Hey Fellows/ladies

I am running a desk top humidor with 72% Boveda packs (5).  

House temp at 62-70 degrees.  Inside humiity 22%.  

!00 Cigar count.

I cant seem to establish 72% humidity as it hovers between 62-65%

Any suggestions?

Thanks

What kind of humidor do you have?  Have you done the dollar bill test?  How long have you waited for the RH to adjust?  Are the Boveda packs fresh?

I wouldn't worry unless it drops below 60%.  Most of mine run about 65% and I'm running 69% Boveda packs.  I'm assuming the humidor in question is well-seasoned.  You can expect the humidity to drop somewhat during the winter anyway.

 

Is you're hydrometer accurate?

Quotentanner - 1/26/2016  8:48 PM

Is you're hydrometer accurate?

He beat me to the question... Pull out the hygrometer if you can and put it into a zip lock or Tupperware with one of the bovedas, easy test.

I add extra humidification in winter months
Black Ice Pie jars work great or even the cheaper foam "sticks"

I use 65% Bovedas in my wineador. I'm at 61% and I'm fine with that. Most of my sticks burn much better between 61-65%

Quote05Venturer - 1/26/2016  6:49 PM

I add extra humidification in winter months
Black Ice Pie jars work great or even the cheaper foam "sticks"

Black Ice Pie Jars for me during the winter as well.  

Kevin I wouldn't worry about it.  In the winter months I use 72% Bovedas in 10 different humidors just to keep them around 65%-67% and yes all the hygrometers are accurate.  Just remember to take some out or put in lower ones when the spring time rolls around, I don't have central AC so they will make them spike over what you want later on.

Mine always drops in the winter cold months. I use Boveda 69% and I add a foam humidifier to it to help a little. My humidity usually gets down to around 60%-62% and really doesn't hurt anything. In the spring humiditity comes back up and I remove the foam humidifier.

That is why I like beads so much. All you need to do is "activate" a higher percentage of beads and voilà, the relative humidity raises accordingly.

For me though, it does also depends on the quality of the humidor and its seal. Some of my desktops are very high end and they keep RH levels better than my cheaper ones. The wineador is somewhat harder to maintain but that is probably because it's only half full. Now the coolers are the easiest to care for as they almost don't even need a push in the drier months to remain at 65%, unless opened often. I do have Spanish Cedar lining in my coolers that helps maintain RH even if opened daily.

Hey Fellows ....... Many thanks for the replies.  Just a few notes and answers.

I did the flashlight test and the seal seems tight.

The Boveda packs ( 72) are brand new I even added a 5th pack.

My humidor is the Craftsman Bench Taj Mahal ( 110 ct)

I have the sticks in plastic bags now while I re-season the humidor and the Hygrometer ( recalibrated to factory settings)  only reading 62% since yesterday this time.

The cigars are just too firm although when smoked I do not have any defects to the wrapper.

Is it possible I have to re-season every month or so?

Thanks Fellows

i won a contest a few New Years ago that included a small 50 ct. tabletop humidor. it would never season or keep stable. i even put two Xikar crystal sticks in it. i eventually gave it to the kids as for a Littlest Angel box.

I wouldn't think you would need to re season every month. If you get the interior at the desired RH and maintain it with that many Boveda packs it should hold a fairly steady RH. A fuller humidor is easier to maintain also, so maybe buy some more cigars.

You shouldn't have to reseason it but a little trick I like to do every few months while changing the packs and moving cigars around is take some PG juice or distilled water and run along the top border of the humidor and along the edges of the cover. This helps the two connections fit snugly and tighter for me.