Just got a 400 count, I put a small bowl of water in it and wiped it down a few times a day for two days. After that, it stayed at en even 65% (digitally read) for over 24 hours. I loaded it up with about 175 sticks and the RH dropped to about 58% and hasn't moved up. Is this normal, I have a large rectangular humidifier, 2 small ones, a sponge one and a humistat tube in it. Any suggestions? Are the sticks OK for a little bit at 58%? I have 80 more sticks coming next week. and nowhere else to put them
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First of all no worries your sticks will be fine at 58 % for a couple of days, years, decades in fact many like 55 - 60 % RH for long long term storage.

Likely it was your hygro being exposed to new non humi air and dropping quick during the inital reload and taking some time to climb back to reflect the actual RH level of your humi.

A less likely option is your sticks were drier and they abosrbed some of the moisture.

All and all no worries.
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Thanks for the reassurance, I don't want anything happening to them. I'll post some pics in another thread. This slope is doing me in!
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Yeah 58% isn't too bad.. I keep mine at 64% pretty much steady and my drybox is set at around 58%...

Just keep an eye on things and if it gets lower then try to remedy the situation. Once things stabilize it should start ticking up...
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Today it is up to 62 RH which I am 100 ok with for now.
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Did I miss the part where you did a salt test on the Hygrometer? I assume if you are using a sponge(foam) humidifier you are also using PG solution. I would consider switching to beads for more trouble free maintenance. Also, if your humistat tube is 65% it is fighting against the 70% PG. :-)
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Just keep the humdifying element full of distilled water and put your cigars in. The more it is filled, the better is will stay constant. I am skeptical of most hydrometer readings unless you have something really fancy.

I find many on these forums are overly concerned with hydrometer readings (unless too humid).

It could take weeks for before the humidor really sets in. I do not recommend wiping down the inside with water, but too late for that one...
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oh my god, man! you're gonna lose all your stock! do you have any idea what 58% will do to your cigars?!? only a fool would subject them to such mediocrity!! haha In the wise words of White Goodman, owner of GloboGym: "I'm kidding. But seriously..." :-)

Jason
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White Goodman:-):-):-)that's great!
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I'm SO glad someone else knows who that is! :-)

Jason
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I am going to respectfully disagree with moses here. Keeping the humidifying element full of distilled water defeats the purpose of the humidifying element, it is meant to stabilize humidity in your humidor and if it is constantly full of distilled water then it cannot absorb any water. It would be likely if you did that you would find your RH getting too high. Smoking wet sticks (70%+) is not a great experience in my opinion. Being skeptical of your hygro reading is rectified with a simple salt test. I agree with others that posted before, beads are much more consistent and worry free. 58% is surely nothing to worry about and it appears that your humi is stabilizing. Take care to not to try to get the RH up too fast as likely it won't stabilize were you want it then you will be trying to get the RH down. Slow and steady wins the race on this one.
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How does one do an accurate salt test?
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Take a sandwich sized ziploc bag, and I use a 1 gal milk bottle cap. Fill the bottom of the cap with salt, and then wet the salt till it is a "wet sand" consistancy.

Place the hygrometer and the wet salt filled cap in the ziploc and seal...let it sit overnight and in the morning it should read 75% RH.
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Just because you keep your humidity element full of water does not mean it is going to be used to its full capacity. We should've qualified what humidity elements are being used. Take for instance a Diamond Crown element. There are slats in it to increase or decrease how much water is being released.

I often wonder what all fuss is about in a humidor, virtually anything can hold 70% or less humidity and it's absurdly easy to hold it when a humidor is filled. Even the notion of calibrating the humidor with hydrometer is a little overboard. Do you cigars have a little spring to them? Are they brittle? Do you like the way the smoke? Those are the only questions that really mean something. A number (hyrdometer in a desktop) is number and doesn't mean much if the cigar is not smoking the way you like.

Ultimately, the cigars will tell you if you need more or less humidity and I agree that 70% is too humid. I keep my max humidity at 65%.
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Thanks, I'll give it a shot. Humi is around 64 right now and the sticks are smoking well thankfully.
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I still think you're screwed....you should send all your stock to me for re-humidification and testing before smoking another one! :-)

Jason
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Thank you for your generosity, I will not go unnoticed. I thought about it for a split second though and figured I'd tough it out and try to maintain the integrity of the stock myself. I do truly and sincerely appreciate your looking out for a fellow BOTL's interests though!!
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:-) anytime! :-)
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What's there to test then?
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to see if the hygro is accurate I guess. Maybe I'll just scrap the idea, grab a stick and enjoy!
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