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Posted: 5/30/2013 6:11:34 PM EDT
| I know as close to zero is optimal, but what are you seeing your safe's humidity level at. Mine runs from 37 to 48, I know I need more desiccant. |
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Northeast here.... Safe's secure in the basement. Humidity indicator has it at 60 % inside the safe. I have desiccant and an Eva-Dri Mini in there, and I can't seem to get it any lower. You may need a dehumidifier in your basement. My basement hits 65-80%+ during the summer without the dehumidifier running. I have the dehumidifier connected into the utility tub and it keeps the basement at 50% during the summer. We turn it off in the winter because the humidity drops below 40% when heating. |
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Northeast here.... Safe's secure in the basement. Humidity indicator has it at 60 % inside the safe. I have desiccant and an Eva-Dri Mini in there, and I can't seem to get it any lower. You may need a dehumidifier in your basement. My basement hits 65-80%+ during the summer without the dehumidifier running. I have the dehumidifier connected into the utility tub and it keeps the basement at 50% during the summer. We turn it off in the winter because the humidity drops below 40% when heating. Thinking about it. Bought the house after I came the day after it rained for a week straight, with no smell in the basement and no water. Ik don't have French drains, or a sump pump.... The room is semi-concealed in the basement, under the front porch. Was thinking of throwing a small dehumidifier in the room itself, because I do have documents in there. |
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I know as close to zero is optimal, but what are you seeing your safe's humidity level at. Mine runs from 37 to 48, I know I need more desiccant. You have nothing to worry about.If you keep your house at a normal temp---74-75--- the natural dehumidification that occurs when cooling your house will keep your humidity levels low enough so rust is not an issue.The outside humidity at my house is just as bad as Texas--Florida,300 yds from a major salt water river and 5 miles from the Atlantic.I've never had a rust issue in 15 yrs. I'm also a HVAC mechanic and the computer/data rooms I take care of are extremely sensitive to humidity and we keep them at 50% so 37-48% is just fine. |
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Seems to be a bit of mis-information here. Allow me to assist and explain the science.
Humidity is not a problem if it is not allowed to condense on items of value that can be damaged by oxidation. That would be your blued steel gun barrel with too little oil on it. The problem arises when the conditions are met to produce condensation. That phenomena is related to the Dew Point. The dew point is the temperature below which the water vapor in a volume of humid air at a given constant barometric pressure will condense into liquid water at the same rate at which it evaporates. Condensed water is called dew when it forms on a solid surface. The dew point is a water-to-air saturation temperature. The dew point is associated with relative humidity. A high relative humidity indicates that the dew point is closer to the current air temperature. Relative humidity of 100% indicates the dew point is equal to the current temperature and that the air is maximally saturated with water. When the dew point remains constant and temperature increases, relative humidity decreases. In the case of a stored item like a gun in an enclosed space, the goal is to never allow the metal temperature to get below the dew point in the safe atmosphere. You can have humidity in a safe and not experience a problem as long as the objects inside are above the dew point temperature. The key problem is when the item you want to protect is allowed to be cooler than the dew point in the safe. That will result in condensation, hence corrosion. Most recommendations say that fine wood products should be stored in relative humidity of 40-60 percent. Opinions vary widely. But, obviously one goal is to keep that humidity under some degree of control, or control the temperature of the stored items. The simplest form that we employ in safes is the GoldenRod, which is a simple heating device. They produce from 7 to as much as 38 watts of heat. The concept is simply to keep the safe environment warmer than the surrounding ambient temperature. As long as the safe contents are warmer than ambient, there won't be any condensation. Indoors, the differential only needs to be a couple of degrees for a successful protection scheme. Even if relative humidity is high, the condensation is avoided because the metal barrel is never cooler than the ambient temperature. The problems arise when you store a safe in an area where large temperature swings are present. That is the danger zone. Safes in garages or outlying buildings, where the climate is not controlled, and ambient temperatures swing substantially are at risk. Now you have a condition where a couple of degrees rise from a GoldenRod is probably not adequate. This is when you deploy an active dehumidification mechanism, either desiccants or a dynamic dehumidifying device like an Eva-Dry. Keep in mind, these problems can arise indoors in controlled climate environments. For example, placing a safe in front of a sun exposed window can cause the safe to warm faster than the ambient temperature in the room. If the relative humidity is high enough, that could develop condensate on the safe contents. The safe walls warm quickly, and the guns are cooler than the air in the safe as they begin to warm up too. But, if that ambient warms the air in the safe such the the guns are below the dew point of those atmospheric conditions, you get condensation. |
| No wood in the safe other than the AK with red furniture, a bit of numismatic stuff and other pistols and long guns. I bought several reusable desiccant packs and a Remington electric model. The humidity range swings from 41 - 46 now. I think a Goldenrod might be overkill. I'll have to monitor it for awhile before I rule one out. Thanks for letting me know that 40ish is okay. |
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