I have a small desk top glass top humidor with the gel crystals and it just doesn't do the job. I know glass tops leak but its summer time in NY and I can only get it to about 66% with a small cup of solution inside with it.
I am redoing much of my house and just bought a table top display humidor and 1/2 pound of heartfelt beads. My plan was to open the plastic thing you get with the humidor and dump some beads in peace on 3rd shelf. Put a good amount in a women's stocking and leave under bottom shelf. Take what little I have left over as a 1/2 pound is good for 5400 or so cubic inches and the humidor is 3500 or so and replace the gel I have in my small box.
Did I just throw money away on these beads?
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66% is perfect. The closer to 70 you get, you lose flavor, imo. I've always kept mine around 60-62%. Flavor "pops" more. Oh, and don't use the solution, it will just clog up your humidification media. The crystals are already treated with it anyway.
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NCRadioMan (Greg) is wise.......
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Thank you for the info. But are the beads a good product for my new humidor? I don't like the sponge ones because I have never been able to get those to regulate anywhere near 65-75. They are always low (50) or over the top high.
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When I started out I used to go with a higher humidity and found I was always relighting my cigars (yes I was doing it wrong), lower humidity seems to give me a better burn as well, I keep my cabinet set at 62.5

I'd also invest a couple bucks in some food safe silicon, get the orderless, then just seal the glass around the edges (inside) of the small humidor, that should help and you might just find someday you need the extra space. :-)


Yes beads are the way to go. I even have a couple pounds in my Aristocrat.
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RH much over 70% is not good. Makes your cigars much more susceptible to mold and crappy burns.
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Beads work great. I have many pounds of them spread between various humidors, coolers & sealed tubs. The RH is very stable and very quick to recover even after I've had a humidor et. al. open for an extended period.

Foam is crap unless you like farming mold.
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I wonder if ants like humidor mold?
Cause a guy could just throw an any farm in there with the mold farm and create a really sick symbiotic ecosystem. :-)
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62% to 65% for all my humidors (depending on type of cigar in each). Doesn't sound like you have a problem at all!
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because THAT'S how you get ants....


:-)
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Thanks guys. Well 66 is what I'm getting in the summer winter is much lower. Like 61% and I find 65-70 to be where I enjoy the smoke most. But I also have the gel and a cup of PG solution. I don't like having the cup of sitting pg I would assume that's asking for mold. I also already siliconed the glass top and it helped a ton.
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Toss the beads..... Use Boveda paks
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From what I read, he never got the beads, still using gel and PG as of 8/15.
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I think Beads (both Heartfelt and HCM) work great! PG solution and Gel, on the other hand, not so much as they do not regulate humidity; they simply release moisture which often results in mold. I would toss the PG solution.

In any case, as long as your cigars are smoking well and not get moldy, I would not worry about it too much.

Boveda packs work fine, too, but there is no reason to "toss the beads".
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The OP hasn't logged on in 5 months. Maybe you can try calling him or send him a snapchat with this valuable information.
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always seems to be at least one person showing the buttocks on any given forum.
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Exactly!
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Let's all breathe deeply and smoke a nice ceegar. :-)
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