I have a 120qt cooler that I'm filling up slowly but surely and it seems to be needing water every few weeks. I have 1 lb of 65 heartfelt beads in it and I open it every 3-4 days on avg. Should it be needing water so often? Has anyone successfully improved the seal on this type of cooler? If so, what type of materials were used? Silicone? Weather stripping? Tape?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Which model is it? I used a 120 quart coleman and it was rock solid. I did have 2 pounds of heartfelt beads in it though.
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Sorry I meant to provide the model, but forgot apparently. It's a coleman xtreme 5 day cooler. Perhaps another pound of beads is in order.
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The real thin foam weather stripping works on some coolers where the seal is not great. I have noticed a lot of coolers that are wide open in the back along the hinge.
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Yeah that's the same one I have. Never had a problem with it. Might need an extra half pound or pound of beads. Heartfelt has a calculator, I'd check it out. Certainly couldn't hurt to have more though.
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How many cigars do you have in there? A lbs. should be more than enough IMO, and I go months without having to add water to my HF beads.
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I've only filled about 1/3 so far.
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I see you're in AZ, but looking at the temps there, it's getting colder at nights. Are you running any type of forced air furnace? I know when i run the furnace during the winter months at my house, I have to add my active humidification system in my cabinet, along with 2lbs of HCM beads. During months with the furnace off, I just use the beads alone without any issues.
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When I bought my cooler from Wally World it was around November so the end of cooler season and a limited number of coolers available. Therefore, I am not sure I got the pick of the litter...so to combat a possible failure in being able to keep the humidity correct I bought weather stripping that is used to seal windows.

Basically it was 1/4 in thick and I put it on the top of the lid and on the cooler. I was originally going to make a latch that would the lid closed, but instead just used my two 35# dumbells to hold it down.

My only concern was not having any air leak...opening for a smoke takes care of getting fresh air in there!

I do find that with 65% HF beads, my hygros are reading around 68-70 most of the time. Probably a little too tight of a seal...but the stick taste great so no biggie there.

Good luck bro
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I have 5 of those. Something is wrong somewhere. I just use a .93 cent water pillow in each of mine (don't know why anyone would spend more than what's needed) and I check them about once every 3 months or so. Rock steady at 65.
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Alright. Thanks guys. I'll look into the weather seal.
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I doubt the seal is your problem. How many boxes are in your cooler? Are you using empty boxes to fill the excess space? Are you re-hydrating your beads because most have turned white or only because more than 1/3 are white? What kind of hygrometer are you using and where is it placed? Try putting the hygrometer inside one of the boxes for 24 hours and then get a reading.

A less than full cooler will force the beads to rehydrate the remaining air each time you open it up. In a dry climate like AZ this could mean bringing all the extra air from the low teens back up to 65% each time you open. :-)
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I have a 70 quart xtreme Coleman and that thing has been rock solid for me. I use silica kitty litter and I give my bags of those a spray every other week or so to keep the humidity where I like it. Mine is full to the brim though, so Bob may be on to something there. I've got extremely low ambient humidity here, so my conditions are pretty much the same as yours.
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So maybe I need more cedar to suck up moisture? I have 3 boxes in there, 2 trays of singles and several mazo's. If santa brings the new humidor I asked for, I will also be putting a whole 100 count bally II in there for long term single storage.

"Honey, my cooler isn't maintaining the 65% RH that I had expected. This means I will have to buy 10 more boxes of cigars or else I will risk ruining the ones I currently have..."
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oh that is sure to work! :-):-):-)
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Use empty boxes to fill the space. All wood is best like Tat or LFD boxes, but you can also use dress boxes if the others are not available. The mazos can be unwrapped and put into empty boxes but it isnt really necessary.

I would not put your new humidor in the cooler, just season it and put your singles inside. :-)
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Same cooler in 48qt about 1/3 full as well, same problem. I took cellophane wrap and folded up to about 1/3" wide and ran it around the seal on the lid last week and threw in a couple extra lbs of beads. Seems to have helped.
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Not the new humidor, bur the crappy Bally glasstop that i currently have that is (hopefully) being replaced. I figure it wont need to hold a seal in the cooler. Unless you think it will cause problems. I couldn't really think of any problems, but that's why I come consult with you crazy folks.
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The leak on the glasstop is probably around the glass, I have a few write-ups here about removing the glass and sealing it with aquarium sealant.
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Yes I did see that and considered it. Its a great write up! If for some reason I don't get a new one it wil be the first place I look :-)

I will try the cellophane if the added cedar won't help! Thanks!
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