I , along with everyone else in the frozen north am battling with humidity issues... I have 2 humidors 1) Treasure dome and 2) a 100/150 ct desktop. Both being about 50 %to 60% full .. My ?? is where do you keep your Humidifiers / beads / gel jars or whatever you are using , in the bottom or on the trays ? and if I supplement my beads with a shotglass of distilled water to help fight the fight , where should I put it in the bottom or on the trays?? I tried searching for answers but came up with nothing solid... :-)
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Some recent info here. :-)

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=8788
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Show up to Churchill's tomorrow night and the M@sshole crew will give you the info in person.
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Thanks Icehog , I read that earlier .. maybe a better question is should I move all my sticks to the bottom and put the beads on the trays or the other way around?? or Option 3 , Tell me not to be so paranoid noob...



Mugen , I'd love to but unfortunately after working outside all day tomorrow , I'll be in a hockey rink from 4:00 till 9:30 (2 games + practice)
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Bottom-center. Humidity rises.
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I too am dealing with the humidity bouncing all over so I hope I'm not threadjacking.

So, I've got some Heartfelt tubes and if I place them in the middle of my cigars wouldn't the sticks closest to the tube receive more moisture than the ones farther away? Would I have to be rotating cigars every few days?

This would be in a desktop type humidor.
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For troulble boxes I recommend two humidity sources during the winter. Keep 1 in the bottom and 1 on top. I mostly recommend/use gel for desktops but I also have a lot of beads so I use them where its convenient.

Basically, in winter time double up on your humidification. I wouldn't recomment a shotglass of water because the tall skinny shape tends to point humidity upward in a concentrated column. This can cause mold on the walls above where the shotglass is sitting. I've seen it a few times.

For either a treasure dome or your 150 count I recommend 2 rectangular gel humidifiers. Or 1 rectangular humidifier and 1 jar or a couple drymistat. Keep one on top and the other(s) on bottom. If you still have a problem then consider whether your humidor is maintaining a good seal because this in itself is a bit of overkill.
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I am not having a hard time keeping it at 65% i am just going through a lot of distilled water. I know heartfelt says not to use any other humidification with their beads but the other day i wanted to try something. So i put in one of the junk humidifiers that was well soaked to see what would happen. Where i was adding water every couple days i'm going on over a week with out having to add any water yet.

And as for seals i have seen people using masking tape on the "tongue" of the lid to help make a better seal. Not saying yours isn't sealing just something to try if you believe that could be it.
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Sorry for the slow reply , had oral surgery on Wed and I feel like I took Icehogs hockey stick in the mug.. :-) thanks for the replies , this morning I buttoned up the seal with some painters tape and it feel a lot tighter. It held stable humidity all summer so I assumed the seal was good but its been a battle since I moved the humi (treasure dome).. the 150 ct is fine now after i added a drymistat tube...
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I hear this SOOOO much. The crystal gel humidifiers are really a far superior way to humidify a desktop than beads. Beads are AWESOME for cabinets and coolerdors but not great for desktops. I use two large rectangular crystal gel humidifiers in my larger humidors and they work rock solid. Its probably the number 1 thing you can do to upgrade a humidor.
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For those having trouble with low humidity in winter. Do your sticks smoke differently? Do they seem dry? My Vino's and desktops are holding, but I have a glasstop that has dropped to 60, but everything seems to be smoking well so I have not messed with it.
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pmp , I went even further and now have 3 xikar gel jars and a couple water pillows in the Treasure dome and 1 xikar jar and 2 drymistat tubes in the 100/150 ct .. I'll be keeping them closed for a few days and see if the rh stays consistent.

bobarian , I haven't smoked in about 2 weeks and I'll probably wait another week or so (oral surgery last Wed) , but prior to that they smoked OK..
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pmp , do you think the large rectangle gel humidifiers would be better than the jars due to more surface area??
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That oral surgery is the pits, it cut into my smoking last year for almost two months. Hope all heals well and faster than mine did.

Mike :-)
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I live in the northeast (dry winter due to forced air furnace).
Indoors RH is right now 30% and gets as high as 40%.
I have 2 vinos with Scott's beads in them that are solid as a rock.
I have 2 desktops, 1 - 50 count and 1 - 300 custom built unit. They struggle during the winter.
The only thing I have been able to do to get them to stay above 60% is add a small dish of kitty litter beads that I soak completely with water. I know they suck as a bead but they do keep the moisture in the box. I dont use them to regulate, just as a constant source of moisture. In the boxes there is also reg beads that absorb what extra moisture there is from the Kitty litter beads. When I see the RH drop to about 63% I spray down the Kitty litter beads again until completely saturated. I will do this until the furnace quits running and the indoors RH climbs back up.

Chas
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Yes but it certainly sounds like you have enough humidification in there. At this point if you don't see a rise its probably a bad seal.
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Chas you should reconsider soaking your beads. You can grow mold and mildew on them if they are over humidified.
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Has anyone considered using those little clay blocks (that are meant to be thrown into the brown sugar bag to keep it soft and muushhy) as humidifiers? Just wondering. I imagine they may dry out too quickly but can't be certain that would actually happen though.

Cheers

Cyanide
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From my post:

"..is add a small dish of kitty litter beads that I soak completely with water."

My reg beads are never touched in the winter.

Have you ever used kitty litter beads?

They absorb a ton of water and release it at a rather constant level. they suck as a way of "maintaining" RH but do wonders at adding moisture at a relativity controlled rate. unlike an open dish or shot glass of water they allow the water to evaporate into the air at a slower rate, but much faster than reg beads. The KL beads never stay totally wet for very long since the 2 humidors in question are the ones I pull my smokes from to smoke.

I struggled for 2 winters trying everything everyone told me to try with no success. The 2 humidors in question would plummet after a few days and I would spend days getting them back up above 60% just to repeat the process. This year I use the kitty litter beads to add the added moisture and the reg beads to maintain the RH I want.

Works like a charm :-)

If it was a bad seal (like many suggested) I would be having the same problem this year. Since I'm not, I ruled out the bad seal and chalked it up to lack of water content present to stabilize after the humidors were opened.

The combination of reg beads and the KL beads solves that problem for me.

Like I said, I use Scott's beads in the 2 vinos and haven't added anything in the way of moisture to them in over a month and they stay right at 64% - 66%, but they are only opened once a week or so.

Chas
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hmmm... I like the idea of the kitty litter beads... I might have to try that in my 100ct humi... what kind of beads do you use? anything special? Certainly not the scented :-)
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