I have a tube of 65% rh heartfelt beads in my 50 count humi. I was wondering how offen people are re-hydrating their beads. The humi was seasoned and has about 40 to 45 sticks inside. It appears to have a very tight seal. I am re-hydrating the beads about every week or so, not sure if this is normal.
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What does your hygro say? A lot depends on the location of your humidor. The ambient temperature can have quite an effect on your humidity, especially in the winter months. I tend to re-hydrate my beeds more often in the winter then in the summer months. You may need to increase the number of beads a little in the winter months. Added moisture in the winter may help reduce the frequency of hydrating your tube.
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Oh yea sorry i forgot that, it will go anywhere from 67% to 60% and the temperature is pretty steady at 70. I thought it might be normal for the beads to require more water in the winter months, but wanted to make sure. Not sure about adding beads i have about 0.5 oz more than i need now.
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also make sure your hydrometer is working properly too
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Dont think there would be a problem, it is only about a month old and it salted tested right on 75%.
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If your sure your humi has a good seal and the hygrometer is reading correct then it may be that your humi needs seasoned better. Or if it's just been filled with cigars (in the last month) they may be in need of hydrating? Either way, in time it should stabilize so just wait a few more weeks and see what happens.
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I use a combo of gel and beads. When I do rehydrate it is very seldom and I just charge the gel.
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I was thinking that maybe i didnt season it long enough. Hopefully that is what it is. It isnt really even a problem i dont mind re-hydrating the beads, i just think i have to do it more often than i should. When they are hydrated the humi is at a rock solid 65% rh
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I would chalk it up to seasoning. I have more beads then are called for, but I only hydrate my beads every four to six weeks, even during the winter months.
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Your humi is probably still absorbing moisture. I'd keep charging the beads until it stabilizes. I tend to charge my beads more in winter when the humidity drops outside. Probably every 6 weeks or so, but I keep a closer eye on things to make sure everything is a-ok.
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This is what i am going to keep doing. I will just continue to charge the beads. Thanks
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Well it is close to 2 months after my original post and i am still recharging my beads about once a week. Is this normal?
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not IMHO

got two words for you:

Scott Shilala
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It does sound like a lot, but you're in Burgh and the air is SO dry this time of year. I'm up in DuBois, just north of you, and I run two big humidifiers all winter just so I don't dry up and crack.
It does sound like your humi is leaking pretty badly. If you're losing an ounce of water weekly it's definately not sealing well.
Try putting your whole shootin' match (humi and all) in a one gallon sealed freezer bag.
If that alleviates the recharging problem then you can blame it on a leaky humi.
In a lot of instances, using a freezer bag for a humi is a lot better than the humi itself.
What may also be happening is that it's so dry in your home that the humi simply cannot get seasoned. Once it seasons the wood may swell and create a nice, tight seal. By putting the humi and all in the freezer bag, it'll allow the humi to bask in moisture inside and out and may allow it to pick up the water it needs to seal.
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I will def give this a try. Thanks Scott
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Good luck, brother!!! :-)
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Good advice. Once a week for beads is probably too much even in winter months.

What kind of humidor is it?

One bit of advice I can give, before you go pitching your humidor. Try the gel. I sell a ton of it because A) its easier to charge than the beads and B) because it works so well in desktop humidors.
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Well after about 3 weeks my humi is holding at a steady 65 rh. The ziploc bag seemed to do the trick. So i guess that the seal wasnt as good as i thought. Any advise on how to create a better seal? My humi is the Capri from cheaphumidors.com
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I think read about taping the sealing lip on the lid so that you reduce any gaps, but I can't recall what type of tape to use (or indeed, what sticks to wood well). I don't imagine it'd be something super thin like cellophane tape or "magic" tape because it wouldn't make enough difference.

I should find out one of these days because I have the same issue with a smaller (and admittedly cheap) humi myself.
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Being in ND and the weather what it is right now, I have to add water to the beads every 2-3 days and that's after taping up the seal. I bought extra tubes and have them in a tuperware absorbing distilled water so I just rotate tubes when I need to.

Taping things up helps a lot. I can get this humi to hold at 65% now, before taping I couldn't get 50%. I had it open for a bit so that's why you see it at 60%

Blue painters tape was all I had so it don't look real pretty but it seals much better now.

Image

Did you do the flashlight test? Drop a flashlight in there with it empty, then in a dark room, see if you can see any light leaking out. If you do, just add some tape and check again. I actually opened it a bit and looked down the edge to see where the light started to leak out. On the left side of this humi I have 4 layers of tape and only 2 on the right.

And yes, that is a Boveda pack in there. It is almost dead but I have the beads attached to the lid also. :-)

Once you get it nailed down then you can go back to sleeping through the night without having to worry about your sticks.
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