Chips & basements (1 Viewer)

[ChippinUp]

Wondering if anyone has experienced any issues keeping chips in the basement year round? We are in Canada so summers are hot and winters very cold. During winter months the house can get pretty dry. Basement is mostly finished.

Is there any concerns with warping with respect to the changes in humidity? I haven’t had any issues but as my collection grows I just want to make sure I’m taking proper precautions.

Any insight is appreciated

 

[BPTDirector]

18 years in the hobby, always basement kept, no issues. A cool dry place I would consider optimal for chip storage.

 

[foreverdev]

I haven’t had trouble after 18 months of chipping, but also having lots of instruments made of natural materials, I think the big thing is not the difference in temperatures but the speed of change of temperature. EG don’t take chips from very cold and dry to warm and humid rapidly. Having airtight cases like pelican or nanuk will help slow down the speed of temp change.

 

[Anthrax]

I keep my chips in the basement all year, but I have a automatic dehumidifier set up to keep the humidity below 65% due to seasonal temperature and humidity swings. Also gives me a better feeling considering possible mold issues

 

[ekricket]

humidity below 65%

Great for curing weed!

 

[MeridianFC]

I've had all kinds of chips in my basement for over a quarter of a century with no problem. In fairness the temperature is fairly even (no dramatic swings up or down) and humidity seems reasonable. I keep a lot of wine down there in a passive rack. Had some cork issues in longer term bottles but cork is significantly different than chip materials.

Mid Atlantic (USDA Zone 7B)

 

[Tommy]

Title sounded like a new Netflix series about poker.

 

[Bronson]

Great for curing weed!

Top it to 72% and keep your cigars along with chips

 

[JMC9389]

No issues on my end. No need for humidity regulation 9 months out of the year. June through September I have the dehumidifier running. Also store all of my chips in Matsui racks and/or sealed cabinets.

I do store my cards on the main floor of my home, though. Plastic cards are more susceptible to warping due to heat and humidity than chips are.

 

[doublebooyah85]

I would think basements are perfect

 

[JMC9389]

I would think basements are perfect

If you live in a cool and dry place they are. If you're anywhere south of Canada, things can get hairy unless you have a dehumidifier.

 

[krafticus]

My chips aren’t warping, but my CPC inlays are popping up and creating spinners. My chips are kept in the basement in tool chests

 

[Tommy]

On the next episode of Chips & Basements..... Premium Orange Indicating Silica Gel Desiccant Beads



I printed pods for this stuff. Keeps my filament dry, why not use for chips too. When it turns green, pop it in the microwave, it turns back to orange, and it's ready to go back to work.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CM7Q3F9D

 

[ChippinUp]

My chips aren’t warping, but my CPC inlays are popping up and creating spinners. My chips are kept in the basement in tool chests

I wonder if the same would be true for milled chips with labels?

 

[AlbinoDragon]

My chips aren’t warping, but my CPC inlays are popping up and creating spinners. My chips are kept in the basement in tool chests

Same here, but I have put that on being in a desert with low humidity. Winters are the worst as my split fingers can attest.

They have always been in a climate controlled room, so no giant temperature swings nor baking in the heat. My older H-mold chips seem to be the worst for this, but I put that partly on the age and zero recess on that mold but also whatever adhesive ASM was using. Newer CPC H-molds haven't seemed to create as many spinners as the ASM ones have. Maybe that's just age??

Di-square, FDL, hourglass and scroll mold chips in the same place (though of a whole range of ages) don't show anywhere near as many spinners as my H-molds have.

 

[FestiveKnight]

Top it to 72% and keep your cigars along with chips

Dannnnggg 72% is high

 

[MC_CPA]

Are basements not "wet" as opposed to dry?

 

[Josh Kifer]

I wonder if the same would be true for milled chips with labels?

Lol no. I have way too many in my basement and never had any issues with anything.

