Redford Lite humidity issues

[crob1977]

Hoping someone might be able to help with some issues I'm having with my Redford Lite 1250 capacity cooler/humidor. I'm having massive humidity swings to the point that I'm nervous even filling the thing at this point.

Just some background: When the humidor came in, I seasoned it (empty, of course) for two weeks with 320 gram 84-percent Boveda packs. I then removed the packs and loaded it with 62-percent packs and left them in until the RH got down to the desired level of 62 percent. That took a while, but it eventually adjusted to the proper level. The fan tray has been left empty (no liquid, but it does kick on to circulate air occasionally), and I left in the 62-percent packs.

I am measuring the RH with three Govees - one on the top rack, one in the middle and one on the bottom. There are still no cigars in the unit, and I'm wondering if that might be a part of the issue for the fluctuations. But I'd certainly prefer to get it more consistent before I put sticks in.

The issue: The RH fluctuates significantly and appears to be impacted by the compressor flipping on. Each Govee has a perfect fluctuation chart of spikes and dips. I've attached the photos, but here is the data for each Govee. This very consistent on a daily basis:

TOP TRAY: Max RH 68, Min RH 55, Avg RH 61

MIDDLE TRAY: Max RH 79, Min RH 58, Avg RH 68

BOTTOM TRAY: Max RH 81, Min RH 59, Avg RH 70

If anyone has a Redford Lite and can give me some helpful tips, I'd appreciate them. I've spoken to a few owners but there seems to be little consistency in their experiences. Some seem to think it's a compressor issue. Some say to disconnect the fan (which isn't even an option). Others say use the fan tray and fill it with distilled water. Still others say don't use any moisture at all and stick with the Boveda humidification. Others have suggested adding beads.

Anyway, this is a great community that is always pretty helpful. If anyone has experience with the Redford Lite or Redford Espresso (both are the same models with different finishes), I'd love to hear about your experience. But I'm happy to listen to anyone on this one. I hate not filling this thing, but the last thing I want to do is put my best sticks into a volatile environment.

[Subcomandante]

I have a whynter one. And after seasoning it was all over the place. Once I put cigars in it stabilized and only needed slight changes ex. Adding water to HF beads. 

[BEVOSREVENGE]

On 11/21/2021 at 3:47 PM, crob1977 said:

Hoping someone might be able to help with some issues I'm having with my Redford Lite 1250 capacity cooler/humidor. I'm having massive humidity swings to the point that I'm nervous even filling the thing at this point.

Just some background: When the humidor came in, I seasoned it (empty, of course) for two weeks with 320 gram 84-percent Boveda packs. I then removed the packs and loaded it with 62-percent packs and left them in until the RH got down to the desired level of 62 percent. That took a while, but it eventually adjusted to the proper level. The fan tray has been left empty (no liquid, but it does kick on to circulate air occasionally), and I left in the 62-percent packs.

I am measuring the RH with three Govees - one on the top rack, one in the middle and one on the bottom. There are still no cigars in the unit, and I'm wondering if that might be a part of the issue for the fluctuations. But I'd certainly prefer to get it more consistent before I put sticks in.

The issue: The RH fluctuates significantly and appears to be impacted by the compressor flipping on. Each Govee has a perfect fluctuation chart of spikes and dips. I've attached the photos, but here is the data for each Govee. This very consistent on a daily basis:

TOP TRAY: Max RH 68, Min RH 55, Avg RH 61

MIDDLE TRAY: Max RH 79, Min RH 58, Avg RH 68

BOTTOM TRAY: Max RH 81, Min RH 59, Avg RH 70

If anyone has a Redford Lite and can give me some helpful tips, I'd appreciate them. I've spoken to a few owners but there seems to be little consistency in their experiences. Some seem to think it's a compressor issue. Some say to disconnect the fan (which isn't even an option). Others say use the fan tray and fill it with distilled water. Still others say don't use any moisture at all and stick with the Boveda humidification. Others have suggested adding beads.

Anyway, this is a great community that is always pretty helpful. If anyone has experience with the Redford Lite or Redford Espresso (both are the same models with different finishes), I'd love to hear about your experience. But I'm happy to listen to anyone on this one. I hate not filling this thing, but the last thing I want to do is put my best sticks into a volatile environment.

 

I have two of the full sized Redfords that were delivered in late August.  One runs perfect and the other cannot control humidity and temp.  The problem one, I suspect, has a malfunctioning humidity/temp sensor.  Rather than just have them send me a new sensor, I have removed all the florist beads from the water reservoir and set humidity at 68% and temp at 17*C.  It now holds temp at 18.0*C to 17.6*C and humidity at 67.7% to 65.9%.  Humidity is not a problem for me as I live in swampy Houston.

A bit frustrating given what the units cost but if it works, it works - and this works for my purposes.

I use several sensor push devices to monitor the temp and humidity vs the display on the humidor.  I find with those calibrated that they are much more accurate than trying to adjust the unit's internal controls to be accurate.

Hope you have worked out the issues with yours.

P.S.  FWIW, I keep all my boxes vacuum sealed except for the boxes I smoke out of.  I have no issues with the unsealed boxes but will note I dry box the cigars from those before I smoke them.