Western Caliber III Digital Hygrometer

[steve047]

I agree with T.

[tafdom]

WOW, I wish my house was that warm.

[discdog]

The only thing when testing with the Boveda pack, you have to have it at the right temperature or it will not test accurately (if you are trying to use the adjustable type). These are also available from Mark at Cigaramony, if you should need the Puck too.

[steve047]

whats the temp?Mark at http://Cigarmony.com is a good guy

[buckster]

Any company selling a technological device and states on the instruction page (inside the box which cannot be read before you buy) that the warranty is voided if the device is tested with a very simple and scientifically accurate method that has been used by scientists for decades for calibrating their own very expensive hygrometers either must know they are selling something that is bogus, or they do not have any quality control over their manufacturing to insure a good product. 

I just started smoking cigars and have learned the hard way with all this cheap merchandise being foisted on the consumer...

my suggestion is get a boveda pack(s) and stick em in your humidor...and if you haven't yet forked out big bucks for the fancy furniture humidor...get a few medium sized tupperware containers (will keep 200+ cigars) and just use one boveda pack in each.  Throw the hygrometers out with the ashes.  I must have spent $40 buck already on these mickey mouse digital pieces of.....

[MaytagMan]

Wow...   just relpied to your intro post before seeing this...   I really didn't know that it said that in the directions...  interesting.  I would be interested in hearing their logic behind that.

[tafdom]

I have talked to the company more then a few times about the prob of inacuracy. They asked me how I knew it was out.  DUUUH, do they forget who they sell to? That we are urged to test multiple times a year to protect our investment from the cigar beetle. They go so far to tell you "if you salt test you viod the warranty" They just don't want us to know how bad there QC is out the door.

[buckster]

This is an addition info as my research into this has broadened and I apologize for being a little too hasty in my previous remarks.

The Western Cal. hygrometer I just bought states on the info page that is inside the box that a Salt Test will void the warranty.  Now that by itself is not good; however, if you study up on the Salt Test, you will find that there is a degree of inaccuracy to this test if not conducted in the right scientific manner.  Also, the atmosphere created by Salt Test tends to be corrosive to electonic devices (and to analogs as well) so I can understand them not wanting people to be testing these devices with multiple salt tests.

The problem I have is that I need to test the device to check and see if the readings are correct. 

To solve this, I put a Boveda pack 72% inside a small tupperware container with the two hygrometers that I own (a Savoy and the Western Cal).  After approx. 15 hours, the Western Cal. read 70% and the Savoy read 74%.  This was good enough for me with a BIG IF.....

Is the Boveda pack correct???...I emailed Boveda/Humidpak and the guy that got back to me seemed quite sure that the technology behind these two-way paks were very accurate, especially  when they are inside an airtight container like a tupperware/RubberMaid, etc. He told me that the rh in a tupperware container will be exactly the stated rh on the pak after 24 hours.  Inside a wooden humidor is a little less predictable depending on the seal, the condition of the spanish cedar, etc.

He also told me that storing cigars inside a plastic container like tupperware might not be real swank, but it works like a charm for storing and aging cigars.  For a $12 humidor that will easily store several boxes of primo cigars with just the addition of (1) $4 boveda pack every (3) months seems like a winner to me.

I will probably just pick up a wooden humidor for storing cigars that I want to smoke immediately.