Boveda Malfunction?


Recommended Posts

Anyone else have this problem? 62% packs. Happened to two packs in my wood desktop humidor. There are several large crystals inside. The packs are still hydrated, but my cigars were starting to dry out. I’ve had them probably a year. the same packs I bought in a brick are in my Coolidor and wineador which are doing fine. 

B4BEF2DF-FD53-4965-BDEA-BB0338B0CC4F.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Boveda works by using different aqueous salt solutions to maintain a particular RH. As the moisture inside dries out, the salts are left in the form of solid crystals. If that formed inside the pack then I am assuming that it was drying out and was needing to be replaced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@sho671 I’ve gone through plenty of boveda packs that dry out and I can feel small crystals inside. These two packs in particular are still hydrated, but have very large crystals. Just curious if anyone else has had these large crystals. The one I took a pic of is one of many inside each pack. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Bri Fi said:

@sho671 I’ve gone through plenty of boveda packs that dry out and I can feel small crystals inside. These two packs in particular are still hydrated, but have very large crystals. Just curious if anyone else has had these large crystals. The one I took a pic of is one of many inside each pack. 

Old and hazy chemistry classes in university seem to jog my brain that sometimes a solid piece of something (maybe a piece of dirt from the factory) and the right conditions can cause the salt to fall out of solution and begin building up on that sediment. I don't have any science to back this up, may be misremembering, but could be one possibility for why the pack "failed" when otherwise still hydrated.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As mentioned as they dry the H2O carrier inside dries out.  When I rehydrate a 300g pack it’s especially noticeable.  It takes a while to redisolve that stuff.  I massage the clumps pack every day (not too aggressively as they can be sharp...) and they eventually shrink and disappear. 

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a heads up that I would not recharge them. I’ve had terrible experiences doing this. It ruined a cab of SLR lonsdales and Partagas Coronas. The cigars seemed ok but felt slightly moist and almost smooth. They had a slight salt taste to them and They would not burn when lit causing a black char on the cigar. Hard lesson learned and hopefully I can save someone from my heartache lolz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Community Software by Invision Power Services, Inc.