Suggestions to reduce humidity?

[jdizzle113]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum, and I feel like a bit of a user since one of my first posts will be a question.

I've just got a bit of a situation right now.

The humidity inside my humidor is really on the high side - 85%RH! This is clearly a problem since I like to keep my cigars a little on the dry side (65%). I know with conventional wisdom one opens the humidor for a while to bring the humidity down. The problem is that it is wet right now in Sydney and the atmospheric humidity is actually even higher than inside my humidor - it's over 90% outside - I measured this with a digital hygrometer. So given this I kinda figure that opening the humidor will even make it worse.

What I was wondering is if anyone here knows either a technique or a product that will bring the humidity in my humidor back down to an acceptable level (65-70). The first thing that spings to mind are those gel silica packets that come in foods to soak up moisture - or some freeze dried rice. However, I don't know if this will taint my cigars.

I also have another humidor where the RH is a little high (around 72-73, but never above 75). I'm not too fussed about this (should I be?). But it's not ideal since I would like it to be at about 65.

Sorry, forgot to add, current humidification system for my humidors is the puck. I have one 70% puck in the humidor which has the really high RH and two 65% pucks in the humidor that is doing better. Also have a cigar oasis ultra in the humidor which is doing better.

Anyone's help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

James

[Ginseng]

We could use a bit more info. What kind of humi is it? If it is small enough to fit in a refrigerator, then if you need to quickly bring it down, then opening it up and placing the whole thing in your refrigerator for 20-30 minutes would be the most expedient way to get the humidity down and fast. I don't know of this ever being done but too much time spent at 85% and your cigars could suffer in the long term. Alternatively, bag the cigars in brown paper bags, and place them and your open humi in the fridge, but NOT he freezer.

Wilkey

[Trevor2118]

Hello all,

The humidity inside my humidor is really on the high side - 85%RH!

Sorry, forgot to add, current humidification system for my humidors is the puck. I have one 70% puck in the humidor which has the really high RH and two 65% pucks in the humidor that is doing better. Also have a cigar oasis ultra in the humidor which is doing better.

Cheers

James

James, my understanding is that an Oasis only adds moisture. Take this out until the humidity is rectified. Plus, do what Ginseng suggests.

PS: 85% very bad.

[mkz]

Is your hygrometer calibrated?

[jdizzle113]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies.

Ginseng - Thanks for the reply. I tried putting the humidors in the fridge earlier. In fact I have a wine fridge that I bought just to put my humidors in on really hot days. But the problem is that right now it is cold and humid. I don't think there's enough of a temperature difference between the atmosphere and the inside of the fridge to bring down the humidity significantly.

Trevor2118 - Yes, you're correct the Oasis only adds humidity. However, it only ever kicks in when the humidity drops below a certain level (I've got it set at 65%) and then it stops once that is maintained. So there should be no harm in keeping it in there. Plus, the oasis is in the humidor with a humidity of 72% - which isn't fantastic, but I guess I can live with it.

Mkz - Yes, the hygrometer is calibrated - it is seriously damp in the air right now....

Cheers

James

[SmokinAl]

Hi James,

Take the 70% puck out and sling it.

Take one of the pucks out of the second humidor and empty the beads onto some white paper and blow dry with a hair dryer (slowly) to take them back to a white colour. Put the dried out puck into the other humidor with dried beads back in place but don't put the top or foam back in and close the lid for a couple of days. The greater surface area will let things happen a little quicker.

Cheers,

Al.

[sepp]

The beads in your pucks are saturated such that they can no longer absorb excess humidity.

Al beat me to it, hair dryer excellent method to dry them slow an sure.

[Ginseng]

Ginseng - Thanks for the reply. I tried putting the humidors in the fridge earlier. In fact I have a wine fridge that I bought just to put my humidors in on really hot days. But the problem is that right now it is cold and humid. I don't think there's enough of a temperature difference between the atmosphere and the inside of the fridge to bring down the humidity significantly.

Ouch. That is a problem. In that case, while you're taking the hair dryer to the beads, head down to your local hardware shop and look for some stuff granular stuff that is used to dry basements and closets. Here in the states, we use DampRid. Get some sachets or socks into your humidor or better yet, put a few tubs of this stuff into your wine fridge along with the cigars and humi. In principle, DampRid works like this stuff we use in the lab.

Wilkey

[jdizzle113]

Thanks for the solutions SmokinAl and Sepp. A really practical solutions. I figured the pucks were saturated - but I didn't think of the hair dryer solution!

Also, thanks to Ginseng. I was wanting to get some sachets to chuck in there to bring the RH right down, because for me it's not an issue getting the humidity up to an acceptable level, but I was scared that any of those beads might taint the cigars. But your solution of chucking them in the fridge is brilliant because it mitigates that risk.

Thanks again guys

Cheers

James

[jdizzle113]

Just another thing guys. What do you think of my humidor running at 72% RH? Any reason for concern? That humidor I use for ageing, and my more costly cigars are kept in there - so that one is very important to me. I know 72% just seems like only 2% more than 70%RH, but I actually like to keep them at 65%, so it's really 7% higher than I want it to be. Would there be any detrimental effects to the cigars at this humidity?

Cheers

James

[Ginseng]

You're likely to get a variety of answers and a variety of rationalizations as well. If you prefer the performance characteristics of cigars stored at 65% then I'd say, yes. You're likely to be unhappy with the results. FWIW, I store ready-to smoke at 72-ish and longer term age stock at 67-ish.

Some folks like them quite a bit drier, but I have always enjoyed cigars stored in this range.

Wilkey

[jdizzle113]

You're likely to get a variety of answers and a variety of rationalizations as well. If you prefer the performance characteristics of cigars stored at 65% then I'd say, yes. You're likely to be unhappy with the results. FWIW, I store ready-to smoke at 72-ish and longer term age stock at 67-ish.

Some folks like them quite a bit drier, but I have always enjoyed cigars stored in this range.

Wilkey

Hopefully these cold humid conditions won't last too long (maybe another week or two max). I'm hoping that once I restore that humidity back down to 65% it should recover well over a few weeks.

Cheers

James

[jdizzle113]

Take the 70% puck out and sling it.

Is there something wrong with the 70% pucks?

Cheers

James

[xapa97]

I have a similar problem in the summer time. My RH can climb as high as 78%. This year I'm looking into a de-humidifier. My cigars are stored in the basement so this solution would work for me. If your humidors are stored in a classy room or office this might not be what you looking for.

Rob

[SmokinAl]

Is there something wrong with the 70% pucks?

Cheers

James

There's nothing at all wrong with them, they work very well for keeping your cigars at about 70%RH. A lot of us here are more inclined to lower the moiture content as a slightly dryer cigar is thought to be more flavoursome. It's all a matter of taste James.

[jstixrud]

I'd also take out the cannister for the oasis and just use dry beads until you can get stabilized. It's winter here and that usually means the temperature drops and humidity climbs in my fridge-a-dor. If you happen to leave the wet cannister in your humidor it will still tend to evaporate water throughout the system. More than likey your boxes are at a "saturation" point (hence the high RH level), so remove anything that has water, and try to get a handle on the current condition before reintroducing an active humidity device such as the oasis.

Ginseng hit the nail on the head if you have a larger storage system. If it's smaller I'd just say to dehydrate your beads somehow (either hairdryer or place in a low temp oven for 10-15 minutes) then place them in dry.

I just went through this myself.