Dehumidifying my safe. Options?

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YZ said:
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.
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Nope, I am not going to beat on this particular subject/horse anymore ...

... and we all add to the noise & confusion when we add both our opinions and "facts".
 
I'm a few hours closer to the coast than you and one of my safes is in the garage. I use the canisters...
 
GB -Yet you are still here, telling the world you are "not" interested. Okay...
 
As to removing humidity it would be nice to get some idea of how much humidity you have so you know how much you want to get rid of. Short of using a humidity indicating instrument or getting fancy you can get 100 Humidity Indicating Cards from a distributor like McMaster Carr supply for about $28. Find 4 other members who want 20 EA. and they cost you about $7 for your cards or figure $10 with S&H.

Give this link a read as to Disposable Desiccant Bags. Note how different mixtures cover different volumes. Silica gel is the most popular desiccant material. It works best when relative humidity is higher than 40%.

I use silica gel bags and dry them out in my oven about once a month and keep several of the cards in my safe as an indicator.

Just as a science experiment I have been thinking about getting one of these units and letting it get data in the safe for a month or so. Not that I need it but might be fun to record the safe inside data over a long period of time.

Ron
 
Admittedly, I don't have the moisture problems of some of you fellows but the eva-dry units have kept stuff in good shape in my safe for quite awhile.
I wouldn't be without them!
 
What is Eva dry Zeke?
High humidity in the summer is my only serious gun maintenance issue. I spray them with RemOil before storing.
 
Keep in mind that those desiccant type dehumidifiers really don't bring the humidity down too much. I've been trying to get mine down to 30% in my safe, but I'm constantly at a 45% (closer to ambient humidity levels).

Getting that last 10-15% humidity removed can be a real pain.
 
Torian said:
Keep in mind that those desiccant type dehumidifiers really don't bring the humidity down too much. I've been trying to get mine down to 30% in my safe, but I'm constantly at a 45% (closer to ambient humidity levels).

Getting that last 10-15% humidity removed can be a real pain.
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That being a very good point!

Silica gel is the most popular desiccant material. It works best when relative humidity is higher than 40%.

Using Silica Gel you will be hard pressed to remove humidity below 40% RH.

Low-humidity molecular sieve is more effective than other desiccants when relative humidity is below 40% or temperatures exceed 77° F.

When the RH is low (below around 40%) removing more water from the air becomes a little more complicated using simple types of desiccant. Most people are happy with a RH below 45%. Heed what Torian mentions if you want lower than that 40% to 45%.

Ron
 
Drywall that has been baked at 220 degrees for 15 minutes works well as a desiccant and dunnage. Mold is an issue here in NC when the AC runs 24/7 in the summer. I have yet to see any mold since I have been using drywall to protect my ammo.
 
Forgot to mention, Remington makes a mini-dehumidifier that reactivates by plugging it into a wall outlet for a few hours to dry out, what I am assuming is silica. Nice little feature that is a bit more convenient than using an oven. The only downsides is they don't in large space very well and only last about 10 years. As opposed to the in theory indefinite life of oven use silica.
 
I store cameras in a cooler with a plastic container of calcium chloride. When it liquifies I replace it. It is known as Driveway Heat; available at auto parts stores. Good enough for keeping samples dry in analytical chemistry class.
 
YZ said:
What is Eva dry Zeke?
High humidity in the summer is my only serious gun maintenance issue. I spray them with RemOil before storing.
Click to expand...
As others have said, mini dehumidifers. Google "eva dry" for a good description and pricing. I've been using a unit in my safe for several years with no problems.
 
"Visualizing is not always accurate, especially speaking of invisible things like molecules."

All of the basics of gas behavior were taught in high school chemistry. At least it was in my high school in the '60s.


"Mold is an issue here in NC when the AC runs 24/7 in the summer."

I wish I had central air - or even duct work. I'm in Richmond and my 100-year-old house doesn't even have central air. The safe in my basement is next to the water heater and gas boiler, but the basement is unfinished and doesn't have a window unit or even any windows that open. Moisture seeps through the 14-inch-thick brick walls and sometimes seeps fast enough to cause puddles.

I tried dessicant 15 or so years ago, and a big box from the gun store and a quart tub from the hobby shop together wouldn't last a week before saturating. GoldenRods to the rescue.

The tv weatherperson just said we're 10 inches over our average rainfall so far this year. Great, all the usual high humidity plus some extra rain.

Alright, the coffee is kicking in. It's 7:30 - 73*F and 89 RH. Looks like a good dry day to tear the 8' x 20' front porch roof off and start on the new hand crimped standing seam copper. Well, we do have to cut and solder new copper built-in gutters on three sides before doing the actual roof, but the old tin is shot and I'm glad to see it go. The gutters and the copper drip edges are first, and then the actual roof. I know from redoing the second floor built-in gutter last month that a 3' x 10' sheet of 16-ounce copper costs $170 plus tax. Ouch.
 
I tried dessicant 15 or so years ago, and a big box from the gun store and a quart tub from the hobby shop together wouldn't last a week before saturating. GoldenRods to the rescue.
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I have two of the Remington dehumidifiers in each of my safes and I generally have to recharge them once or twice per week during the summer. I recharged the ones in the big safe on Monday and today they still look good but we haven't had any rain.
Last I heard we were 14" above average rainfall. Last night I started the process of pulling things out of the kitchen cabinets because there is mildew in the lower cabinets. From May through July it seems like we got rain, and I mean downpours, every day and things never dried out. All of the old wooden doors and frames have been swollen requiring lots of effort just to open and close the doors. I need to look into something electric for dehumidifying but don't currently have a wire in any of my safes.
 
I want to ask the same question. What do you do with the cord for an electric heater? I have a Winchester 24 gun safe also?
 
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cp11 said:
I want to ask the same question. What do you do with the cord for an electric heater? I have a Winchester 24 gun safe also?
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As ColtPythonElite mentions, many safes have a pre drilled hole to allow for electric power inside the safe. Less that an option is to drill a hole. Not a big deal starting with a small pilot hole, there should be threads mentioning it.

Ron
 
Many of the rod sized dehumidifiers have removable plugs. So if you do have to drill a hole in your safe to run the power cord through, it won't be the size of the plug itself. May not seem like much but it is when slowly drilling through a gun safe that is designed to be semi-drill resistant.
 
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