Mold, Humidity, and Lessons learned


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Seems a good time to put forth some basic observations about mold and the subsequent lessons learned from Mr. Piggy, MahDooRow, and other members from the community.  When I first joined the FoH community, I experienced my first mold problem.  Never having experienced this, I panicked and sought the counsel of fellow members.  A box of Monte No. 2's sprouted white spots, mostly around the heads of the offending cigars.  After nearly vapor-locking, the community came to my rescue, "the humidity is too high".  Now what?  Well, remove extraneous humidity source...Oasis removed.  As Mr. Piggy has noted, active humidification in a sealed environment (such as a wineador), can often lead to over-humidification, especially if there is no way to actively dehumidify the space...I can attest to this.  At this point, the boxes of cigars and ambient rH are controlling the rH inside the wineador.  To lower the rH within the wineador, he suggested something simple (a necessity for myself) and effective:  Air Exchanges.  I simply open the door of my wineador when the ambient rH is appropriately low.  When the ambient rH is lower than the rH in the humi, you have a sympathetic environment (credit to Mr. Piggy for the terminology).  These air exchanges require patience as they require several cycles to achieve the desired results, but work they do!  After about 2 weeks of periodic air exchanges, the rH in my wineador is ranging from 61% - 63%, exactly where I want it.  So, what happened to the Monte No. 2's with the mold?  On the advice of numerous community members, I simply brushed them off.  Simple as that, and the mold has not returned!  I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the members of this community, your advice and willingness to share, is appreciated.  

Inspecting boxes for mold.  No mold, no vapor-locking!  Anyone ever have a "nightmare" mold problem?  Bring on the pics!  Cheers.

DSCN0035.JPG   

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1 hour ago, PigFish said:

That's what I like to hear mate... Glad to be of service. Simple and cheap are often the best solutions!

You left out a few things though... and that would be my masculine good looks and enviable sense of humor!!! -LOL -Piggy

Hehehe...my bad!:rotfl:

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2 hours ago, Eric E said:

Glad you got everything under control. I've never had that issue, but I'm lucky to have my Aristocrat in my finished basement, where I don't worry about temperature, and the humidifier works great. 

Love them Aristocrats!

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4 hours ago, Sean3 said:

Seems a good time to put forth some basic observations about mold and the subsequent lessons learned from Mr. Piggy, MahDooRow, and other members from the community.  When I first joined the FoH community, I experienced my first mold problem.  Never having experienced this, I panicked and sought the counsel of fellow members.  A box of Monte No. 2's sprouted white spots, mostly around the heads of the offending cigars.  After nearly vapor-locking, the community came to my rescue, "the humidity is too high".  Now what?  Well, remove extraneous humidity source...Oasis removed.  As Mr. Piggy has noted, active humidification in a sealed environment (such as a wineador), can often lead to over-humidification, especially if there is no way to actively dehumidify the space...I can attest to this.  At this point, the boxes of cigars and ambient rH are controlling the rH inside the wineador.  To lower the rH within the wineador, he suggested something simple (a necessity for myself) and effective:  Air Exchanges.  I simply open the door of my wineador when the ambient rH is appropriately low.  When the ambient rH is lower than the rH in the humi, you have a sympathetic environment (credit to Mr. Piggy for the terminology).  These air exchanges require patience as they require several cycles to achieve the desired results, but work they do!  After about 2 weeks of periodic air exchanges, the rH in my wineador is ranging from 61% - 63%, exactly where I want it.  So, what happened to the Monte No. 2's with the mold?  On the advice of numerous community members, I simply brushed them off.  Simple as that, and the mold has not returned!  I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the members of this community, your advice and willingness to share, is appreciated.  

Inspecting boxes for mold.  No mold, no vapor-locking!  Anyone ever have a "nightmare" mold problem?  Bring on the pics!  Cheers.

DSCN0035.JPG   

When @PigFish discussed the idea of air exchange, I listened and have been working to reduce the rh since. Down to 66% but as I am adding new boxes to the collection, it is taking longer than I would like but every day, it's more progress in the right direction. 

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30 minutes ago, Bohn007 said:

When @PigFish discussed the idea of air exchange, I listened and have been working to reduce the rh since. Down to 66% but as I am adding new boxes to the collection, it is taking longer than I would like but every day, it's more progress in the right direction. 

It does take patience and multiple exchanges.  I've been working at it for a couple weeks now and have just reached a reasonably steady 61% - 63% rH!

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