gersonmorelli Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Three days ago I received my Monolith 1200cc and have been seasoning since then. It's been turned on as per the instructions at 72 degrees and 72% humidity for seasoning. I've been using a wet cloth to moist the cedar drawers everyday. I also added distilled water to the tank. The thing is that the humidity has not raised at all since I turned the humidor on three days ago! Still at 45% (living in upstate NY). It does spike up to 70s when I moist the drawers though and then drops down. For those who have electronic cabinets, what is your experience seasoning them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckSARTech Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I would imagine it would take at least a week, and perhaps up to two weeks, for it to fully acclimatize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EL1990 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 gersonmorelli, When I built my cabinet humidor, to season it here's what I did- I set the humidifier at 70% for a week. The next week I brought it down to 68% and left it there for another week. Now it's set at 65% but the humidity is 67%. I did this to make sure the wood has absorbed enough humidity and will not suck out humidity from the cigars. My humidor took about 2 1/2 weeks to season perfectly. You have nothing to worry about as your humi has been in the seasoning process for only 3 days. About wiping it down with a wet cloth, I wouldn't do recommend doing that. A sudden change in humidity conditions(excess water) might cause the wood to warp or bend. Leave the humidifier on at the humidity level you prefer and your humidor will eventually be perfectly seasoned, all it needs is time. I know you're excited but don't try to hurry this process. I am not an expert but this what I've found from experience. Hope it's helpful Cheers, EL1990 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckSARTech Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 About wiping it down with a wet cloth, I wouldn't do recommend doing that. A sudden change in humidity conditions(excess water) might cause the wood to warp or bend.... Agreed. This is something that you only do once really, when you initially get the cigar humidor. Basically, to use a fresh/new cheesecloth/carwash cotton towel (or something else with minimal lint/debris, and no chemicals or aromas), and with distilled water, and then wiping down the whole interior. The point is not to necessarily get the wood wet and saturated. But it's more to use the damp cloth (not dripping wet) just to wipe down the interior to remove any dust, debris, surface contaminants, or other junk that's sitting on the unfinished surfaces of the interior wood, mostly due to the manufacturing processes and then packaging and shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptrthgr8 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 It took a week or so for my Aristocrat M-THC to stabilize after it arrived. I didn't wipe down the interior with anything other than a dry cloth when it first arrived - the instructions specifcally said to not wipe down the interior with a wet or damp cloth for the warping/cracking reasons mentioned earlier; the directed/recommended method was to allow the humidifier to properly season the wood, not anything else. I had to refill the water tank a bazillion times during that first week, but it was good to go after that. (The instructions that came with the cabinet said it should only take 3 days... that seemed a little unrealistic for anyone who's not already living in a humid environment.) If you hit the week mark and it's still not stabilizing or showing improvements, I'd perhaps wonder about the seal. Cheers, ~ Greg ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orion21 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Patience Grasshopper it will get there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gersonmorelli Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Thanks everyone for the valuable responses. I was just concern that the humidity does not move at all. I guess the wood won't let it as it is sucking all the water. I have been using distilled water to damp the drawers once a day as per the Monolith's instructions, but I guess I'll just avoid it all together as per your recommendation. The only thing that leaves me a little concerned is that I can't tell how is the water tank level in the Monolith, at least I haven't found out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gersonmorelli Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Status report: It's been practically a week since I turned the humidor. The temperature is very stable, established at 60F. The humidity has finally climbed in the last three of days and it's been set to 65%. The only thing that I noticed is that the humidity is very unstable. After the compressor turns off bringing the temperature down to 60F, the humidity drops to around 55%. Then the humidity starts working and brings it back again to 65% and also turns off. At this point, both temperature and humidity stays very stable for a while. Once the temperature starts to climb slowly to the low 60s, humidity also climbs peaking at 85% when temp reaches 62F. At this point the compressor kicks back and brings temp and humidity down again. Did anyone experience this type of instability when seasoning? Just in case I bought 1 lb of Heartfelt beads and it should be getting here soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptrthgr8 Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I'm not an expert and I certainly didn't do any sort of scientific study when I first got my Aristocrat last winter, but I did notice a little more fluctuation in RH levels (not temp so much) while it was empty. Once I started filling the shelves up, especially the top drawer, I noticed that the RH level definitely started stabilizing quicker/more consistently. I'm not sure if the naked sticks in the top drawer (5 or 6 boxes worth) were somehow also acting as humidifying agents, or if the simple act of stocking the humidor was enough. (i.e. less empty space means less work the humidifier has to do to maintain whatever RH level?) The 85% RH you're seeing is odd, though. I bought two seperate hygrometers/thermometers to use (one placed at the top of the cab, one at the bottom) and to get a pretty consistent 68 degree/65% RH reading I actually need to keep the RH setting on the controls down to around 62%. There's only one sensor in my Aristocrat, so I'm sure that's part of the deal. The only time I've ever seen readings as high as yours (in the low 80% RH range) I was relying upon the RH meter on the control unit to manage a 70% RH. That was way too high for mine. It definitely took more dinking to get the RH level right - the temp level was never a problem and the environmental controls on the humidor itself manage that part just fine. But I did need to do some Kentucky windage with the RH controls to get things where they needed to be. Cheers, ~ Greg ~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gersonmorelli Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Thanks Greg. I've been measuring the humidity in the top drawer with a calibrated hygro since this morning and it hasn't been showing the fluctations that the humidors display suggests. I checked a couple of times already and when it said 80% in the humidor it was actually around 68% inside and the same works the other way around. When it said 55% it was closer to 62%. All in all the humidor seams to be relatively stable even though it shows these huge fluctuations. I'll wait one more day of tests and if I don't see too much fluctuation I'll start filling the drawers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazookajoe Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 i just got done seasoning my monolith about a week ago. i had the same issues that you had. i thought i was going crazy. the built in readout on the monolith is off. after a week of pulling my hair out i finally figured it out. i finally got a digital hygroset and it showed the monolith display was off by 6%. i was stuck at 45% for a week! and then i found the water tank was too low and it needed a lot more water than the instructions was telling me. added more water and overnight the humidity has been rock solid at 68% ever since. you can see the water tank in the back, on the bottom right. shine a flashlight and you can see a little black box. its a great machine once you get it in the right spot. dont go by the readout on the display. use your own digital hygro and you will be ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gersonmorelli Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 i just got done seasoning my monolith about a week ago. i had the same issues that you had. i thought i was going crazy. the built in readout on the monolith is off. after a week of pulling my hair out i finally figured it out. i finally got a digital hygroset and it showed the monolith display was off by 6%. i was stuck at 45% for a week! and then i found the water tank was too low and it needed a lot more water than the instructions was telling me. added more water and overnight the humidity has been rock solid at 68% ever since. you can see the water tank in the back, on the bottom right. shine a flashlight and you can see a little black box. its a great machine once you get it in the right spot. dont go by the readout on the display. use your own digital hygro and you will be ok. Exactly!! The instructions is completely misleading and just plain wrong. I did find the water tank as well but it is very hard to see what the water level is. My humidity also went up after I decided to put about a cup of distilled water. Also the gurgling noises stopped, the thing just sounded as if it was sucking water out of an empty tank (which is probably the case). Tks bazookajoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazookajoe Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Yes the gurgling sound is the machine trying to suck up water to humidify but there's not enough water to suck up. Mine was doing the same thing for a week! Put more water and you will be ok. You can see the water level when you add more water. I put in like quarter gallon Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaoticrunner Posted September 3, 2013 Share Posted September 3, 2013 i know its been over a year, any update to the monolith? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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