So here in TN during the summer time it usually gets pretty humid. I have a coolerdor and it has been running great since before christmas. Now that summer time has come around I have been trying to get my cigars back to my preferred 65%-69%RH range. The coolerdor has been running around 73%-75% probably due to the outside temps and humidity. I had about 1/2 pound of beads in there all through winter and it was running great. Now I have had to take out beads trying to get the RH down.
My question is should I be taking beads out or is there something I'm missing here.
Thanks
Bailey
Removing the beads will not lower the humidity. Are the beads saturated, if they are and you need to lower the RH try throwing the beads in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees and that will remove all of the humidity in them. Then when you place them back in the humidor it will absorb the humidity back to what the beads are set up for.
In the coolerdor the humidity is held by the wood boxes, so leaving the lid open for 15 minutes then close and let it stabilize for a couple of hours for the wood to offload the humidity and check again. Repeat until desired RH.
i have had success removing all humidification devices. Also, keep the humidor open for a few hours. Finally, it is gets real bad, put in some dry beads, they should absorb some humidity
I did notice that when the beads started turning white the humidity was around the right level but then it might go to low. I'll try the 2 methods and see what happens. I might just throw some dry beads in there like Skip said and see if it equalizes.
Thanks again guys
You can also use a hair dryer to dry out wet beads.
ditto on the hair dyer and dry beads.
Here is an email I received from Heartfelt Industries in response to some beads that had a spot of mold on them, in regardless to drying out beads that are saturated.
Question:
Hi I've purchased two pounds of the 65% beads for my cabinet humidor a couple of months ago and have been very happy with a very stable humidity. I placed each pound in a mesh, then placed each in a plastic bowl. I was checking on the beads this morning and noticed that I had added too much water to the beads leaving a puddle in the bottom of the bowl . (I always use distilled water). This in turn has created mold in the container and on the some of the beads.
I remove the beads and slowly dried them with a blow dryer. Then picked out any spots of mold I can see. Then I bleached the mesh bag, washed it out with water and let it dry. My question is can I bleach the beads or should I leave them dry for a period of time. Is there a solution or will I have to throw out the beads.
Thank You, Keith
Answer:
Donââ¬â¢t bleach them, the bleach will affect the way they work.
Leave them dry for a few days or place them I an oven safe dish and put them in the oven at 150-160 for an hour. This will dry them thoroughly and they should be OK. When re-hydrating them just add enough distilled water to make roughly 80% of them clear, this assures that they donââ¬â¢t have standing water. Keep an eye on them for a little while and if you see mold again Iââ¬â¢m afraid they are contaminated.
David Asp
"Viper139"
Heartfelt Industries, Inc.
http://www.heartfeltindustries.com
nICE of heartfelt to even answer...they get points from me for customer service!!
yeah, i can see that... The RH they are set to maintain will work only with pure water... They count on the molecular magnetics that is unique to pure water