Bead saturating question

[NitrousPurger]

I just received a new Heartfelt tube of beads and it says to fill it up so that aprox. 80% of the beads are clear. The porous casing that the tube is made of seems to be opaque, however, making it hard to tell whether they are turning clear of not. anybody else have problems knowing how much water to fill it with? any suggestions or will it be obvious when they are sufficiently filled?

[rckymtn22]

What I use is a spray bottle filled with distilled water and spray the beard down with a couple squirts. Then into the humidor with the beads which stabilize out to what ever RH% they are.

[Trevor2118]

What I use is a spray bottle filled with distilled water and spray the beard down with a couple squirts. Then into the humidor with the beads which stabilize out to what ever RH% they are.

I must emphasis this advice...use distilled water, not deminerialise / deionized water ...which seems to becoming a replacement for distilled water. It is apparently cheaper to produce and it is fine for steam irons, radiators, car batteries......but not beads (or human consumption).

If you put the beads on a saucer, and then spray with a misting bottle, it will be obvious when the beads become clear / wet.

You should end up with some beads clear and some opaque. If you are in a dry area, make more of the beads wet....and visa versa. Also I use twice as many beads as recommended.

[daboose]

ditto all the above

They are usually "charged" at the %RH you requested when they ship. However, when I first receive them I'll put some of the beads in a zip lock bag with a calibrated hygrometer. Then place this in the environment (cooleridor, chasidor, cooler, etc) where I'll be using them to confirm I'm getting the RH I want.

[Erm310mce]

My experience with the beads is a little moisture goes a long way. I'd rather start with a little distilled water and ad as I go to get to desired humidity. I over saturated mine the first time I used them and its easy to tell when they are soaked, but an easy fix is to leave them out to dry or use a blow dryer on them. Also there is a fine tip syringe for short money on their site, I recommend getting it, makes watering the tubes very easy.

Once you get the beads to desired level, they are very easy to manitain.

Good luck!

[whopper]

I use double the recommended beads in each humidor/coolerdor. I saturate one tube fully and leave the other dry. It's worked well for me for about 2 years now. Hold's the humidity between 65% to 69%.

[Taino]

I would also recommend to use double what is recommended. They work to perfection for me this way.

Put distilled water and quickly dry the excess (if there is any) with a tissue or similar.

They probably are the easiest to use humidification device and work like charm

[investandprosper]

I must be the only one in the world who can't get to terms with the humidity beads??? I've tried to use them for five years in my wine-fridge humidor. Currently I have 2lbs (twice the recommended amount) spread out through the fridge, but I can't get the to keep a stable humidity at all. I only use distilled water as per intructions.

My 65% beads can be bone dry in spite of the internal humidity being 75%. Other times they can be 60-70% saturated and stay that way even if the internal humidity is down to 50-55%. They just don't work properly for me at all. I've replaced them with new ones from Heartfeld because I was afraid I might have ruined the old ones or something, but still the same problems.

I've kind of given up on them and now use a Cigar Oasis to keep the humidity at minimum 65% while dry-boxing cigars if internal humidity is higher.

I've had this same issue, I just added more beads and it evened out. I have about 2 lbs in there. If you use too little, the beads will have to work too hard and won't keep a steady RH (which is why they get bone dry).

[thechenman]

All good advice hear. I only use beads an Boveda packets, but beads are definitley the more affordable alternative. Distilled water is key...no proplyne glycol. Also...moisten the beads with a spray bottle, don't douse them under a faucet or in a bowl. Hydrating them too quickly can cause the beads to crack and break apart leaving them less effective. Double the recommended amount never hurts either.