.

Also - are those heartfelt beads? Looks like you have them fully saturated which is not a good thing as they will not be able to absorb any excess humidity from your humidor when necessary. You should aim for about 60%-70% of the beads being clear/saturated, the rest should be white/opaque/dry.
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Originally Posted by T.G:
. You should aim for about 60%-70% of the beads being clear/saturated, the rest should be white/opaque/dry.

I could have used this info about 4 days ago...should I pour out any excess liquid?
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If you don't want to just throw those away ( my choice ) and start fresh, pour them out on some paper towels to absorb the excess water and dry out a little. Charge them with a spray bottle, never pour water into them. Less is more. :-)

Edit: Paul, same thing. Yes.
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Supposed to use beads, not Caviar....just sayin :-)
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Originally Posted by EricF:
How often are you recharging them? Mine did turn a shade of brown, but not that color.

Mine are brown too, N2Adventre said this was normal.
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Originally Posted by TBone:
I could have used this info about 4 days ago...should I pour out any excess liquid?

Yes. BlindJimmy's suggestion about the paper towel works too.

Then, after you have gotten rid of the standing water, you can use a hair dryer to dry them out. Just don't run the fan on high or you could end up blowing them all over the place.

If you have a really large quantity of beads to dry, a quarter sheet pan (aka: cookie sheet) and a 200F oven will do it. Just keep an eye on them for the color change back to white.

From Heartfelt's website:

Originally Posted by :
“How do I add distilled water to the beads when they get dry?”

There are a number of ways to do this. You can just pour distilled water on the beads. A lot of folks do it this way but the beads can fracture when it is done this way. One thing to remember, fracturing will not affect the efficiency of the beads or ruin them in any way, they will still do their job.

My 1/2 ounce humi tube takes 1-2 teaspoons of distilled water,

The 1 ounce humi tube takes 2-3 teaspoons of distilled water,

The 2 ounce humi tube takes 3-4 teaspoons of distilled water,

The four ounce humi tube takes 4-5 teaspoons of distilled water,

½ pound takes approximately 1-1 ½ tablespoons,

1 pound takes approximately 3-4 tablespoons.

You can put a container of distilled water, like a bowl, next to the beads and let them absorb the distilled water in this way. When they have absorbed all they can remove the bowl. This method is effective but takes a while for the beads to absorb the water.

The method I use and prefer is using a spray bottle. I purchased an inexpensive spray bottle at the grocery store and filled it with distilled water. When the beads need water I just spray them until they have absorbed enough distilled water. This method will work well if you have the beads in a bag or dish.

" If my beads are going white, should I add distilled water until they are all clear? "

The optimal is to have about 60% to 70% of the beads clear. Don't try to get them all clear because if you do they cannot absorb any sudden rise in humidity in your humi.

http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/Bead_Set_Up.asp
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Thanks all for the help. I will dry them out and see how it goes after that.
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