 

[Josh Kifer]

Same here, but I have put that on being in a desert with low humidity. Winters are the worst as my split fingers can attest.

They have always been in a climate controlled room, so no giant temperature swings nor baking in the heat. My older H-mold chips seem to be the worst for this, but I put that partly on the age and zero recess on that mold but also whatever adhesive ASM was using. Newer CPC H-molds haven't seemed to create as many spinners as the ASM ones have. Maybe that's just age??

Di-square, FDL, hourglass and scroll mold chips in the same place (though of a whole range of ages) don't show anywhere near as many spinners as my H-molds have.

Huh. I live in a super dry climate (with the same split fingers) and never had a single CPC label pop off or a spinner. I kinda think it's luck of the draw and the age of the chips.

 

[Huskerchipper]

The ONLY H-Mold chips that have lost their inlays were some Key West sample chips that got soaked. 500 from ASM and 1800 from CPC and I literally have never found one single spinner. Have you had high moisture at times??

 

[Jers28]

Echoing what others have said, my chippies haven’t been in my possession long enough to speak to that, but I’ve kept cigars in my basement for 22 years and barely have to touch them. Figured if they can keep a cigar fresh for a decade+ of aging, should be money for chips.

 

[Baldeagle9]

So I'm working on my poker room/family room/man cave right now. You telling me that my basement is a humidor? I live in Northeast, Boston area. Maybe not because I'm not in a warm climate area? Well I'm buying a humidor for cigars and its usually cool down there so hopefully chips are good. Well see I guess in a year or however long it would take to ruin them.

 

[Jers28]

So I'm working on my poker room/family room/man cave right now. You telling me that my basement is a humidor? I live in Northeast, Boston area. Maybe not because I'm not in a warm climate area? Well I'm buying a humidor for cigars and its usually cool down there so hopefully chips are good. Well see I guess in a year or however long it would take to ruin them.

My basement is pretty damn chilly. Maybe 60-62 average temp. I used the 65% humipacks and have perfect cigars every time. Most aged 10+ years.

 

[Baldeagle9]

My basement is pretty damn chilly. Maybe 60-62 average temp. I used the 65% humipacks and have perfect cigars every time. Most aged 10+ years.

So no humidor? just the 65% humipacks in the open basement?

 

[Jers28]

So no humidor? just the 65% humipacks in the open basement?

Oh no. I had 4 large humidors and a humi-cabinet. There were over 600 sticks in my collection at its peak. I just recently sold what was left of the entire collection to @FestiveKnight. Shipping prohibited me from shipping him the cabinet, but he has the rest and has smoked several since he obtained them. I quit smoking a few years ago when I quit drinking, so I was happy to find them a new home they’d be loved in. But, he can speak to how well they smoke and the “newest” cigar in the collection he bought was nine years old. If you look behind Conner’s right shoulder (green cap at ground level) and straight over Allen’s head (cream and dark green cap) you can see several humidors. I just never needed to fool with them once I started using humi packs inside the humidors instead of the old school humidification systems.

Hope this clarifies things for you. Definitely still needed a humidor. But, at one point, I had my humidors upstairs and they needed constant attention and new humi packs every other month, at least. In the basement, the packs lasted for 5+ years without needing changed. I’d check out of habit every few months, but they were always good.

 

[TheHarmacist]

My experience with REALLY cheap chips from an early 2000s PSIT set has been stored poorly in 5 different states in both subzero temperatures and the melting heat of the desert. After all these years they still feel like the same chips I remember when i first bought them. The tin box isn't air tight so i am very surprised there isn't mold or degradation since the different harsh environments i've stored them in for years tends to degrade plastic and other material.

Right now my cheap chip set is stored in a basement for the past 5 years in the unfinished part of my basement but has central heating and air. Most of my belongings that have degraded over the years were made of plastic and were exposed to high heat and humidity. I think if you store chips away from humidity/moisture and heat, they'll be good as new. Just my 2 cents