Thursday, June 16, 2011

When to Replace Your Cigar Humidor's Humidifier

By Wendy Mallikarjunan


Most of the time, you'll probably forget all about the humidifier in your cigar humidor before you have to replace it. These are long-lasting cigar accessories and they can be recharged a lot, so you usually don't have to worry about replacing them on a regular schedule. Some people, however, do like to do it once a year, just to make sure that their humidor is always in the best shape. They're not particularly expensive devices, so this is usually not a problem for people who like to buy new things for their hobby.

One of the most common reasons that people have trouble keeping the humidity levels up in their cigar box is simply because of seasonal changes in ambient humidity. During the winter, it's inevitable that the humidity in your cigar box is going to go down a bit. Make sure that you check the beads and the water levels in your humidifier device or, if you are using a sponge, make sure that you check it for proper moisture content.

It's more likely that your hygrometer will go out than it is that your humidifier device will go out. You can recalibrate them according to your manufacturer's instructions and see if that might be the problem if you're humidity levels are constantly reading low. If you do have a very cheap humidifier device in your cigar box, you may want to replace it with a better one. They're really not that expensive and, if you think about it, ruining an entire box of cigars will probably cost you more than a new humidifier device.

Remember that adding new cigars will drop the humidity levels in your box, as well, and that it may not be your humidifier that's the problem. When you add new cigars, you open the box, of course, and that drops the humidity levels inside it. You also introduce cigars that are likely dryer than the air inside and these can lower the levels as they absorb water.

If you happen to use tap water in your humidifier, you will likely have to replace it. Water leaves a residue behind that can actually drain humidity from the interior environment and that can foul the humidifier to the point where it will not work correctly anymore. Barring any damage from using a humidifier improperly, however, most of these devices will provide a very long usage time. When you do need to replace one, however, consider getting an upgrade from what you have as there are always better humidifier devices coming out on the market and they offer some significant benefits.




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