Soaking heartfelt beads in tapwater

[Sver]

So.. I came across this video where a known Cigar reviewer states that it is perfectly fine to dunk heartfelt beads in water (tap water more specifically).

I've got some heartfelt beads and even by applying water to the beads with the plastic syringe heartfelt industries make the beads will crack leaving white dust beneath the puck they came in.

There are many things that come to mind that might be wrong with soaking the beads, what i am mostly interested in is the chance that the RH output will be higher than what the beads are produced for.

Now, I thought about raising this question on another forum but found out it is not allowed to discuss that youtube channel there, so if I am breaking any rules here or even just posting in a wrong section (humidor tutorial is maybe better?) please delete or move the post.

As for me I just finished my exams and I'm thinking of opening a bottle of a nice expensive Rioja and burn a Siglo II Hope you all have something just as good in store for the weekend!

[Duffer]

Being fairly new to this forum, I'm not really sure about the rules with youtube, etc. I always heard to never use tap water with the beads, so I haven't tried it.

What amazes me is how you're celebrating finishing your exams. Congrats on finishing, and what a nice civil way to celebrate. As I remember some 27 years ago, I celebrated mine by burning something different. I used to buy it in plastic bags.

[Anthonyjoseph89]

Oh the cigar obsession guy.....somebody more intelligent than myself will think of more creative words to refer to him as. He is more or less an idiot.

Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk

[Diamondog]

Hes got it right in that they will get wet but the point of distilled water is that tap water will have different minerals that may or may not be absorbed by the cigars potentially added tastes that are not desirable in the cigars. Does it? Not sure ive never used tap water. The cost of distilled water is something im willing to pay because of the cost of the cigars. As for soaking them like that i wouldnt be so liberal applying i sit my bag of beads down in a bowl with dist. water already in it no issues there although over time they crack an erode anyways

[Merovius]

The real issue with soaking your beads like this is you wash off all the salts on the beads effectively rendering them a one way humidification medium. They'll put humidity into your humi but they won't soak it up as well as they used to. Don't soak, hope this helps.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[jmg]

Congrats on finishing your exams. Seems like you're up for a great weekend.

that CO guy is a joke.

[Zigatoh]

I've never had heartfelt beads crack and I tend to squirt distilled water straight onto the beads from a bottle.

I thought another issue with standard water was that the dry weight (minerals etc) would clog up the beads over time so they become less efficient at storing, absorbing and releasing water?

[PigFish]

Reading through some of the posts, there appears to (still) be significant misinformation regarding beaded desiccant buffers for cigars.

I have written extensively regarding desiccants as buffers on this forum. If you would like further edification, you should search some key words. I do refer to them as desiccants and I often use the terms adsorb, adsorbent and sorbent(s). Those should help your searching.

Desiccant are are not "set" to deliver anything! They are conditioned to an extent of equilibrium moisture content, and at that level of saturation they will stabilize a nominally lower or higher rH (at a given temperature) environment. They will buffer it, not endlessly supply it, or adsorb endlessly to limit it...

There is rumored to be some 'mythical' coating of these magic desiccants that is nonexistent. This is BS! A quick study regarding desiccants and desiccant types will edify you on the subject. There are of course certain zeolites, whereas they become saturated a certain temperature and rH combinations and will therefore not adsorb further based on design. These are used lesser so as compared to common desiccants but more as molecular sieves for refining and filtering specific items (molecules) from a host gas or liquid.

Tap water typically contains salts and other solid pollutants. These items can either bond to the desiccant or clog it porous structure which in turn renders it inert. An inert desiccant is trash... Desiccant are reactive and are sometimes refereed to as catalysts. If you pollute them with anything other than a volatile substance whose bonds can be broken with heat, you have typically done damage to it.

Adsorption is an exothermic reaction. The cracking and popping that you hear when water is sprayed on a desiccant can be a couple of things. One, it is the boiling of water! The other is the fracturing of the desiccant substrate. Most desiccants are not designed for direct water absorption, they are designed for water vapor adsorption, the 'b' or the 'd' makes a huge difference. Desiccants are not sponges!

I use water resistant desiccants but they are more expensive than your typical 'straight' silica gel. Specific use industrial desiccants can get pricey, but you get what you pay for with an engineered desiccant product.

If you need more data than this, like I said, I have written extensively on the topic and you can search some of those posts out.

Cheers! -Piggy

[Diamondog]

/theend (for the 50th time lol)

[stogieluver]

I used the heartfelt beads tube when I was running a tupperdor, and I recall that the instructions from Heartfelt stated to spritz only 2/3 of the tube with distilled water, leaving the other 1/3 of the tube dry. I think you would be making the tube a one-way system by wetting the whole tube.

[LLumley]

1. Don't use tap water

2. Dont soak them, it makes them only a one way system, plus your humidity will go through the roof for the first 18-24 hours.

3. If you over saturate, the bag of beads says to hold a hair dryer on cool to them and that will take all the humidity out, you can then start from scratch with them.

4. Guy in video..... meh.....

[SCgarman]

Bryan Glynn is a genius in his own mind, nothing more nothing less. I sent him a few Cubans for him to review. Some other guy sent him a fake Monte #2. Then in a video he went on a long tirade about how all the Cuban cigars he reviewed were most likely fake and he will not review anymore until the embargo is lifted so he is assured that all Cuban cigars in the U.S. are genuine. Funny.

[earthson]

Isn't that the guy who said all Cubans are the same blend? Or is that some other self-appointed expert?

[LLumley]

He has a Facebook group called CO Fans... some of his posts lead me to believe, that in his mind, he invented the cigar.

[PigFish]

I used the heartfelt beads tube when I was running a tupperdor, and I recall that the instructions from Heartfelt stated to spritz only 2/3 of the tube with distilled water, leaving the other 1/3 of the tube dry. I think you would be making the tube a one-way system by wetting the whole tube.

... you cannot keep 'half of' your desiccants dry! This is contrary to the laws of physics. While there is reality in the cloistering of a desiccant, leaving it unexposed to water vapor and airflow that can limit its effectiveness, in theory, just like your cigar it will come to a unified level of saturation at equilibrium.

Water will simply migrate based on saturation and the isotherm that defines the desiccant. If the saturated beads represent an rH equilibrium higher than the ambient, they will give off that water. On the other hand, the dryer desiccant, seeing a higher rH will look to pick up easily available water vapor from the same ambient.

The point is, once you spritz them, they are no longer 65rH beads.... This whole notion that bead sellers continue to allow their customers to believe that their desiccants are somehow "set to deliver" is such bullshit, the nondisclosure aspect of the myth, it hinges on fraud. While they may be conditioned (the truth) they are not 'set' for anything, and they will ebb and flow with the ambient. As they lose water, they become dryer and support a lesser rH environment (something less than what you ordered). They therefore "set themselves" to something less than what you paid for! If they adsorb water vapor the same happens. The desiccant resets itself again to reflect "more than" what you paid for. This is simply how they work! While their action and application in cigar storage is like magic, they are not stamped and nor do they maintain a certain rH "value." When you buy 60, 65, or 70... etc. charged desiccant, you are buying the exact same desiccant. What you are buying and paying for in part is water, and the labor to put it there (in the desiccant).

When you buy a acclimatized desiccant, you buy them and water! This is why I don't understand who in their right mind would buy them "acclimatized." You guys realize that you are paying (going cost?) $40 to $50 per pound for water??? Buying them dry, when buying by weight is the smart move! You get more desiccant per dollar, and you can add your water at home.

This is why when I sell desiccant for my systems I sell them by volume. For the record, I am not an internet desiccant seller, I only sell the stuff to support my humidor systems.

I don't know why many smokers cannot grasp the concept. I am not talking about people here, I am talking about those that have approached me in the past to buy desiccant. I tell them I am going to sell them, say 1 liter, and they just don't get it... most of them anyway. Buying them dry saves you money, but you have to estimate what water will bring them to the level you think you want and do the work yourself. Many don't know how to do this practically, so they just spend the dough!

I mean if you leave them out on a few days where the ambient in your home is around 70F and 60 to 65rH, guess what? They will acclimatize themselves. -LOL That is what they do and you don't have to pay extra for the water. Your home atmosphere will give it to you for free!!!

Cheers guys! -Piggy

[PigFish]

/theend (for the 50th time lol)

Yes, I too get tired of repeating myself... Yet, newer members call for renewed interest. If the knowledgable amongst us don't mentor them and they become disinterested and give up on cigars, or make mistakes that cause them to damage their cigars, as ones who can possibly prevent this, in some ways we become an accessory to their mistakes. My opinion of course, but this is how I see it and this is why I mentor cigar smokers.

