Dehumidifying my safe. Options?

I use a silica gel canister like this one. I have a small safe and I live on the north coast of California where the humidity is fairly high year round. It works well and I like the fact that it requires no power except when I dry it out in the oven, which I do every few months.

silica jell cannister

I use a boxed silica bead dessicant which I use in an old freezer with my ammo. when the color turns pink on the side I remove the cloth bag enclosed in the box and put it in my oven for about 1-2 hours to dry it out and then back into the freezer. I got it at cabelas. I'm going there this weekend ( cause I need another for my safe)and see if they have more of these. If not the one on amazon looks like it would fill the bill. This stuff is the same stuff we used in medical testing machines to keep them moisture free. Except the packets were thrown out every month (over $20 for a small packet) When i saw what they cost I told my boss we could dry them out in the oven and reuse them He didn't see the value in it :banghead:

Silica canisters and Goldenrod heaters. Goldenrods are made just for that purpose, keeping gun safes dry.

For the other thing, you'll probably have to make something. I can tell you that the larger the wheels are, the better it will work and the happier you'll be. The larger the wheels, the better it'll roll over ground/grass/dirt. You may be able to use one of those personal shopping cart things and modify it. Or an old mailman cart, or a golfbag cart, or even a garden/yard cart. Or one of those jogging strollers the yuppie mommies use, those have big wheels and would be great! Hit the Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift stores.

rondog said:

Goldenrods are made just for that purpose, keeping gun safes dry.

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Everyone, please be aware that goldenrods/heaters do not remove moisture from your gunsafe.

They [1] reduce the Relative Humidity by raising the temperature of the internal air & contents and [2] by raising the temp of the contents they minimize or eliminate (hopefully) the risk of moisture in the cooler outside air condensing on the metallic surfaces of your firearms when you open the door.

"Rechargeable" desiccant units are an excellent means for the actual removal of the moisture.

316SS said:

I use a silica gel canister like this one. I have a small safe and I live on the north coast of California where the humidity is fairly high year round. It works well and I like the fact that it requires no power except when I dry it out in the oven, which I do every few months.

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Or, go to your local Harley dealer and get some desiccant from him. The crates they come in contain several 1 lb (pigs) of desiccant. They just toss 'em.

Put one or two in the safe. Pull em out every couple of months and heat them up in the oven to dry out the moisture, stick 'em back in the safe.

I use "rechargeable" silica canisters sold under the Remington and Stack-On brands (identical), about $25 apiece. When the blue granules turn pink, it's time to plug the canister in a power outlet for a few hours. It will heat up and lose the absorbed moisture. Each canister, when fresh, drops the relative humidity by 20-30 points in a small gunsafe.

""Rechargeable" desiccant units are an excellent means for the actual removal of the moisture."

Safe doors are not airtight. The constant flow of moist air coming in around the door has to pass by the guns to get to the dessicant.

I've been using multiple GoldenRods for decades. Plug them in and forget them.

The rod heaters work, they will keep the interior of a safe or cabinet just a few degrees higher than ambient, if you have the safe-cabinet in an air conditioned house, they are able to control the condensation.

If you want to go another step then go with the desiccant but they can be a pain firing up the oven to recharge them, but again if the whole home is air conditioned they will last longer between charges.

I use a rod heater in a cabinet on the second floor of a farmhouse built in 1929 (minimal insulation) but air conditioned. I have yet to have a firearm show any rust after installing the heater over 10 years ago.

The humidity here in the Ohio River valley runs in the high 80 % most of the summer with temp's ranging from lows in the morning of 70's and highs in the afternoons in the low
90's.

I do store my powder in a wooden locker with 2, 5 lb. canisters of desiccant.

For the sake of clarity, JohnBT, your concern about humid air passing through guns is a conjecture. Water is not trapped in the gun just by passing through. It is a constant two way exchange. The ambient air humidity will be lowered by the presence of silica which (unlike metal) does trap water.

An Dri-rod and 10 buck Walmart humidity gauge works for me.

I live in Florida in an area more humid than Texas -and it has been this way since April this year. Goldenrod plus 3 large dessicant packs for a safe that holds 12 longguns. All guns, including handguns, are in silicone-impregnated socks

So far so good, need to dry out the boxes about every three months

I have 3 of these sitting in my safe. A little bit overkill but they don't need to be dried out as often.

http://www.amazon.com/Silica-Gel-De...qid=1377683870&sr=8-7&keywords=silica+gel+900

I also have a Liberty dehumidifying rod that is identical to the Goldenrod mentioned by others. These warm the air slightly to reduce the relative humidity inside the safe. They DO NOT remove moisture, just makes it harder for the water vapor to condense onto your firearms. Also invest ($15-20) in a decent hygrometer/thermometer for inside to keep an eye on temperature and humidity. Inside of mine stays about 67 degrees and 47% humidity year round with no rust issues.

