Zederkoff Rectangular Humidification System

I've had this for over a year. The beads shouldn't soak for more the 30 seconds, I might do a minute sometimes. That's it. Leaving it in any longer and yes, the beads soak up too much water and make a mess. Have 100-120 cigars in the humidor and keeps it between 67-72%. Works great.

No issues with the refill. Only issue was removing the cover screws. Stripped the heads of 2 of 4 screws. Had to use pliers to remove reinstall the remaining.

I like it since I can replace the cartridge.

Works as described! Great system!

The beads/gel come out of the device every time you do a refil. Very messy but it does humidify fairly well.

Easy to setup Easy to re hydrate Great buy!

The magnetic strips on the back keep coming off. Other than that is works well.

I have 100 cigar humidor I am trying to maintain. I have not had any luck with this unit bringing it to the ideal 70%.

This is a great system. It worked well for me until I left it in the water for too long. When I did that, the beads became too large and broke out of the system. I would bet that those who had the similar experience just left it in too long. Before I did that, it was a great system. I am purchasing the refill kit as I want to get back to how it was in the beginning. I have a 100 cigar humidor and this does a great job in keeping it in good condition for about 2 months.

I see others have had a problem w/this item but this is simply the best & most economical method for humidification. Gotta follow the directions, especially regarding soak time. As always CI customer service is impeccable!

I would never buy this product again. Upon filling to “water line” I placed the system inside it. after absorbing water, I noticed that all of the gel balls haves exploded except for about 10. There was a astronomical amount of balls inside the system the expanded and pressed out the entire system till it literally exploded.

This thing is bad news l, after charging it all the crystals started falling out

This solved 100% of any problem I ever had. I m using two of these per 180ct Applewood box I grabbed here for a deal at CI a few months ago and it can take a while to get it right, skip to the good part grab this and see the results first hand.

This Humidification system is pushing out too much humidity I have to take it out and put it back in time to time. I thought it was a two way system. Also i did exactly what the directions dictated for charging and the gel spewed out. luckily there were no cigars directly below. I have had it for just under two months now maybe it will do better in time. Fingers Crossed!

Received this as a free gift for buying cigars. Now I know why they are free. Followed instructions and found all of the beads coming out as some others had mentioned. Could not convince myself that it would still work so I boxed it all back up and…put it in the garbage.

This thing is terrible. If I didn't get it for free with my order I would have returned it. First off the screws weren't coming out to take the plate off so I practically had to bend the metal piece by prying it so the screws with come out. Then I left it sittig in the water with the fill line and I came back later and there were crystals just pouring out of all the holes it made such a mess. I would not recommend at all.

Worked fine until I recharged it. While still in the water many of the crytals started falling out. Having it mounted upside down also became a problem. Bad news.

5 stars because it's very well built, as are most items Zederkoff. BUT - I suppose I just need good advice. Whether filled with PG, a PG/H2O solution of varying ratios, or pure H2O, all these rectangular in-the-lid devices seem to pour out humidity that eventually approaches 80, 85% RH. But they're seemingly quite popular, so I must be missing something essential. As for build & value, a great device.

The Good: The unit itself works well, if anything slightly too well, for my humidor. It looks sleek, and seems to fit well for my personal tastes with the sterile-looking metallic finish. For the minimalists like myself out there who prefer not to have logos on their crap, this humidifier is a way to go. The company name is pressed into the top, but unless you're looking for it it's pretty invisible. The refilling tray is definitely a nice touch. It makes charging it a breeze, and, even though I haven't had to recharge it yet, it will definitely make that a cinch. It also does not come pre-charged. I don't know how big of a deal that is to everyone else, but that is HUGE for me, seeing as I live in an area that is both pretty damn dry, and where mold and mildew can happen lightning fast. Having it coming dry means I can have absolute control over mold which is absolutely important for more than just my cigars' health. The Bad: The instructions are way off. And boy, do I mean WAY. OFF. The company should honestly re-issue their instructions to specifically warn against using Propylene Glycol solutions, but here's my warning: Don't. Distilled water is more than enough. The box mentions Zederkoff refill packs for the unit, but I haven't found them anywhere. If you need a refill, your best bet right now is probably to use one of the Black Ice jars and fill the inside of the Zeder with those beads instead. *sigh* If only all crystal humidifiers came dry instead of pre-charged... My instructions: Shake the unit until the beads are in the center of the unit. Very important, best done with it up-side down so you can see where they are. Transparent bottom, make use of it. Pour distilled water into the tray until the line, drop it in like a burger on a grill, and wait 20 minutes. Not 30, but 20. If you're paranoid, make it 15. Then take it out, regardless of how much water is left. Turn it sideways and let it rest on top of the refilling tray for, I want to say an hour. This will let the beads share their moisture, and prevent them from over-charging and forcing their way through the mesh inside the unit like mine did. After that, if it doesn't seem wet enough for you, drop it back in the still-filled tray for no more than 10 minutes. Use your judgement on this; if it's still pretty dry, 10 might be enough. If it's pretty wet already, even 3 might cause some squeeze-out. This thing WILL absorb moisture from your humidor if it's already seasoned, even if its fully charged and ready to explode. Let it. It'll give it right back in a few hours, so give it some breathing room to stabilize in a humid environment. If your humidor is not seasoned, do a 9:1 solution of distilled water and alcohol in a floral-foam humidifier like I did to prevent mold. Let it sit for a week or two, and only recharge the foam unit. Or, season your humi your way long before you start charging the Zeder. Overall, I'll give it three stars. Not the best out there, but it gives me some much appreciated control over a lot of things. It gets the job done, and once you actually get it going, you'll love it. It kind of grows on you pretty quick, like a thistle. Ugly and frustrating at first, but once it blooms god damn it is beautiful.

When soaking the system, the crystals actually burst from the bag containing them. Not sure if this is normal, the crystals a supposed to expand to allow for the containment of moisture. I have two systems in my cool-adore along with a few Bovada Packs. …perfect 72% humidity protecting my investment.

Was thinking this was a silica bead unit, only to find out it was a gel unit...however, it does keep the humidor at a solid 65-67%. While the unit looks great in the humidor, it does require frequent recharging (approx. every 2 weeks). While the mess-free fill tray makes charging a breeze - be prepared for gel to ooze out of the holes when placed in the humidor, creating quite a mess indeed.

I purchased this in an attempt to keep my humidor at 70% as every method I've been using seems to fluctuate. Needless to say with this unit I've been at a solid 70% using PG solution. Filling is easy and is well made. Plus it looks way cooler than sponge discs or jars of beads!

I like that the casing which the system came in. My only issue was that the instruction tells you to invert the system into distilled water which has a fill line for 30 minutes once you do that you flip it back over and now you have the gell shooting out the holes.

this system is new to me, I will let you know more later

I had a real humidity issue in my humidor and this fixed it. My humidity was really low and thus humidifier brought it up slowly just like it was suppose to. My only concern is it looks like I already have to recharge it and it's only been a couple weeks. Hopefully that's only because it started so low and thus charge will last longer this time.