Gun Safes and Condensation

Get a Goldenrod.

ditto on the golden rod. They're not expensive, and they work. Keeps the inside of the safe warmer than the outside air, so there's no condensation.

How warm does that thing get
Price ?
How much juice does it take
will it work in sub zero temps

Heres some info:

http://www.agenglish.com/Accessories.html

Go For The Gold!

I've had a golden rod for 11 years now and its still tickn and no rust. One caveat I do offer is that it can be too dry in the safe, make sure you lube the collection adequately.

If you have a few mechanical skills buy a flange base with pull string, closet lite type lite bulb socket and mount to the inside wall and wire with cord and plug in.

This gives you the opportunity to use different wattage light bulbs depending on the humidity level. Too low humidity and wood stocks can split, too much and rust will form.

Being able to control the bulb wattage is real handy. Another handy item is a computer pancake fan to circulate the air.

Fella's;

I'm currently using a Goldenrod myself. That there was a pun iff'n ya didn't wince properly. At the time I'm typing this, my exterior thermometer reads -4 degrees f. Goldenrods are low wattage, extremely reliable little electric heaters that do nothing except keep the interior of your container above dewpoint. Which keeps the moisture from condensing on the metal parts of your firearms. They are inexpensive and available from several different sources, including: Natchez and Midway.

900F

Putting a gun locker in the garage isn't a good idea. They are more well ventilated than what they look and that isn't good.

If you must go that route, make sure you seal up all of the seams best you can with rubber / insulation strips and install a Goldenrod. Silica beads won't be enough.

From One VOL FAN To Another-

yes Jeff- please add a Goldenrod to the inside of your RSC; you won't regret
it one bit~!

Take note of proper installation for Goldenrod. I recall they state the rod should be at the bottom of the safe and that the safe should not be sealed up. The idea is to generate a bit of convection from the rising heat to facilitate drying. Also, to allow the warmer air with higher moisture content to escape, rather than be recirculated over any colder areas and possibly condense.

A light bulb in the top of a sealed safe may be fine in some cases, but if the safe is on a concrete floor, the bottom of the safe conceivably could drop below dewpoint, depending on temperature and how much moisture was trapped inside when the sealed door was closed. As pointed out, you need some moisture, but air circulation is the trick. Some less desirable installations would indeed benefit from a computer pancake fan.

In the garage, I would suggest some kind of thermal barrier between the safe and the concrete - - plywood would be better than nothing.

My Liberty safe has been in the garage for 3 years now. The Golden Rod dos the trick. My safe is 1/2" above the floor on 3 " wide neoprene strips that are 2 1/2 ' long. No rust as long as you oil anything metal that rests on the carpeted interior.(pistols). Good luck!

How much juice does it take?

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You could leave it on continuously and it will only use about 30 Kilowatt-hours during the course of a month.

I recently bought my safe and I have not used anything to protect against moisture as of yet. It is in the house where we keep the A/C on most of the time. What is a simple and expensive way to prevent any problems?

What about mounting positions?

I put mine in in a vertical position in the middle just inside the door
is this safe I dont have the gold I went with the Remington one.

I am new to THR and have recently posted on another thread. My name is Scott Jones and I am the owner of the Dakota Safe/Safeart/Safedri co.
We have tested all of the Moisture products and this is what we found.
The rods-golden rod,dri rod,moisture king etc. all heat up to about 140 to 150 degrees. The use a resister inside the tube, kind of like heat tape. They warm the air inside the safe about 3 degrees keeping the metal parts of your guns from condensating. I would NEVER put a warm gun into a cold gunsafe or a cold gun into a warm gunsafe. Extreme temp. changes are the killer for metel parts.
The rechargeable dessicants are silica gel with millions of tiny holes in them that trap the moisture.
Both work.
The rods just raise the condensation point in the safe. They do not remove the moisture. If you also have a lot of papers they may get a little musty.
The SafeDRi( shameless plug) will maintain the RH inside of the safe at about 42% for 4-6 months before it has to be dried out in the oven.
I believe the SAfedri works better(nother shameless plug)ONLY IF YOU CAN REMEMBER TO RECHARGE IT!
If you are not good at that sort of thing get a rod.
thanks
scott

I would NEVER put a warm gun into a cold gunsafe or a cold gun into a warm gunsafe. Extreme temp. changes are the killer for metel parts.

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Don't think either case is anywhere near extreme enough to do any damage, unless your safe is wet enough to condense moisture on a cold gun -- but the same thing happens when you bring a cold gun inside a warm house.

Rod

I mentioned I use the golden rod with no adverse effects to any metal surface. What I have encountered (once) is that the little rubber seals inside my Rem 1100 semi auto dried out and it was a fancy single shot for a bit. Replaced the seals and it was back in working order. I have had my safe in the garage for many years. When I lived in Florida there was never a hint of any rust in south Florida high humidity. The thing runs all the time 24/7 and just keeps ticking and you don't have to think about it.

What I have encountered (once) is that the little rubber seals inside my Rem 1100 semi auto dried out and it was a fancy single shot for a bit. Replaced the seals and it was back in working order.

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I have my grandfather's old Marlin single shot 12 ga. in my safe, and the rubber recoil pad is all dried and crumbly. I just figured it was old age. I too have a Remington 1100 in the safe. I'm going to check those rubber seals, and maybe order some new ones.

I just remembered this thread because I still have not done anything for the safe yet. It is in the house in an air conditioned room, but I suspect I need something to absorb any potential moisture. Short of having to run electrical, what is the best thing to do?

I think the Goldenrod uses about 15 watts. Mine is mounted under the bottom shelf so you can't even see it. Condensation happens because metal gives up heat faster than air, so moisture forms. It doesn't take much heat to defeat that.
However, I'd move the safe into the house too.

Vector: I just remembered this thread because I still have not done anything for the safe yet. It is in the house in an air conditioned room, but I suspect I need something to absorb any potential moisture. Short of having to run electrical, what is the best thing to do?

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