America's #1 Online Cigar Auction
first, best, biggest!

Last post 20 years ago by grond. 7 replies replies.
dramatic humidity swings
Jump to Bottom | Previous Topic | Next Topic
spence28 Offline
#1 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 4:35 AM EST
Joined: 07-24-2003
Posts: 143
Yesterday it rained where I live and the humidity shot to around 90%. I noticed my humidors then went from 68% to over 75% over the course of the day. I got freaked out, so I shut all of the windows and jacked the A/C on to get rid of the humidity, and eventually the humi's returned to around 70%. Is this response of my humidor to ambient moisture normal? And, how will this swing affect my cigars? I noticed some of the ones that were de-celloed and on the top of the humi seemed a little more moist to the touch.
grond Offline
#2 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 5:13 AM EST
Joined: 06-07-2003
Posts: 738
Question 1.
Do you have a mixture of 50/50 propylene glycol/distilled water in your humidor?

Question 2.
Did you open your humi a number of times during the day to get out cigars (on the day in question)?

Question 3.
Is your humidifier new or old?

The simple answer to your question is that your humdifier should very rarely see any significant changes in humidity if the humidifier is managed properly. The propylene glycol will remove ambient moisture in the humi above the 70% level (given a 50/50 ratio in the device) and the distilled water will humidify when it gets low (again with the PG regulating how much H2O is released). Super high humidity days will cause minor fluctuations in internal humidifier RH but not the type of swing you saw.

I would suggest replacing the foam in the humidifying device and filling it with a mixture of 50/50 PG/Distilled Water. (Or use a little more PG to make the ration 55/45 for a RH of about 65%).
grond Offline
#3 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 5:15 AM EST
Joined: 06-07-2003
Posts: 738
Oops.... Second part of your question. Radical swings in RH in your humidifier (if they occur frequently) can significantly effect your cigar quality).
1) Mold (high RH lead to mold formation)
2) Tobacco Beetles. Love high heat and RH.
3) Bad and uneven burn. Too moist cigars don't stay lit well and burn unevenly.
4) Finally, I just don't much care for a wet, soggy cigar. :)
sketcha Offline
#4 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 7:59 AM EST
Joined: 03-26-2003
Posts: 3,238
Hard to imagine that your house could swing that much as well. Was every door and window open? I bought a remote indoor outdoor hygrometer/thermometer from that shack where you can buy radios. I live in Santa Cruz where humidity over the last month has ranged between 39 and 93%. My house has ranged from 55 to 78%.
spence28 Offline
#5 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 9:27 AM EST
Joined: 07-24-2003
Posts: 143
Ya, I had the front and back door open so I had a major cross breeze.
grond Offline
#6 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 10:53 AM EST
Joined: 06-07-2003
Posts: 738
That still shouldn't have changed interior humidor's RH. I live in Louisiana where the external RH is typically 90+% during the summer with 90+ external temps also. My interior RH is typically around 75 - 80% yet both of my cooleradors and four of my five humidors stay at 70% with one at 65% (by choice).

I'm still wondering if you're using a 50/50 solution or just distilled water in your humidification system... and how long since you performed a full foam replacement and resaturation??
spence28 Offline
#7 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 11:20 AM EST
Joined: 07-24-2003
Posts: 143
I have just been using distilled water, but I scrounged up some propylene glycol today, so I am going to go with the 55/45 you recommended and see if that helps. The humidor is relatively new, about 3 months....my older humidor didn't have the swing. Plus, since you mentioned it, I was in the one that had the large change getting out a stick to smoke, so that may have contributed. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll let you know how it goes.
grond Offline
#8 Posted: Mon, Sep 15 2003, 1:43 PM EST
Joined: 06-07-2003
Posts: 738
The Problem with using distilled water exclusively is that you have no real regulation for overhumdity. I learned this lesson the hard way. I didn't use PG either and ruined about 30 cigars. The humidity in my house was running about 80% at the time and there was no agent in the humdifier to suck the moisture out of the humi so.... over saturation. I've used PG/DW ever since and my boxes stay at a smooth 70% except for the one I have a little lower on purpose.

BTW, opening your humidifier for up a minute to get out a cigar won't adversely change the RH. I think you were just in a situation where you had a high RH in your home and nothing to pull that humidity down when you were opening and closing your humi.

Just my thoughts....

Cheers,

Grond
Users browsing this topic
Guest
Back to Top