Humidity Advice

[LandonColby]

I just tried doing an "express" seasoning of my humi (a Bally II Glass top). By express I mean that I popped a container of distilled water in it along with my two jars of Xicar PG crystals in hopes that it would be ready by the time my new shipment of cigars came (I had only been keeping about 10 cigars at a time in a tupper-dore for the last few months and let my humi dry out). It sat for 3-4 days and hung around 70% the whole time. Right now I have about 55 cigars sitting in it (20 Arganese Habanos, 20 Viliger Elites, 10 Torano Virtuosos, and a handful of other premiums for occasions) the RH is 65% which i don't mind, I like anything from 65% - 70%. But heres my question...at night the temp drops in the room where my humi is and thus does the RH (down to ~62%). Should I take everything out and continue the seasoning process? Or do you guys think I'll be fine in a little bit of time? The cigars are still in the cello and are a tad dry so i assume they'll take a chunk out of the RH until they re-hydrate a bit. So should I leave em and see if the RH slowly works back up to 70% or take em out and redo the whole thing?

Thanks in advance!

[TreySC]

If the sticks are dry I would take them out and properly season the humi. Just put them in the tupperador or a ziploc. But if you don't want to 62% is horribly low so you'd probably be OK.

[LandonColby]

If the sticks are dry I would take them out and properly season the humi. Just put them in the tupperador or a ziploc. But if you don't want to 62% is horribly low so you'd probably be OK.

IS or ISN'T?

[TreySC]

IS or ISN'T?

isn't, sorry

[Brimy]

rH is just that, relative! So yes, you will get the % change with the change in temp, but (if I'm not mistaken, fellow BOTL chime in) the amount of moisture in the humi is still the same.
If you haven't I would check the seal around the glass, I hear that is a common source of rH leaks.

[LandonColby]

rH is just that, relative! So yes, you will get the % change with the change in temp, but (if I'm not mistaken, fellow BOTL chime in) the amount of moisture in the humi is still the same.
If you haven't I would check the seal around the glass, I hear that is a common source of rH leaks.

Understood. Yeah the RH drops at night but I don't think there is a leak because when the temp comes back up during the day so does the humidity. I'd be concerned if it dropped at night and then at the peak temp of the day the RH was lower, but it bounces back right where it left off the day before.

[garublador]

Understood. Yeah the RH drops at night but I don't think there is a leak because when the temp comes back up during the day so does the humidity. I'd be concerned if it dropped at night and then at the peak temp of the day the RH was lower, but it bounces back right where it left off the day before.

It depends on whether or not your ambient RH also changes. If you have a leak and the ambient RH drops at night and your media can't keep up then your humidor RH will also drop. If the ambient RH rises back up during the day then the RH in the humidor will rise as well.

FWIW, pretty much anything you use as a humidor will "leak" to some extent. The trick is to get the "leak" to be as small as possible.

[Rocket Scientologist]

I just tried doing an "express" seasoning of my humi (a Bally II Glass top). By express I mean that I popped a container of distilled water in it along with my two jars of Xicar PG crystals in hopes that it would be ready by the time my new shipment of cigars came (I had only been keeping about 10 cigars at a time in a tupper-dore for the last few months and let my humi dry out). It sat for 3-4 days and hung around 70% the whole time. Right now I have about 55 cigars sitting in it (20 Arganese Habanos, 20 Viliger Elites, 10 Torano Virtuosos, and a handful of other premiums for occasions) the RH is 65% which i don't mind, I like anything from 65% - 70%. But heres my question...at night the temp drops in the room where my humi is and thus does the RH (down to ~62%). Should I take everything out and continue the seasoning process? Or do you guys think I'll be fine in a little bit of time? The cigars are still in the cello and are a tad dry so i assume they'll take a chunk out of the RH until they re-hydrate a bit. So should I leave em and see if the RH slowly works back up to 70% or take em out and redo the whole thing?

I figured even 60% RH is fine... though I wouldn't purposefully store that way. I know how people can be "number nazis" about RH and temp but I'm not a "super premium" cigar smoker. As in my sticks aren't very expensive. So as long as I can store them for a few years without mold or having them dry out to where they lose flavor I'm fine.

First of all, there's nothing wrong with 62%RH or 70%RH (if that's what you like) so I think you're fine there. I will say that 62-65%RH would better serve to prevent mold. I keep mine around 62%RH, for the record. Better burn IMO.

The daily cycle of low to high RH though may not be a good thing. Consistency is the key. You could try putting your humi someplace where the temperature won't fluctuate as much - a closet or basement perhaps. I will also echo the fact that glass tops are notorious for leaks. So ultimately, I'd suggest putting your cigars back in the tupperdore for the time being, getting a tube of aquarium sealant (safe for food contact) from Home Depot and putting a bead around the inside of the lid.

[stonecutter2]

rH is just that, relative! So yes, you will get the % change with the change in temp, but (if I'm not mistaken, fellow BOTL chime in) the amount of moisture in the humi is still the same.
If you haven't I would check the seal around the glass, I hear that is a common source of rH leaks.

This is correct. Colder air holds more water vapor, warmer air less. The water vapor present doesn't change, the amount held in the air and measured as relative humidity does.

[Rocket Scientologist]

Colder air holds more water vapor, warmer air less.

You've got that backwards.