Good afternoon, gents. For the past week or so, my humidor has jumped up from right at 70% humidity to 75% according to my digital hygrometer. I've got the Xikar Crystal Clear Humidifier jar in there and I haven't had any problems maintaining a more normal humidity before. It has plenty of room to absorb more moisture and it doesn't seem to be doing so as its been stuck at 75% for days. Any suggestions on reducing the humidity? Do I need a new humidifying system or something? How long to those sorts of humidifying jars typically last?
Reducing Humidity in Humidor?
- Thread starter shavious
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This is going to sound ridiculous but I have been using silica in my humidor and it stays at 67-8% all the time. The sister tried some new kitty litter but she was upset at the white paw prints is made due to the dust. She told me it was silica based so I got the bag and used it as a desiccant for the past year or so. I wanted to know if it "full" of water and put my digital humidity gauge in a bag with it like you do when calibrating the gauge with salt and it read only 55% so I saturated it with water, poured off the extra water, let it air out overnight and tested it again. 67-8% until they dry out. They absorb water if it is over 70% and give out humidity till they run out of water.Pretty cool stuff.
Did you do anything before the humidity spike? Add more sticks in? Did the ambient temp rise lately?
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- #4
Ambient temps have gone up a bit, and I did add 10 cigars recently. However, I first noticed the rise in humidity when I cracked the lid to add the 10 new sticks.
hmm could be a couple of things going on, rise in temp can cause the humidity to go up, but should have leveled out in a few days. Also somtimes when you add new cigars in, if you ordered them online I've heard that the online seller stores them a bit more wet for travel and that can cause a humidity spike in your humidor for a few days too.
If it hasn't leveled out you can try leaving your humidor open for a bit to let the humidity level drop and then close it and see where it goes from there.
If it hasn't leveled out you can try leaving your humidor open for a bit to let the humidity level drop and then close it and see where it goes from there.
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- #6
Thanks I'll give that a try and report back. Any idea on how long those bead jars usually last?
That's a great question. Wish I had a great answer.
The little Xikar jar seems to last a long time if you use their PG solution to refill the jar as the beads shrink. Depending on the humidity, you may have to refill the jar every 90 days or so. The nice thing about this system is, if you forget for a while, these beads are fairly forgiving. They maintain some moisture for quite a long time. As to the jar's useable lifespan, I just don't know. I think the jar I have no is about two years old. Seems to be OK, but I do wonder if I should buy a new one. My local shop has been out of them or I would have already purchased a backup, just in case.
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- #8
Well, my concern is that the beads are supposed to absorb moisture when the humidity goes over 65% - granted, my humidor's been at 70% for a long while. It just seems like in the last week or so, the beads aren't absorbing anything and they're nowhere near "overly saturated." In fact, they were nearly due for a top off because they're running low. With all those conditions, I can't help but wonder why the beads aren't taking in any of the excess moisture.
Hmmm maybe it's time to swap beads And see if that does Anything. I don't have much experience with those beads. Wish I could help more
What is the humidity like normally in your house? Right now, it's getting hot and humid here, and my indoor humidity is pretty high. If your seal isn't good, it could be sucking humidity from the environment as well. Hard to tell exactly what's causing it.
I second this, I use kitty litter in my coolidor and it has held 63-66% for nearly a year.
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- #12
Update: Opened the lid for a few hours yesterday and the humidity dropped to a solid 71%. Closed it up, checked a couple hours later, down to 70%. Checked again this morning, 74% 
I guess the next step for me will be getting some more beads to see if that helps. If not, I may resort something else.
I guess the next step for me will be getting some more beads to see if that helps. If not, I may resort something else.If you stuck the bead jar in a dry cigar box, it would suck a lot of moisture out of the jar. That would probably take care of it. Just might need to use less water, especially when adding cigars that may or may not be over humidified for shipping.
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