luv2fly Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 Edit.....I use the beads as a backup for my Avallo set and forget system. Kicks in when I open the door so the humi will return to equilibrium. Bit of a perfectionist here but it works. In the end as Pigfish would say, sorry if I am miss quoting, if they smoke well for you then you are there.
irratebass Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 Heartfelt beads will deteriorate a d break down over time, they will also discolour and smell. water topups will become more regular as they age. All the above, hcm beads do not do You're right.....they do smell....just recharged mine tonight and I smelled them....wow...interesting......that's it, i'm saving up for the avallo set it & forget it system......not just because of the smell (which I never noticed until this post and it made me smell them), but because tired of dealing with it and worrying.
jwr0201 Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 I use both together. Just as an experiment. Experiment failed. Cannot tell a lick of a bit of difference. Only thing I remember is that one recomends adding water very gently so the beads don't crack. Never had a cracking issue and both perform perfectly. Haven't added water in over a year and still rock solid at 65%. Go with lower %. Easier to get higher than lower. These things are the original set it and forget it! Enjoy!
jwr0201 Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 Another vote for kitty litter. I got many pounds of it for practically nothing. I haven't added moisture to my coolers in probably two years. Rock solid. Be careful with the KL. I was a huge fan of KL for a year or so. Humidification was great...Then the smell. Bad. Went with beads. No smell.
airtrade Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 Heartfelt can be spritzed with water, easier to recharge also a bit cheaper. I have some that are at least 10 years old they smell a bit of damp cedar but not objectionable. I also lined the front a nd side walls of one wineador with the Heartfelt sheets works great too! HCM hold rock steady in a nice tight humidor they don't need recharged often but it's more of a pain to put them in a separate container to recharge. 1
Popular Post Fuzz Posted January 20, 2016 Popular Post Posted January 20, 2016 Be careful with the KL. I was a huge fan of KL for a year or so. Humidification was great...Then the smell. Bad. Went with beads. No smell. Don't let your cat use the KL when it is in your humidor. 5
Maxismoke Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 65% Heartfelt here, i've had 6lbs in each cabinet for years, at least 6 years on this batch of beads. Keeps RH rock solid and no smell from the beads. 2
TonyAccardo Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 I used to use 65% HF beads but ran into problems with them smelling and since switching to 65% bovedas I would never go back to beads. This 1000% 1
irratebass Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 65% Heartfelt here, i've had 6lbs in each cabinet for years, at least 6 years on this batch of beads. Keeps RH rock solid and no smell from the beads. How many Boveda bags is 6lbs? They aren't a pound a piece are they? That doesn't seem right to me. What kind of cabinet are you referring to? I have the "Tower of power."
Maxismoke Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 How many Boveda bags is 6lbs? They aren't a pound a piece are they? That doesn't seem right to me. What kind of cabinet are you referring to? I have the "Tower of power." No idea how many boveda bags 6lbs of beads translates into. I have cabinets 45cmx60cmx170cm
Smallclub Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 I purchased my Heartfeld beads almost 10 years ago; they haven't changed color, they don't smell and are still doing their job as far as I can tell… 1
GTS21 Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 Stopped using beads years ago as they all started to discolor and smell awful. Kind of a citrus-esque smell.
WhiteMamba Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 I have both Heartfelt and HCM beads. Both seem fine to me. The one thing about Heartfelt beads is that you can spray water directly on them to recharge where I have been told that is not the proper etiquette for HCM beads. The Heartfelt turn white when they need to be recharged which is nice. I have also heard that if you apply water too quickly to the Heartfelt beads then they will deteriorate which could be a contributor to some of the things mentioned here.
BigRay023 Posted January 20, 2016 Posted January 20, 2016 I've been guilty of pouring water straight from the jug onto Heartfelt beads. They snap, crackle, pop and break into tiny pieces. 1
jwr0201 Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Don't let your cat use the KL when it is in your humidor. Knew I shouldn't let the cat check out the cigars! At least no dog rockets!
LutzSpearo Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 I use 65% Heartfelt beads. I use them in a 120 qt. cooler, and several large tupperdors. I have found that the RH is always around 69-70%, maybe because the containers are pretty much air tight? I recharge them maybe every 6 months, often they go longer than that. I have one tupperdor that I smoke out of, with a large 62% Boveda pack. The RH in that one is always at 65% I keep all in a room with an individual a/c and heating unit, so that room stays at 69 degF year round. I have noticed that after a couple of years the Heartfelt beads start to turn yellow and can smell. I haven't noticed this negatively affecting my cigars, but I change out the beads when they get like this. Thought about trying the HCM product, but it sounded more difficult to get them at the preferred RH.
LLC Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 A simple spray bottle with distilled water on mist works great for recharging the Heartfelt beads.
CBMC Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 I use 65% Heartfelt beads. I use them in a 120 qt. cooler, and several large tupperdors. I have found that the RH is always around 69-70%, maybe because the containers are pretty much air tight? I recharge them maybe every 6 months, often they go longer than that. I have one tupperdor that I smoke out of, with a large 62% Boveda pack. The RH in that one is always at 65% I keep all in a room with an individual a/c and heating unit, so that room stays at 69 degF year round. I have noticed that after a couple of years the Heartfelt beads start to turn yellow and can smell. I haven't noticed this negatively affecting my cigars, but I change out the beads when they get like this. Thought about trying the HCM product, but it sounded more difficult to get them at the preferred RH. That is what I have found with the beads in my coolers. They run higher than their stated humidity. My 65% were running at 70ish%. I have 3 50 qt coolers with 4 62 bovedas in each. Been running at 62-64 constantly for the last month. I still think they are pulling some of the humidity out of the cigars from when I used the beads. I know the cigars are starting to smoke better after a month, though they are still a little too moist for my liking. I should note that in my house (rented), the humidity runs high (think it is from a dirt crawl space in basement). I am near the Columbus, OH area, so temps get down to -15 Celsius regularly, but humidity in my house rarely falls below 48% in house even with heat on at 17-18 Celsius. Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk 1
irratebass Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 65% Heartfelt here, i've had 6lbs in each cabinet for years, at least 6 years on this batch of beads. Keeps RH rock solid and no smell from the beads. No idea how many boveda bags 6lbs of beads translates into. I have cabinets 45cmx60cmx170cm My mistake, I thought you said you had 6lbs of Bovedas in each cabinet, not sure where I got that, but yeah I have 3lbs in my cabinet and 1lb in my cooler
SofaKing Posted January 21, 2016 Posted January 21, 2016 Out of curiosity I just took a whiff and mine have a faint smell of sour citrus and tobacco. My stock tastes and burn fine. 1
kooser1574 Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 I do 60% but I live in Miami and it's humid here anyway. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
irratebass Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 3 pounds of beads or bovida? Beads Out of curiosity I just took a whiff and mine have a faint smell of sour citrus and tobacco. My stock tastes and burn fine. Yeah my beads stink (insert whatever pun ya want there), but no difference in my stock, all burning and tasting great
mmeier Posted January 22, 2016 Posted January 22, 2016 65% here...... Been using them for a while with no problem
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