1. Take out all cigars and wipe the interior down completely with a damp paper towel. Close it and wait for the wood to wick in all the moisture. Do it again and a third time if necessary all over about 2-3 days.

2. Make sure to really dampen the seal as that is what causes most problems.

3. Boveda packs for a week is the easy way to go for humidity control.

4. Fill the humidor at least 50% full with cigars. More cigars stabilizes humidity!

5. Give it a week and everything will be fine. Then just check it every time you grab a cigar or once every 2-4 weeks until you learn how often it will need to be checked. I probably check every 30-60 days.

6. Keep your RH at 67%-64%, IMO.

GOOD LUCK!!!

rfenst wrote:

Use distilled water and NOT tap water as it may have contaminants.

Palama wrote:

I recently purchased a Mantello Cigar Humidor. I have seasoned it many times and I am having a difficult time keeping the humidity between 65-75. I have purchased the Humi-Care crystals and nothing seems to help. Any advise?


Thanks

Jimbo593 wrote:

Ditch the cheap China humidor, get a gasketed tupperware and some boveda packs and call it a day.

Also, you're aiming too high with your humidity. Try 65 or less. Your cigars will smoke better.

danmdevries wrote:

Was thinking about picking up say five of the sixty gram 65% bovedas off auction. But the current bid is $3.50 per. Add $1 per for shipping and it’s $18 out the door provided the bid doesn’t go higher.

On their website they go for $21 but shipping is free.

Looks like the break even bid is $4.25 per. Anything higher is more than what they can be had for on the company website.

So my question is: does anyone know what the usual winning bid is on them?

Abrignac wrote:

Was thinking about picking up say five of the sixty gram 65% bovedas off auction. But the current bid is $3.50 per. Add $1 per for shipping and it’s $18 out the door provided the bid doesn’t go higher.

On their website they go for $21 but shipping is free.

Looks like the break even bid is $4.25 per. Anything higher is more than what they can be had for on the company website.

So my question is: does anyone know what the usual winning bid is on them?

Abrignac wrote:

Iceberg lettuce?!?

Mraia wrote:

$3.50- $4.50 each
Every now and again, on bigger lots (20 or more) someone can steal some at $3.00/ea

KingoftheCove wrote:

I've found the winning is all over the place. For me, as long as I can get them cheaper the company site or amazon I'm happy.

for the smaller 60gm packs Ive found going up to the larger quantities in the best bang for the buck.
I had a winning bid of $47 for a 20pk of 65%

Also had a win on 320gm 65% for $13.50 x 2

JGRAZ wrote:

I've built quite a few humidors over the last 40+ years. If properly built they are amazing. But just one little thing wrong and they are nightmares. I've built two that would never hold humidity. I use a two layer system and tore them down numerous times and never found the problems. Like everything hand or machine built you get a bad apple now and then. If you try the test listed over and a very close inspection of the exterior and find no faults then you've got a gremlin. The humidor I have now is a cabinet style with drawers inside. Each drawer will hold 100+ 6x60s and there's 46 drawers. It took me 9 months to build. It took 2 months to season. One last simple thought. Check the bottom to see if it has some kind of finish on it. If not brush some polyurethane on it making sure to touch the side finish all the way around. Don't ask me but I've seen this done on a couple mass produced ones.

stogieflyz wrote:

6 packs of the 320gram bovedas have fairly regularly showed up on the scary site for <$80 with free ship. Think I paid $72 last time, but that was a year or two ago. Have to check every day, as the deals change everyday and some days there are none, others wrong RH. You have to switch to the accessories view to see them.

clickbangdead wrote:

Anyone seen a Boveda lose it's ability to absorb moisture over time?

I just swapped my 3x 2+ year old 65% bovedas in a tupperadore for 3x 62%. The RH started creeping upwards to 68% so I assume the 65% packs were losing their ability to draw moisture out. They were still "wet" and not hard, but I could feel some crystalization inside the packs.

Stogie1020 wrote:

Honestly I wouldn't think they could lose it's ability unless you are a recharger vs buy new. I have read numerous accounts of boveda recharged again and again will lose effectiveness. That all said my first question is have you recalibrated the hydrometers? I'd start there

JGRAZ wrote: