I've been smoking for a little over a year now. I've since invested in a roughly 100ct humi and some beads from Heartfelt. My beads are in a prefab aluminum block (Heartfelt's Medium 70% Stainless Humidifier). However tonight I was moving my small stock of sticks around and recharging my beads when I noticed RUST! I can see three beads inside the block that are copper colored and there was a small amount of rust on the side of the blocks casing.

Now I'm, pretty sure I'm looking at a new humidification element with this problem. But my question how worried should I be about it being in there with my sticks. Currently I have only just over a dozen sticks in there that have been in with the rusty element. However as of tomorrow I expect to take delivary of a rather sizeable order from Famous and am terrified to put them in there. Complicating matters is the fact that heartfelt is closed thru next Wed (so I can't contact them) and I'm going out of town this weekend and not back until Tues.

I need advice gents!
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i would take the beads out of the metal case and just store them in a bowl or bag.

maybe contact heartfelt and send them a picture and see what they say.
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Rust won't spread to your cigars.

I have seen the beads turn a brownish color with age as well. I've never had them in a metal container before though.
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Good to know that rust isn't going to cause any immediate issues. But I'll probably crack open the casing and remove the beads as suggested in the first reply. Just to be safe I'll pick up a brand new dish at the store after work tomorrow.

Still any other ideas or insights are more than welcome.

EDIT: Sorry and I goofed in my original post. The block is indeed stainless steel according to the manufacturer.
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These?
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I thought they were aluminum? Maybe the new ones are SS. Anyway, I have several and you can drill out the pop rivets with a very small bit and take out the beads to rinse them in distilled water if you want to.

I opened them to change out the beads from 60% to 70% when I moved to Miami.
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Mine is a little different.

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But either way they're both close.
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1. Is the rust in a corner or around one of the rivet/screw holes?
2. can u wipe it off with distilled water?

If the passivation layer(the outer coating) is scratched or missing then the case will eventually need to be replaced but if its just rust on the surface with no scratches then you shouldnt have too much of a problem. Either way i would contact heartfelt and they should fix it up for ya, they have very good customer service :-)
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Maybe consider putting the beads in a small filter media bag. They are very inexpensive and will eliminate any issues you may run into with a metal based container.
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That's what I ended up doing. I put them in a glass dish for the time being. Here are some pics of the casing...

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I don't have as much metal in my humidifier, but my Humi-Care Humidifier has a metal screen (similarly used for a sliding door/window on a house). I've had it since last Christmas and at this point, all the beads are almost light yellowish/brownish from age. There are small amounts of rust on the screen that I clean of regularly. My cigars are smoking great. No mold/flavor/burn problems
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Those are the biggest containers I have ever seen! (Or at least seen 1/2 of at a time).
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LOL... My apologies. I did this from a phone while sitting around a campfire. For some reason they didn't shrink the size when I uploaded them.
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I was thinking the same thing.
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That is not rust. It is something else. Possibly sap from the wood? Or some kind stuff pulled out of the air from over moist beads.. rust will not be that fluid looking unless you had a lot of water in your beads and the rust traveled on wet surfaces... maybe discolored glue to hold the box together?
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I have used these beads for over five years and never seen this. I agree with the previous post in that it's most likely something the beads pulled out of the atmosphere inside the humidor. Unless you had a water leak somewhere in there which could have initiated sap or a stained water type liquid.
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I've been attempting to contact Heartfelt about this to get their input. So far I can't get them to talk to me. Following my return from that lat Sept trip I emailed them. I was patient since I knew at the time they were having some type of "family emergency." I waited nearly a month. Then emailed them again. Still nothing. I called last week...no answer...left a message. No return call... I have to say I expect better consumer service from a respected manufacturer like Heartfelt.
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That does seem a bit surprising..:-)
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Shilala beads my friend! Search for them. They are your new answer. CigarNut makes them and sells them, can't remember the site. Amazing customer service. Enjoy!
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Agreed. :-)
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Yeah, I'm losing faith quickly. I'm gonna give them one more shot to answer, after that I'll start shopping for a new manufacturer.
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