Please help me get safe humidity down

H

Hedley

New member
I just moved the the south Texas coastal area (near Arroyo City) and need some advice on how to curb humidity in my safe. I never needed more than a single desiccant pack at my previous location in central TX, but the Remington-brand packs I'm currently using need to be revamped every 10 or 12 days. Every rifle is stored in a silicon impregnated sock, and after being in the safe in its new location for about three weeks, I haven't found any signs of damage caused by moisture. But I'm still leary about the humidity.

I'm using the type of packs that have an indicator(changes from blue to pink)to tell you when it's time to bake them dry.
http://www.remington.com/products/accessories/storage_&_safety/rem_dri_35_desiccant.asp
It's a little 14 gun safe(and no, I still haven't opened the big Winchester safe), and I currently have 2 of the Remington packs and one old pack of similar size. The safe is in our mechanical room due to lack of space in our current living situation. I don't think it helps that our down-stairs AC evaporator and water heater share the same 5'x4' room, but there really is no other place for it.

I don't have any outlets in that room, so I'd have to wire one in for a plug in style dehumidifier. Any styles that you prefer? Should I go electric or just cram it full of desicant packs? Anybody else live in high humidity areas? What do you use?
 
More options... If you're storing guns in Bore Stores you can put VCI chips inside with the gun to help prevent corrosion. See: http://theinhibitor.com

Another idea is to take a piece of unprotected sheet metal and place it in the safe. You can gauge how much moisture gets into the safe by checking on the presence of corrosion on the metal. Place one of the VCI chips under it after you polish off any rust and see if it prevents new rust formation (it should).

I've also seen dessicant sold in a 1-lb "tub" for large safes. You might check on that too.
 
I put two of the large Dessicant boxes in each safe, and I've had no problems with rust. We have humidity here too.

Martyn
 
Humidity is up where I live also. I control the humidity in my safe room with a small window type A/C unit. Air conditioning is a great dehumidifier. I have a little tabletop humidity meter thing that I picked up for a couple bucks. When I see the humidity is up, turn it on. Couple hours later it's down.

What about wintertime? Good question. Bring the a/c unit into the room and sit it on a chair or table with a bucket sat underneath to catch the water. SInce the a/c unit is not in the window, it's not exhausting the heat energy to the outside so the temp will not drop in the room and make it cold. In fact, it will raise the temp in the room 2-3 degrees when ran like that because of the added heat energy from the compressor and fan motor running. Pretty slick huh?

Of course if your safe is in a finished room with carpet...swmbo will say get that hillbilly setup out. I'm good on that in the basement with unfinished flooring.
 
I asked about humidity also, and Golden Rod seemed like the way to go. I already, was using a drying rod (bought at Academy Sports) but I also used DamRid (from Home Depot). You just have to check it on a regular basis, or as someone pointed out, "You'll just have a damp sponge in your safe". You can also try using a dehumidifer called Eva-Dry. I ordered one on eBay. a friend of mine, told me that they work great. I like the " silicon impregnated sock" idea. I'm going to look into that as well. Houston almost always has high humidity. just my 2 cents.
 
I've also seen dessicant sold in a 1-lb "tub" for large safes. You might check on that too.
Click to expand...

Better yet; cat litter.

No seriously; Tidy Cat has a product that is almost all silica gel crystals rather than the usual clay based litter. I think its about $10 for a 3 lb jug. Buy a jug, take off the top, leave it in the safe. That much silica gel in the confines of a small safe should last several weeks or months. I dumped a whole jug into a .50 ammo can and stuck it in the bottom of a 26 c.f. Knaack jobsite box - no problems after 4 months sitting in the garage.

silica gel litter
 
Is It Possible For A Safe To Be Too Dry?

I like Edward 429451’s idea of a humidity meter in the safe. Is it the type used in small humidors?

Of course the next question is what level of humidity am I looking for?

Finally, is it possible for the safe to be too dry? I have several antique rifles and I worry about drying out the stocks and slings.
 
Is it the type used in small humidors?
Click to expand...

No just a little tabletop unit about 1-1/2 X 3", few bucks at walmart. Tested it against my HVAC humidity sensor and its really close.

Of course the next question is what level of humidity am I looking for?

Finally, is it possible for the safe to be too dry? I have several antique rifles and I worry about drying out the stocks and slings.
Click to expand...

Yes it can get too dry and cause splitting of wood (over time). A good comfortable level that wont cause rust and be enough to protect the wood is 35 to 40%.
 
Nothing better than the goldenrod

Nor expensive.
But it has two advantages. If you lay it at the bottom of the safe then the hot air rises and cooler falls. This makes the air move in the safe and keeps the entire safe humidity down. Desiccant crystals don’t move air and only the air around them are drier.
The one in my safe also has a humidity meter that controls the heater. Works just like furnace dehumidifier control. I set mine to 30% and forget it.
 
I have no experience with the Golden rod.

Does it just lay on the bottom of the safe? or is it elevated away from the walls by brackets?

How "warm" does it get?...too warm to touch?

I am curious about the goldenrod. I have always used damp-rid and never had any problems...and I have always lived within spitting distance of either ocean.
 
Edward,

You have high humidity in Colorado Springs???

I can't imagine a dries place outside of a desert. I have family there and everytime they come here they complain about the humidity. :eek:
 
Ten years ago you'd be lucky to get a 25% rh reading here but of late, 40 to 60% is more the norm. I like the increased rh here, it makes it much more plesant place to live.
 
Golden Rod with Meter

Ozzieman,

I have seen several adds for Golden Rods, but I haven't seen any with a meter or adjustment. What model is yours?
 
"Does it just lay on the bottom of the safe?"

Yes, on two little snap-on plastic legs.


"How "warm" does it get?"

You can touch it, but not for long. I keep it an inch or two away from stuff and have never melted or blistered any plastic gun stocks or the carpeting.

They come in different lengths, use the longest one that will fit horizontally. I think they still make some model with NON-detachable plugs. It makes it hard to feed the wire through the hole in the back of the safe. All of the ones I've seen, and my 3, have detachable plugs.

www.drytheair.com/xcart/store/catalog/product_16149_12_GoldenRod_Dehumidifier_12_Watts.html

___________

"40 to 60% is more the norm."

Geez, that's so dry I'd probably get a nosebleed. :)
 
+1 for the Goldenrods. I have them in both my safes (whicg are on a concrete floor in a room inside my garage) and have never had a moisture issue at all.

safes.jpg
 
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