52 replies to this topic

[anticheffy]

For about 100.00 you can get a digital psychrometer at an HVAC supply house that works accuratly for along time, mine is years old and still checks out when readings are compared to $100,000.00 environmental monitoring equipment.
Mine gives wet bulb and dry bulb temp, humidity, dew point, enthalpy and some other things.

[waylitjim]

http://www.neptuneci...sory.asp?id=887

http://www.torka.com...eters_main.html

[jestah]

Hi

My foaf thinks alot of her problems are because of humidity. She is going to get a decent Hygrometer soon but has already had to send one back as it would not read over 80% ( from the ONLY cigar store in NZ).

She is willing to spend some money to get something that will work. Her options are:

Ship a decent one (the polytherm from the arcives) from overseas
Ask to trade (not that she has alot ... A single GT sporeprint taken in a glove box)... long shot but some one might have a spare around??
or get a digital one from the local jay car ( our radio shack). Will it servive the with all the water in the air? will it short out the unit over time?

thanks
jestah

[InfectedMushroom420]

Hi Jestah,

I can tell you by experience that the radio shack digitals can not stand up in the high humidity. I tried one and after it got over 90% or more the entire liquid crystal display screwed up then didn't display at all. After drying it out with a hair dryer, it worked again and I saved it.

What kind of problems is your friend experiencing she believes are due to humidity?
It would also be good to describe her set up and daily care/operations so others here can better help determine and suggest a solution(s).

[mushit]

Yup. Most of them are not very accurate but will give a good indication of RH. I bought mine online from a pet shop. Works great. Cost about $10.00 delivered to my door.

[Omega 11]

whatever you do, don't buy the digital hygrometer from radio shack! I had one of those things in my terrarium, constantly reading 98%, until I bought one from a tobacco shop and compared. I found out that my terrarium was at 90% and the digital was broken. In fact, after I took the digi out, it still read 98% in the house. I'm guessing the long exposure to moisture broke it, which is lame because it's supposed to read humidity, or it was janky to begin with. I'd go with rodger's advice, cigar shop hygrometer, they're a little larger than a quarter, cost under $20. Mine has worked fine ever since I bought it.

[Hippie3]

get the polytherm, in my opinion.
mechanical synthetic fiber
get two so you can compare readings

[jestah]

I think i will go for the polytherm as i have called around NZ and have had no luck finding anything.... The one she got from the only cigar supplyer in Nz would not read over 80% even when covered with a hot damp cloth. I have sent it back.

Her set up is : a 60L (15.8gallon) plastic bin the sides painted black (on the outside of the bin) with 3 inches of grow rocks in the bottom and 2 inches of water. A small air stone and fish tank heater are under the waterline and bubble away soon after she wakes up to just befor she goes to bed. She also puts a light above the bin for around 12 hours per day. temps in the bin range from 70-84f (hard to keep stable thinking about trying to insulate but moving flats soon) room temps are around 60-70f (more often in the lowere part of that) She suspects its this large difference that is causing alot of condensaton on the lid and walls... not high humidity. Her cakes seem to dry out and give small fruit. She also had a lot of aborts in the 2nd flush as she was misting and didnt do a decent job and porbibly put a lot of water drops on the new pins. The fruit also tend to open very early.

She has also found a 7w fluro lamp. Its quite dull but will this be enough to get cakes to pinn well? she had good pinning when using a 20w energy saver, equivilant to a 100w incandesant.

thanks for the help it is gratly apprecated

[mushit]

The water droplets on the walls are caused by a temperature differential from the inside to the outside of the chamber and the RH being higher inside. Chances are if you have water droplets condensing on the inside of the chamber, the humidity is fine. No need for a hygrometer.

Perlite will work a lot better than grow rocks. Also try not to have too much standing water in the perlite. This gives more surface area for evapouration from the perlite.

As far as lighting goes, all you need is a bit of ambient light to initiate pinning. A clear cover and leave the lights on in the room for a bit.

[jestah]

Found this... has any one used this? should be ok or should she spend the extra cash and get the polytherm?

http://www.neptuneci...sory.asp?id=887

thanks
jestah

[cheshire]

hey there, got a really nice thermometer/hygrometer today, digital one that looks decent and isnt too big for about $50

was wondering if any1 could link me to that post in which u check ur hygrometers accuracy, i cant find it?
has summin to do with putting salt in a tin with the hygrometer?



btw got it after all places at a cigar store cuz i heard sum1 mention it, was in the first store of its kind i had to look




spent hours looking for a normal therm and didnt see one proper one :( so if u looking, go to cigar store and get a sweet combo :)

[boots420]

heres a way to calibrate you hygrometer as well as test it.
>> calibrate <<
Here's the procedure you should use:

Get a bottle cap of some sort - like the kind you might get off of a beer! Fill it with regular ole' table salt. Then drop a few drops of water on the salt. DO NOT put to much water on the salt. The salt should only be damp, and not a liquid solution. It should be like moist sand, not like soft mud.

Then put the bottle cap of salt and your hygrometer in a see-through, sealable container. I like to use a large freezer bag. Seal the freezer bag or other container. Wait several hours (about six). The humidity inside the bag will be 75%. Compare it to your hygrometer. You will then know exactly how far off your hygrometer is.

[golly]

And for the high end [100%] Soak a folded paper towel in warm water and
put in a ziplock with yer hygrometer ..Seal the bag and wait an hour to get your reading...Make sure no water touches the sensing element...
It should read 100...
Its often easier to just make the correction in your head for minor deviations
than it is to adjust the calibration screw...

On mine when it reads 97% - it is really 100...

[Boombloom]

With a digital accuracy is gonna be pretty good. Check out this one, its a pen sensor, you can cut a small hole in you terrerium to poke the sensor thru and leave it covered with tape when not in use. Its $68 available here.
http://www.jon-donin...oducts_id=10714

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[cheshire]

should i leave this hygrometer in the fruiting chamber all the time or just when im checking..

spose leaving it in all the time with high humidity would only affect its life span no?

[cheshire]

oh and hygrometers been in with salt for about 2 hours now and its at 74% so seems good :D yay

[Boombloom]

if its for a cigar box you can prolly leave it in. can we have pics?