Okay, before I pose this question, I want to get it out there that I know Heartfelt Beads are the best way to manage humidity in a humidor. I know all about them and how great they are, but as it happens I don't have them and while I plan to get some in the future, I do not have any at the moment nor will I in the immediate future. So with that in mind, I would like to hear your thoughts without the words Heartfelt Beads being said.
I purchased a desktop 75 count humidor about two months ago now. That said, it is larger than the average 75 count because it is a display humidor. (I posted a picture in my newbie intro post on page two if you'd like to see it.) When I bought it the place was running a special and where they threw in the Humi-Care Black Ice and a digital hygrometer. Being new to cigars I had not yet heard of Heartfelt Beads but knew I wanted more than the standard humidifier and I also knew I needed a digital hygrometer. I have read multiple other posts across the interwebs as a whole where people have had a lot of success with Black Ice. I have been fighting over humidity though for most of the time. It would consistently creep up to 73% or so and I found myself leaving the door open nearly daily. Finally, I put my cigars in a Ziplock with one of the four pies of the Black Ice jar and my digital hygrometer and let my humidor sit open for several hours. Interestingly enough, it held a perfect 70% (yes I know many people recommend something less than 70% but 70% is what Black Ice advertising maintaining and considering how high it's getting 70% seems pretty go for starters).
At first I thought I had solved the problem because when I reintroduced my humidifier and hygrometer the humidity slowly (over several days) crept up to 68% - 70% and maintained it perfectly for about a week. Then it was back to it's old tricks.
This time I decided maybe I had over hydrated the gel in the humidifier so I took the humidifier out and emptied the jars' contents onto some paper towels to remove any excess water, put it back into the jars and put the jars back into the humidor. Again, this seem to solve the problem for about a week. This was the week prior to me leaving for the holidays for a two week time period. The day before I left I noticed it was starting to creep up to about 72%. I was concerned about leaving them, but really had not choice so I crossed my fingers and away I went.
I got back on Sunday and the humidity had fallen to only 60%. I know this isn't terribly low, but obviously not desirable. I immediately thought maybe I had removed too much water from the humidifiers. So, I filled them about halfway and let them sit for a full 24 hours. The humidity did not budge. Not one percent. So I began doing some research on the internets and found a few suggestions including dry air caused by the heater and "leaking" seal caused by dry air coming in contact with the seal. I can't do the light test because my humidor is mostly glass and I got to thinking the air did seam a little dry. Also, on my own I got to thinking I had not rehydrated the stock humidifier in some time and maybe somehow that had been the culprit. So, and this is where I made my mistake, I did two things. First, I live in a dorm on base so I started up the shower and let it run for a bit to hydrate the air in my room. Being a one room dorm, the shower in more than capable of significantly raising the humidity of the entire space. Second, I rehydrated the stock humidifier. Last night the humidity started rising and as of this morning it was 66%. When I got back tonight it is up to 69%. Obviously if it stays put I'll be happy but I suspect we are headed back in the other direction. I could kill myself for not doing each action independently so as to know which affected the change.
So what are your thoughts? I simply refuse to believe a humidor cannot be kept withing a more precise RH range than 60 - 75% by any means other than HF Beads. While I concede they are likely the best option, they cannot be the only way it can be done. People have had humidors for years and years. What have you done to find success? What am I missing?
