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Posted

Hi All,

Im about to place an order and wanted your opinion. 65 or 70% beads? Which should I go with?

Thanks!!

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Don't let your cat use the KL when it is in your humidor.

I have written tirelessly about desiccants and silica gel, silica and other based adsorbents over many years on this forum. There are a lot of differences in products, and huge differences between eng

unsented kitty litter. works like a charm.

Posted

Neither.

Go with hcm beads - much better product

I have not read up on them. What makes them better? What is the price difference?

Posted

Heartfelt beads will deteriorate a d break down over time, they will also discolour and smell.

water topups will become more regular as they age.

All the above, hcm beads do not do

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Posted

Heartfelt beads will deteriorate a d break down over time, they will also discolour and smell.

water topups will become more regular as they age.

All the above, hcm beads do not do

Interesting. My experience is different. I've had my heartfelt for about 4 years now, I have not noticed any break down. They do smell, like amazing cedar from my trays.

I found that my HCM bead would never get my RH to where I wanted it. I also used 2x the amount needed.

Different strokes...

Posted

65% here as well

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Posted

I use Bovedas not beads, and would weigh in on the side of 65%. I started at 70%, living in a temperate somewhat humid environment and found that I bumped into mold situations occasionally as well as over humidified cigars. Changed to 65% and have been a happy camper ever since.

Now maybe the dry winters in Canada may argue for a little higher rH (like MichaelK's situation in Israel, just colder), but I'd target 65% down to 60% for your stogies.

Posted

I love my 65% Heartfelt Beads. I've been using them for years in the humidor and coolidor...(s),

They do break down but the still work. They keep my cigars right around 62% -63%.

Posted

unsented kitty litter. works like a charm.

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Posted

unsented kitty litter. works like a charm.

I will definitely second this. Kitty litter holds roughly the same RH at a *much* cheaper price.

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Posted

unsented kitty litter. works like a charm.

I too am a kitty litter supporter. I use unscented silica kitty litter with a few large size 65% Boveda in my coolerdor and it works like a charm. 65% year round and very little maintenance. Kitty litter seems to provide the bulk of the humidity while the three Boveda packs keep it fine-tuned and prevent spikes if I overfill the kitty litter with water. Overall cost? $8.99 for 8 pounds of kitty litter of which I used one half pound and $10 for the three large Boveda combined.

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Posted

I use both heartfelt beads and kitty litter (bought the beads first, then upgraded to a larger cooler, nothing deliberate in the combo). Mine are 65 and stay pretty solid no matter the season. One thing with the litter is that I had a "dust" issue at first because the bag put them in was not a fine enough weave.

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Posted

I use 65% beads, I find they work well for me. Keeps my cooler at 62% (65F) year round and I also live in Canada. I like my cigars at 62% and drybox when needed.

The HF beads have started to smell like candy, I have been thinking of trying the HCM beads.

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Posted

unsented kitty litter. works like a charm.

Another fan of KL. Been using the same bag of KL for close to 5 years (I replace the stuff in my cooler and humi's every other year for the heck of it).

Posted

I used to use 65% HF beads but ran into problems with them smelling and since switching to 65% bovedas I would never go back to beads.

Posted

I love my 65% Heartfelt Beads. I've been using them for years in the humidor and coolidor...(s),

They do break down but the still work. They keep my cigars right around 62% -63%.

This.

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Posted

I've been using both heartfelt and HCM beads for a bit more than a year, none broke so far and no odors. I think the trick is to not spray them with water (not recommenced by the manufacturer of HCM beads). Beads are made to adsorb water vapor and not liquid water.

I conditioned my beads by placing them in a Tupperware container beside a bowl of DW and let them adsorb water vapor. Works great.

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Posted

Use 70% in my NC cooler. 65% in my CC cooler. Good results on both.

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Posted

Another vote for kitty litter. I got many pounds of it for practically nothing. I haven't added moisture to my coolers in probably two years. Rock solid.

Posted

I use a couple of pounds of heartfelt beads alongside large Bovedas as a backup. 65% heartfelt and Bovedas. They keep both my wineadors and wooden humidor at a solid 65%. No issues with heartfelt beads braeaking down or smelling and I recharge and swap out the Bovedas - evaporating distilled water in a tub inside a sealed ziplock bag gets them nice and fat in about a week.

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