V-fib said:

I use a boxed silica bead dessicant which I use in an old freezer with my ammo. when the color turns pink on the side I remove the cloth bag enclosed in the box and put it in my oven for about 1-2 hours to dry it out and then back into the freezer. I got it at cabelas. I'm going there this weekend ( cause I need another for my safe)and see if they have more of these. If not the one on amazon looks like it would fill the bill. This stuff is the same stuff we used in medical testing machines to keep them moisture free. Except the packets were thrown out every month (over $20 for a small packet) When i saw what they cost I told my boss we could dry them out in the oven and reuse them He didn't see the value in it :banghead:

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Odd from medical people. When you do quantitative analysis the FIRST thing you do is put the compounds in a drying oven to remove humidity that affects the weight when you put it on a Metler balance to weigh!!!

GBExpat said:

Everyone, please be aware that goldenrods/heaters do not remove moisture from your gunsafe.

They [1] reduce the Relative Humidity by raising the temperature of the internal air & contents and [2] by raising the temp of the contents they minimize or eliminate (hopefully) the risk of moisture in the cooler outside air condensing on the metallic surfaces of your firearms when you open the door.

"Rechargeable" desiccant units are an excellent means for the actual removal of the moisture.

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Wrong-ish. The Golden Rods set up very gentle air flow -- which is meant to keep microscopic condensation off. Like a breeze would. They are what I'd recommend. Yes, they also help add a little heat to keep a semi-closed environment a little less relatively humid (lets the air outside the safe or closet suck up the moisture where it's a tad cooler) and it is the metal warming up a little slower than air where water condenses and this also helps the things inside be a tad warmer.


The dessicants get water logged almost instantly even if they are bad ones and don't eat moisture quickly. Unless you have a safe and it is AIRTIGHT then alot of new (or dried) dessicant is a pretty bad joke (even if it works poorly/slowly and takes a long time to "change color").

Been using Golden rods for decades. Some of my guns were not touched by human hands for as long as three years while i worked overseas. Have never had one speck of rust.

"For the sake of clarity, JohnBT, your concern about humid air passing through guns is a conjecture."

Nope, not conjecture. The constant flow of moist air coming through the crack around the safe door has to get to the dessicant container(s). The moist air can't avoid touching the guns on its way to the container and could condense out on them. Visualize the air passing over under around and through the stacks and piles of guns before being absorbed by the dessicant.

Let's see, if the safe door is 5' x 2', that's 14 feet of crack. Times 12" is 168". If the crack is, say, 1/32" that makes a total opening of 5.25 square inches.

John

I use the plug in Remington moisture removers. About once a week I take them out and plug them in overnight to recharge. I live in Alabama so humidity is a definite issue.

For your second question, see post #3 in this thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=726667

Visualizing is not always accurate, especially speaking of invisible things like molecules. They will "touch" the metal on passing, but they will just as readily take off if the ambient air is dryer than metal. It is an equilibrium. The desiccant will trap the moisture constantly, so the water on the metal will evaporate until the desiccant is saturated and no longer absorbent.

Collector0311,

As with many subject here, this one creates lots of noise & confusion. I am not going to be drawn into this Post-Respond-Post-Respond Silliness again on this subject.

In answer to the first part of your post, please peruse this thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=685976

I solved my worsening in-gunsafe humidity problems and explained my scenario, in detail, in the thread.

===================

As an update to the info that I posted in that thread ...

With the RH that I have been able to maintain in my basement during recent summers (running my 71pt DH to capacity once overnight & twice during wet periods) I could safely unseal my gunsafe doors, remove the desiccants units and depend entirely upon the "goldenrod" & fan. BUT ... my original DH died and it took awhile to replace (during a wet Spring), so I will just leave everything as it is.

I do not use desiccant, Golden rods and or low wattage light bulbs. I have a portable dehumidifier. This is what I've used for the last 15+ years. in the area that the safe is located. That said its been a rather excellent solution.

I just keep a few of these sitting around & their cheap, about 2 bucks at Dollar General.

I would avoid using Damp Rid if at all possible. If Damp Rid were to leak inside the safe for any reason, anything inside your safe will be covered in it. And I believe the material in it is acidic, which doesn't get along well with papers, metal etc in the safe. Silica gel is pretty much as inert as you can get, as long as you don't eat it.

If you are going for a cheaper option, string up some old incandescent Christmas lights. They will warm the air slightly like a Goldenrod (or similar) will and light up the inside so you can see.

GBExpat said:

Collector0311,

As with many subject here, this one creates lots of noise & confusion. I am not going to be drawn into this Post-Respond-Post-Respond Silliness again on this subject.

In answer to the first part of your post, please peruse this thread:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=685976

I solved my worsening in-gunsafe humidity problems and explained my scenario, in detail, in the thread.

===================

As an update to the info that I posted in that thread ...

With the RH that I have been able to maintain in my basement during recent summers (running my 71pt DH to capacity once overnight & twice during wet periods) I could safely unseal my gunsafe doors, remove the desiccants units and depend entirely upon the "goldenrod" & fan. BUT ... my original DH died and it took awhile to replace (during a wet Spring), so I will just leave everything as it is.

Click to expand...

Come on GBexpat. That's a pretty long post. You want attention to your previous body of work? Then respect someone else's conversation, even if it sounds like noise to you.