Silica Gel Dehumidifiing stuff
- Thread starter 2002gti
- Start date
Yes it does work. I keep a largish box in my safe .. it has a small inspection window in the side ...... so you can see a color change if it reaches saturation. If that occurs, then it can be revitalized by heating, to drive off the moisture content.
My safe is in an A/C room and so humidity not a major prob but the silica gel does IMO provide a sorta ''insurance'' ... keeps me aware.
My safe is in an A/C room and so humidity not a major prob but the silica gel does IMO provide a sorta ''insurance'' ... keeps me aware.
As to how long it lasts, depends on how bad the humidity is in your safe, or cabinet. In an airconditioned house, it shouldn't be bad. I live in south Louisiana, don't get much more humid than this. I keep a one pound bag in each my safe and cabinet and in addition to regular maintenance on my rifles, I have never had a rust problem. They have been in there for a year or so and have not yet needed to be dried.
My desiccant has the reactivation info embossed in the case: 3 hours at 300 degrees. I live in a fairly high humidity environment and reactivate at intervals of roughly five to six weeks, depending how frequently I open the safe. I also reactivate when pink is clearly noticeable, not waiting until all the crystals visible are pink, avoiding the tail of the absorption curve where things go slowly. Waiting for the crystals to turn fully pink would nearly doubly the interval. In all, getting the dryers out of the safe and into the oven, setting the temperature and timer on the oven, and reversing the process three or more hours later, takes maybe three minutes. This is too much time and effort to invest in protecting your gear?
Get a GoldenRod.
Get a GoldenRod.
Get a GoldenRod.
I live in a very humid area and have a 35cu.ft. safe in a damp unfinished basement. I tried a box of gun-safe crystals and big plastic tub of flower-drying crytals from the craft store - I don't think they lasted quite a week before they saturated.
I've yet to see a gun safe that was airtight - the door seal only expands when the fire hits it.
Get a GoldenRod. Midway has them in the new flyer for less than $20. Or 2 if you're overly cautious like me.
The upstairs safe only has one in it. The crystals worked a little better upstairs, but I don't run the AC very often and it's still humid here even though the old house stays relatively cool and breezy.
It's beautiful here this morning, 67F and 57% humidity - a nice dry day.
John
I live in a very humid area and have a 35cu.ft. safe in a damp unfinished basement. I tried a box of gun-safe crystals and big plastic tub of flower-drying crytals from the craft store - I don't think they lasted quite a week before they saturated.
I've yet to see a gun safe that was airtight - the door seal only expands when the fire hits it.
Get a GoldenRod. Midway has them in the new flyer for less than $20. Or 2 if you're overly cautious like me.
The upstairs safe only has one in it. The crystals worked a little better upstairs, but I don't run the AC very often and it's still humid here even though the old house stays relatively cool and breezy. It's beautiful here this morning, 67F and 57% humidity - a nice dry day.
John
Hygrometers/psychrometers are readily available. Even a cheap one will be accurate enough for tracking the interior relative humidity in a safe. Power timers are also readily available that will allow you to run a GoldenRod or other electrical gadget intermittently. If you truly gadget crazy, you can spend a bundle and get the sort of humidity controller used in laboratory and factory settings, though I would spend the loot on ammo (several CASES.)
I prefer silica gel. Silica gel actually removes water from the atmosphere, while the GoldenRod and other warmers only lower the relative humidity by raising the temperature.
I prefer silica gel. Silica gel actually removes water from the atmosphere, while the GoldenRod and other warmers only lower the relative humidity by raising the temperature.