Instructions for Hygroset II Digital Thermometer/Hygrometer

Your humidor contains:
1) digital hygrometer/thermometer with instruction sheet
1) crystal humidifier
2) Boveda seasoning packets.

1. Pull the clear plastic tab from the bottom of the hygrometer to activate it. It is
calibrated at the factory, so it’s ready to go right away. Instructions are included
to re-calibrate, which many cigar distributors recommend to do once a year. You
can order a calibration pack from Boveda, or make your own. (See below.)

2. Take the Boveda packets out of the plastic bag and place them on the bottom of
the humidor. Do not leave the humidifier in the humidor at this time.

3. Wait two weeks. Remove the Boveda packets and discard. Check the humidity
reading on the humidifier. It should read around 84%.

4. Put the humidifier on a plate and pour distilled water through the screen until it’s
about 1/8” from the top. Wait for the water to absorb into the crystal beads. (This
may take up to an hour) Pour off any excess water, dry the unit with a towel, and
put it into the humidor.

5. Add your cigars and you are set.

6. Check the size of the beads periodically, and repeat step 4 when they are at about half their size. Enjoy!

Home made calibration

Luckily, as nature would have it, when salt and water (NaCl and H2O for you studious types), are in a saturated solution at equilibrium, the resultant humidity is 75%. This gives a fantastic reference point to calibrate our hygrometer. There is an easy way to determine if your hygrometer is accurate. Here's the procedure you should use: you need a ziploc bag, a screw-on beer bottle cap (or other small container) a small amount of salt (regular table salt), and water.

1. Place the salt in the bottle cap (or other small container).

2. Dampen the salt with water. Do not put so much in that the salt gets "sloppy". You want a damp pile of salt in the bottle cap.

3. Place both the hygrometer and the bottle cap full of damp salt in the ziploc bag and seal it well. (It is important not to let air in or out while the test is going on.)

4. Keep it like this for over 4 hours.
After 8 hours in the damp salt environment, the actual humidity inside the bag will be 75%.  Compare it to your hygrometer, your hygrometer should also read 75%. If not, you will then know exactly how far off your hygrometer is. If it's off, note the amount and direction that it actually reads and be sure to add or subtract that amount when reading the hygrometer. If the hygrometer has a control to adjust it (either the needle or the display), you can set the hygrometer to 75% immediately after the test.