Helping newer cigar smokers is a large reason why I continue to post here. As EL's and RE's are about the only "new" news in the cigar world, and I have little experience with them, the reiteration of 'old' news is my primary function!!! -LOL

-Piggy

[RWhiz]

I saw that video, the first thing that popped into my mind is that this dude lives in Florida where maybe he has great tap water. Out in the high desert our water is so hard that I'm certain it would impact the beads negatively. Therefore I use distilled water in my setup. Your local tap water would determine whether or not to use it or distilled.

[Merovius]

There is rumored to be some 'mythical' coating of these magic desiccants that is nonexistent. This is BS! A quick study regarding desiccants and desiccant types will edify you on the subject. There are of course certain zeolites, whereas they become saturated a certain temperature and rH combinations and will therefore not adsorb further based on design. These are used lesser so as compared to common desiccants but more as molecular sieves for refining and filtering specific items (molecules) from a host gas or liquid.

I did not receive this information via rumor but rather by way of direct email communication with Heartfelt. Do what you want with your beads, I however have several years experience with the medium and will not be soaking mine.

-Cheers

[SmokeyJoe99]

That guy is an idiot. Didn't he ask his YouTube subscribers to fund a vehicle or motorcycle for himself? Anyway don't use tap water.

[Sver]

Jeez, PigFish thanks for taking the time to extend my semester a couple of hours, I am still absorbing all that knowledge

Kidding aside, really thanks! I will definitely try those search words and read up even more.

Have a great weekend all

[Blazer]

Kitty Litter bought by the liter or by the pound it's a steal!

[Moogypug]

The guy is an average joe who caught the eye of the non Cuban industry by consistently posting mostly positive reviews of non-Cubans and not so favorable reviews of Cubans (due his thoughts on supposed fakes). In any case, he has no scientific basis for any of his thoughts and I would take that guy's advice with a grain of salt. I guess he's getting a lot of money from his work since he has his own line of cigars and can't stop even though he recently announced he recovered from pancreatitis (yikes)

I would recommend reviewing PigFish posts though. They are well thought out and he backs it up with a lot of his personal data. I've used that info, did some of my own research and created a decent environment for my cigars.

Cheers

[Fugu]

Yes, I too get tired of repeating myself... Yet, newer members call for renewed interest. If the knowledgable amongst us don't mentor them and they become disinterested and give up on cigars, or make mistakes that cause them to damage their cigars, as ones who can possibly prevent this, in some ways we become an accessory to their mistakes. My opinion of course, but this is how I see it and this is why I mentor cigar smokers.

Helping newer cigar smokers is a large reason why I continue to post here. As EL's and RE's are about the only "new" news in the cigar world, and I have little experience with them, the reiteration of 'old' news is my primary function!!! -LOL

-Piggy

I think that is something to be admired and which cannot be valued highly enough, Piggy! Kudos to you!

[Diamondog]

Yes, I too get tired of repeating myself... Yet, newer members call for renewed interest. If the knowledgable amongst us don't mentor them and they become disinterested and give up on cigars, or make mistakes that cause them to damage their cigars, as ones who can possibly prevent this, in some ways we become an accessory to their mistakes. My opinion of course, but this is how I see it and this is why I mentor cigar smokers.

Helping newer cigar smokers is a large reason why I continue to post here. As EL's and RE's are about the only "new" news in the cigar world, and I have little experience with them, the reiteration of 'old' news is my primary function!!! -LOL

-Piggy

Yes was not meant to not discuss with people who have interest or need...simply meant ill buy that yiuve got the subject covered...excellent info on a subject you clearly understand!

[Orator]

I don't usually say things like this...but this guy is just moronic. Like educating teens that condoms are overkill in regards to preventing against pregnancy and STDs. Directly from Heartfelt's FAQ page...

"VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!

You will notice that every time I mention the fluid that is added to the Heartfelt Humidification Beads I say “distilled water”. This is extremely important; anything other than distilled water will ultimately ruin the beads. All the impurities in tap water will be drawn in by the beads and remain there. Ultimately the beads will get plugged up and not work anymore. The same is true with any type of humidifier solution (also known as 50/50 solution) this will also ruin the beads in the long run."

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk