Help, my humidor have had to high humidity..what to do????

[vegard_dino]

HI all

Thanks for good info and help for getting started in the world of Cuban Cigars.

But, I need some help now. I have been away for 2 weeks, got home last night. When I did open my humidor, I did learn that the humidity was a bit hight. It was 80-82%.....:crying:

Are my cigars gone? Can I save them by "dry boxing" them?

Hope some can help me...and yes, I know need to buy a better humidor, with good humidity controll.

Kind regards,

Vegard

[yossie]

Calm down.

I have faced such condition a few times better or worse.

If the cigars don't have green mold, They probably will be cured at certain level.

Otherwise, Smoke them ASAP!

To control humidity...

If you're whelthy , You should have aristocrat which controls humidity and temperature.

If not, Use humidity beads to keep humidity.

I recommend you to use 65% humidity beads.

[SmokinAl]

Yossie is spot on Vergard. Don't panic!

There's a lot of things that could have gone wrong and none of them are life threatening.

Has the heating been off for two weeks and just now been switched back on?

Did you put extra water into the humidifier before you left?

If you've bought "The Puck" as you were going to do then it's a much better chance that your Hygrometer is out of calibration. Have you checked that your Hygrometer is right? Most of them are a piece of crap.

Let us know if you're using The Puck first and foremost and we can give you a fix from there.

Is it a "box-type" humidor? Did you wet the inside with distilled water to condition it and if so, how?

In the interim, take out the humidifier and close the box up again with the cigars still in it.

[jdbrown]

Good advice here..I would not smoke them just yet..They will not be good and you will have uneven burn..Like Al said remove humidification device. Calibrate hygrometer. Get a Puck for 65% and then store in coolest place you can find! Wait a few days for them to stabalize again and set those babies on fire

[smokum]

All good advice. I would not touch them for 30 days after they have been in proper environment. Re-stabilize slowly

[Tampa1257]

Good advice given here.

As I live in a high humidity area, I have seen this situation before. There is a product called "Damp Rid" available here in the USA that will drop the humidity level down fairly quickly. Depending on how many cigars you currently have stored in your humidor, I would remove them into a Dry Box for a day or two while you remove the humidification device you have in your humidor. As others have stated your hydrometer needs to be checked for accuracy.

Do Not Panic.

Do Not just set the cigars out of a humidor without any humification, dry boxing is different, the cigars are still inside a humidor. What I am saying is do not just set them out side in the open.

Decrease the humidity in the humidor to around 62-65% rh. (Note: you may see an increase in rh when you place the cigars back inside the humidor, this is because the cigars have a higher rh in them and will slowly decrease in rh as the humidor becomes stable over time, introducing wet cigars into a humidor will cause the rh percentage to increase for a few days)

Get a "Puck" or two as the silcone gel media beads will maintain the humidity much better than any type of foam block that most cigar shops sell.

I do not recommend smoking the cigars while they are so over humified as they will be lackluster, flavorless and taste like you are smoking a wet rag, basicly you would be wasting you money and a potentially a great cigar by smoking them while they are so wet.

Best of luck,

Tampa

[aavkk]

Guys this post could not have come at a better time. I have an aristocrat and had a decent size spill from the condensation of the cooling unit onto the bottom level ceder. Bob suggested I put a hair dryer to the wood which I did but after a few days of no humidification in there other than a 1 lb of beads the humidity is still in the 74% range and the ambient humidity in my home is in the same range. Do they make devices specifically for pulling humidity out?

[aavkk]

Well after a little research Im gonna try a product called "damprid". can anyone recommend or advise me to not use it?

[smokum]

I use it all the time. In fact it was recommended by someone here. It works great...I cannot keep my humi where I want it without Damp Rid. I actually use 4 plastic cup Damp Rids in mine and buy the milk carton type refill. MAKE SURE you dont buy the scented stuff !!

[Colt45]

» Well after a little research Im gonna try a product called "damprid". can

» anyone recommend or advise me to not use it?

Take a look at Tampa's post above......;-)

[SmokinAl]

» There is a product called "Damp Rid" available here in the USA that will

» drop the humidity level down fairly quickly. Depending on how many cigars...

The same stuff can be bought in Australia from Howards Storage World. Just remember to keep an eye on it. If your humidity is through the roof and you don't have a dessicant like this on hand, put in a dish of dry salt. Sounds funny I know, but it works.

In older humidors, climate change can drive the moisture out of the wood and the only place for it to go is into the humidor. Best fix for this is to leave the humidor open without any cigars and let it dry. Recondition with a shotglass or two full of PG and distilled water (50/50 mix) over a week.

Why like this? A hairdryer will dry the surface of the wood but the wood has a heightened moisture content throughout. Dry one face and it can easily bow or warp. (Outside dry, inside moist). Don't wipe or spray the inside of the humidor to condition it. Let the moisture work evenly into the wood to reduce the chance of the wood moving.

Just my 2 cents.:-P

[jdbrown]

You are right..30 days to stabilize is much better than a few

[Claudius]

» HI all

»

» Thanks for good info and help for getting started in the world of Cuban

» Cigars.

»

» But, I need some help now. I have been away for 2 weeks, got home last

» night. When I did open my humidor, I did learn that the humidity was a bit

» hight. It was 80-82%.....:crying:

» Are my cigars gone? Can I save them by "dry boxing" them?

»

» Hope some can help me...and yes, I know need to buy a better humidor, with

» good humidity controll.

»

» Kind regards,

» Vegard

Dear Vegard

You said on May 22nd that you would buy a Puck. If you had, you wouldnt have the problem, so do it. Rob has them, Cigarmony have them, cigarworld in Düsseldorf have them... google or something, but get one.

Right now, I would:

1/ Take out the humidifer

2/ Leave humidor open for an hour

3/ Close humidor and get another reading 10 minutes later to see if it has dried a little

4/ Repeat 2 and 3 until your humidity has come down to the desired level. I would recommend between 62 and 66%.

[Claudius]

» To control humidity...

» If you're whelthy , You should have aristocrat which controls humidity and temperature

Hi Yossie

That's not entirely correct: an Aristocrat humidor does not control the humidity in the sense of setting it to the desired level under all conditions. An Aristocrat humidor can only add humidity if the humidity level is lower than desired. If the humidity level is higher than desired, there are 4 ways of lowering it:

- put the humidor in a low humidity environment, such as an air conditioned room with dehumidification turned on if necessary (modern A/C systems always add humidity back in so people dont get dry throats or other respiratory problems from low humidity even though some of it is necessarily removed as lower temperature air couldnt possibly carry all the humidity present in warmer air)

- put in a good amount of beads that will absorb excessive moisture

- install passive dehumidification such as the dessicants for storage rooms / cellars mentioned above

- install a dehumidifier in the room or, in an extreme case, in the humidor. FYI, it will cost approximately 4 times more energy to dehumidify than to humidify.

[yossie]

thanks great info.

Such a humidor maybe not useful here. because in summer season, The humidity and temperature are higher than Havana!

[aavkk]

Thanks for the input guys. Its too bad I am going to have to take valuable humidor space to make room for a couple of DampRid containers. Ive had one in all of today and the humidity has come down to 70 from 73 but I wont settle until I see 63-65. I think I may decide to pick up another 1lb of beads and throw them in there without wetting them, what do you guys think? I am just more comfortable with the idea of beads rather than the damp rid but will do whatever works.

SmokinAl, that makes sense regarding the hairdryer. Not sure why Bob recommended that but either way it seems that spill is going to take some time and some damprid to slowly bring the RH down to ideal levels. It feels like all my smokes in boxes are ok but my singles up top are definitely too humid to smoke.

[vegard_dino]

» Yossie is spot on Vergard. Don't panic!

»

» There's a lot of things that could have gone wrong and none of them are

» life threatening.

»

» Has the heating been off for two weeks and just now been switched back

» on?

»

» Did you put extra water into the humidifier before you left?

»

» If you've bought "The Puck" as you were going to do then it's a much

» better chance that your Hygrometer is out of calibration. Have you checked

» that your Hygrometer is right? Most of them are a piece of crap.

»

» Let us know if you're using The Puck first and foremost and we can give

» you a fix from there.

»

» Is it a "box-type" humidor? Did you wet the inside with distilled water to

» condition it and if so, how?

»

» In the interim, take out the humidifier and close the box up again with

» the cigars still in it.

Hi..

I have got a puck now. The hygrometer was way out. It was, as you sad, a pice of crap. Have got a new one now, so hope things will be better.

I have taken the old humidifier out, and have been opening/closing the box all day/night. So the humidity is getting better. Will use the puck, store them for some dayes befre I try to smoke them.

Thanks for good help.

[SmokinAl]

Good Stuff Vergard, pleased we could help.

Before you spend too much time messing around with it, calibrate the hygrometer to 75% RH to make sure it's in the ball park. Don't expect it to be dead accurate. Do this first as you may not have a problem at all. I can't emphasise this enough.

Put your new Hygrometer into a plastic bag with a little moistened salt and seal the bag tightly. Leave this for about twelve hours Does it read 75% If not the Hygrometer is out of cal. That's so common it's normal. Just remember to add/subtract that variance to any readings done in the humidor. Also, do this test every 3 months. Expect no more than 24 months life from a cheap Hygro.

If you have a puck, put it in the box with just a little moisture. It'll help reduce the moisture content back to the rating of the beads. The beads will draw in moisture far slower than they'll release it. This is normal.

[SmokinAl]

» SmokinAl, that makes sense regarding the hairdryer. Not sure why Bob

» recommended that but either way it seems that spill is going to take some

» time and some damprid to slowly bring the RH down to ideal levels. It

» feels like all my smokes in boxes are ok but my singles up top are

» definitely too humid to smoke.

Nothing wrong with Bob's rec unless it goes sour. I'm really careful with such things because I've had customers that have flooded humidors I've spent months working on. Whilst all might not agree with the way I condition, it never (touch wood) fails.

[kyee]

I have a massive Aristocrat cabinet humidor, and during the summers the ambient humidity in my area climbs above 65%, causing the internal RD to also rise. Aristocrats have no feature to LOWER humidity, only raise it.

I used a TON of beads initially to try and bring it down, to no avail. Someone recommended the use of DampRid, which did help to bring it down to the desired range. Due to the size of my cabinet, I had to use multiple tubs of DampRid, around 5 of them I think. It's good, inexpensive, and doesn't impart any scent/flavor to the cigars.

[aavkk]

I cant thank you guys enough for the advice, Vengard I hope you didnt mind sharing the thread as our situation was very similar. I now have 3 tubs of Damprid in my Aristocrat Plus. I hope this does the trick this summer. I guess the "set and forget" system isnt exactly that after all.

As far as smoking my current overhumidified stock, what do you guys think about putting the smokes in the fridge for a day or 2 instead of dryboxing for a week?

[Colt45]

» I guess the "set and forget" system isnt exactly that after all.

As has been mentioned, there aren't may systems that can add and remove humidity.

In a very humid environment, even beads can only do so much.

»

» As far as smoking my current overhumidified stock, what do you guys think

» about putting the smokes in the fridge for a day or 2 instead of dryboxing

» for a week?

If it works for you, why not? Remember, if the humidity is high where you are,

dry boxing will not work. It requires a lower humidity than your humidor.

[Shelby07]

Just a thought. I don't know how many cigars you have, but it might be a good idea to get a Tupperware container (or one or two coolers if you have a bunch) and store them in there with some beads until you get the humidor stabilized again. Remember not to overcharge the beads with distilled water. They have to be dry enough to absorb moisture.

[brooklyn]

All of these responses show what a great group of guys we have. Wonderful info and great interaction.

[Don Candido]

Vegard,

I read through most of this topic just now. I think most everything that needs to be said has been.

I only had one thought I am not sure was conveyed very clearly: I think the natural desire would be to get the humidty to the correct level, by whatever means, as quickly as possible. I find it is always best to make changes slowly. My rule of thumb is no more than 2-3% change in a week. In a situation like this, I would bend my own rules, but I would not try to get the humidity down 10+% in a day.

Good Luck,

DC