Mold

[Upstatemax]

Question for you guys.

I opened the Wineador this weekend and found a few sticks with mold on them. Not a ton, about 5 sticks. It was not extensive and it was not there 48 hours before.

The thing that really burns me, I lost the last of my Fuente Queen B's to the mold. They are one of my favorite cigars and I bought up the last ones at my local B&M to be able to age some.

My Wineador has always read on my Western Caliber 4 @ 67* and 68% RH. This does not seem like conditions that would lead to mold, IMO.

I checked the calibration on the hydro, it was good.

What could have caused this?

[Sprouthog]

What is the Temp? RH is high, 65RH would be better.

What kind of RH system are you using and where were the cigars located in the wineador and in relation to your RH system?

[bluenoser]

Do you have much air circulation in the wineador? I would think your temps and rh should be perfectly fine but if there's no air flow (too full or nothing to circulate it) perhaps the rh may be un-even?

[Sprouthog]

Check out the Dr Joe Show YouTube. He recently did a series of shows on Temp and RH. He's in the process of building a wineador and has a significant amount of information, including passive vs active systems, dew points inside and out, RH difference within the wineador and where youre more likely to find moldy cigars in a wineador. I think the show is titled the 70/70 solution and may answer most of your questions.

[Upstatemax]

I have been using kitty litter for RH control. It has worked well in all three of of my humidors.

I don't have any additional fans for air flow, just the main fan for the unit.

The drawers are John Nelson's. They are well slotted, leave room at the back for air flow and have an air space on the back "wall" of the drawers for additional air flow.

The main source of RH control is in the bottom drawer. Tupperware filled with KL. I also have two smaller containers of KL in the Wineador, one near the middle, one near the top.

The affected cigars were in two drawers. Two were in the drawer directly above the main KL, three were in the next drawer up (my Queen B's).

The KL did not seem to be too moist, I have not added water in months. Do you think it could still be letting off enough water vapor to cause this?

[Upstatemax]

Check out the Dr Joe Show YouTube. He recently did a series of shows on Temp and RH. He's in the process of building a wineador and has a significant amount of information, including passive vs active systems, dew points inside and out, RH difference within the wineador and where youre more likely to find moldy cigars in a wineador. I think the show is titled the 70/70 solution and may answer most of your questions.

I'll check it out!

Thank you.

[bluenoser]

How big is your wineador and how many hygros do you have in it? I use hf beads and bovedas plus have a dual laptop fan in mine and still see a 1-2% difference in RH in different areas of my wineador. I have no experience with kitty litter so can't help there.

[Sprouthog]

The short version is there is something in the area of those cigars either your wineador mechanicals, RH system, passive or active, condensation or poor circulation that is causing only those cigars to mold.

Dr Joe is also using HF beads and boveda.

Good Luck.

[Upstatemax]

How big is your wineador and how many hygros do you have in it? I use hf beads and bovedas plus have a dual laptop fan in mine and still see a 1-2% difference in RH in different areas of my wineador. I have no experience with kitty litter so can't help there.

New Air 281

I have two hydros, one in the middle and one on the bottom drawer. They both read almost identical temp and RH. Sometimes a degree different or 1% RH different. The bottom one is on the front of the drawer though, while the middle on sits on the shelf, near the middle.

I think I'm going to have to start looking at better air flow though...

[bluenoser]

I think that would help some but other than that we're above my knowledge. Someone will chime in soon that knows more than me.

[Merovius]

Upstatemax I have a new air 280. Water has been known to accumulate around the cooling unit and plate against the backs of these units. Take a look when you grab a cigar and wipe it down if necessary, as others stated there isnt much reason to be running higher than 65rh unless you want to age for several years (5+). It can help to keep dry litter or beads at the bottom where humidity accumulates.

Also, the cedar sleeves on Queen Bee's and other Fuente products are infamous for mold growth due to their lack of breathability. I personally leave all of mine on but removing them may help in the future if you absolutely have to run closer to 70rh.

Hope that helps, gl!

[Upstatemax]

Upstatemax I have a new air 280. Water has been known to accumulate around the cooling unit and plate against the backs of these units. Take a look when you grab a cigar and wipe it down if necessary, as others stated there isnt much reason to be running higher than 65rh unless you want to age for several years (5+). It can help to keep dry litter or beads at the bottom where humidity accumulates.

Also, the cedar sleeves on Queen Bee's and other Fuente products are infamous for mold growth due to their lack of breathability. I personally leave all of mine on but removing them may help in the future if you absolutely have to run closer to 70rh.

Hope that helps, gl!

That helps, a lot.

Thank you!

I did dry out the litter that was on the bottom of the unit (baked it in the oven) and I unplugged the unit. RH has been dropping, down to about 66% at the moment.

[allusred]

This is purely guessing on my part. however after a rereading of the post from Merovius where to me this sorta "stuck out"...

***Quote:Also, the cedar sleeves on Queen Bee's and other Fuente products are infamous for mold growth due to their lack of breathability. I personally leave all of mine on but removing them may help in the future if you absolutely have to run closer to 70rh.***End of Quote.

At present I/ve only a few My Fathers that are in Cedar sleeves. But all cigars I've had that were encased in the cedar wraps, have, if stored for any decent lenght of time,felt softer,little less solid in the area covered by the cedar,compared to that which the Cedar didn't (protect)cover.
Other, non cedar wrapped cigars that spent the same time in the humidor felt a bit firmer over the entire lenght of the cigar.
Now...here's the Guessing part...and it's no more than a wild guess,thus as likely wrong as not.

My thinking is that the noted *softness* may be due to the protective cedar wrap.
And,THAT in time would surely mean a greater chance of mold developing there.

Given the extremely small chance that I could at any time be right about anything, you are best advised to totally ignore this post.

[Zeede]

Shouldn't the cedar sleeve breathe and take on the RH of the environment, much like Spanish cedar used to line humidors?

[Upstatemax]

Shouldn't the cedar sleeve breathe and take on the RH of the environment, much like Spanish cedar used to line humidors?

I have found that the cedar sleeves do lead to moisture issues. I did have the sleeves off of the Queen B's.

The first time I found mold, was on several Gran Habano 2002's, it was only under the cedar sleeves. That was before I even had the Wineador. After that, I removed all cedar sleeves from my cigars and have not seen any mold, till this past week...