MOLD! - AR15.COM

Posted: 8/7/2010 9:59:31 AM EDT

I was getting some rust on my stuff in the safe, so i put in a Remington heat rod in the bottom. I haven't noticed an increase in rusting but mold is growing on just about everything. its thin and brown/white. it wipes off and oils off easy but it keeps returning, what do i do about it?

Posted: 8/7/2010 10:13:52 AM EDT

[#1]

You've got a serious problem if you've got mold growing IN your safe. First thing you need to do is open it up and dry it out. Mold will only grow when it's moist. And if you've got mold, it will rott out the wood eventualy too. Get rid of the moisture and you'll get rid of the mold. Oil your guns up good! What kind of safe do you have? Fire resistant? If so, it's more than likely got sheetrock in it which will have high moisture content. Leave it open for a while and maybe keep a light on it to dry it out.

Do you have your safe in a damp basement? You need to get some desicant or a small dehumidifier for in that safe. A heated rod doesn't really remove the moisture, just circulates warm air in the safe and keeps the temperature above the surrounding air temperature, which keeps condensation from forming in the safe.

Posted: 8/7/2010 10:39:35 AM EDT

[#2]

Does the safe seal Super super well? The rod can only work if it can force the moisture out through convection. Might be time to add some desiccant.

Posted: 8/7/2010 1:48:21 PM EDT

[#3]

Is the safe in your home or in a garage? If it is in your home you may have a much bigger problem than just your safe.

Posted: 8/7/2010 5:32:42 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
I was getting some rust on my stuff in the safe, so i put in a Remington heat rod in the bottom. I haven't noticed an increase in rusting but mold is growing on just about everything. its thin and brown/white. it wipes off and oils off easy but it keeps returning, what do i do about it?

If you have leather slings try removing them and storing them separately. Neatsfoot oil exacerbates the problem. If you use it, you might want to leave them out in the sun for a few days and wipe off any that bleeds out.

Posted: 8/8/2010 5:48:22 PM EDT

[#5]

Spent the day with a heat lamp in the bottom and door open with a fan blowing gently to let the air flow, i'm gonna oil all the guns again tonight and see if anything comes back in the meantime. It's in a big garage and keeps about the same climate as the outdoors, i don't think it seals really well, the heat rod keeps hot air in the top of it though. I had dissicant in it once but i dont like it because its expensive and only lasted a week for me, its not cost effective.

Posted: 8/8/2010 9:30:43 PM EDT

[#6]

What safe is it? What does the fire seal on the door look like?

Posted: 8/9/2010 6:33:11 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Does the safe seal Super super well? The rod can only work if it can force the moisture out through convection. Might be time to add some desiccant.

Convection? I don't think the rods are made to move moisture out of the safe by convection, the air moving out would have to be replace with air coming in, and that air will be just as moist.

The rods are actually designed to raise the temperature of the safe, decreasing relative humidity. The absolute humidity doesn't change any. So the door seal doesn't have a whole lot to do with it in this case.

But I do agree that it may be time to use desiccant. That will actually remove moisture from the safe and should take care of your problem.

Posted: 8/9/2010 10:38:53 AM EDT

[#8]

It's a liberty don't remember how many gun like 23-30. My dads safe a 30-40 gun safe is having the same issue this is the first summer its happened in 5 years.

I removed all leather except for a couple knife holsters, i took out everything and oiled it and removed visible mold and oiled the moldy spots, i then farbreezed the inside with anti-bacterial, put a heat lamp in the bottom and moved it every few hours. With a gently fan blowing nearby to carry out moist air. I figure if i can kill whats there i should be okay but i'm not real keen on mold. If they make a dehumidifier small enough i might put one inside the safe.

I believe the rods are to circulate the air inside to keep the moisture moving and from condensing onto metal inside the safe. Which would probably work better with disicant to remove moisture as the air flows.

Posted: 8/9/2010 11:00:51 AM EDT

[#9]

I would try a mini dehumidifier if I was having that much moisture problem. The Eva-dry desicant packs work pretty well. But they do need recharged pretty often. I would get the largest size of that if you choose desicant.

http://www.eva-dry.com/

Posted: 8/9/2010 3:39:30 PM EDT

[#10]

Always questioned the science of having a safe in the garage. Here in PA mine is 100 deg. in the summer and 30 deg. in the winter. If it rains and the door is open or I pull in the truck all wet, its like a sauna. Alot of dust, etc. It seems almost impossible to keep away rust and mold with the temp and humidity swings unless you live in a dry climate or have HVAC in your garage and don't use it for a vehical. BTW Sheath spray and a Goldenrod with my safe in a dry basement for about 16 years with no issues. And, some of the guns I don't use go 2 years without cleaning. (Not sayin its right but it happens!)

Posted: 8/10/2010 7:05:40 AM EDT

[#11]

If the drywall in the safe is molded, or if you can't see it & expect its molded, you may want to use some biocide to kill the mold, wipe down the weapons & walls. If all you do is dry it out, the spores can still live for a very long time. If you decide to use a fogger in the safe, make sure it is a mold remidiation fogger & not just an odor fogger. I would be careful with biocide & slings, especially leather, due to possible colorfast issues. Just research the product you plan to buy & see about dehumidifying the space the safe is in or moving the safe. Good luck & hope all goes smooth & easy!

Posted: 8/10/2010 7:39:53 AM EDT

[#12]

Don't think it could be some of that (in)famous Chinese sheetrock do ya?

Posted: 8/10/2010 10:01:24 AM EDT

[#13]

It's tainted. You'll need to get rid of it and get a new safe. I know it's expensive, but mold is damn near impossible to get rid of in a safe without gutting it, steralizing it, and getting a new interior. If you're going to keep it in the garage you'll be better off with a hygrometer to check humidity and a couple of Remington rechargable dehumidifiers. Any kind of heat rod won't help in your situation.

Posted: 8/10/2010 10:03:01 AM EDT

[#14]

Liberty never used any of the high sulfur content sheetrock in their safes.

How old is this safe?

Posted: 8/10/2010 3:05:38 PM EDT

[#15]

its an 09 or 10 liberty, i used a fabric deodorizer because its main two ingredients are water and alcohol, both of which evaporate quickly under a heat lamp i figured alcohol kills most things.

The garage isn't a real damp place the problem is our humid climate, the reason tis there and not the house is i don't have any safe queens in my safe, my safe isn't even a safe queen. I don't mind cleaning my guns, its mostly for theft and fire protection. When i need a weapon i need it outside my house and since my house is air conditioned taking a cold firearm into a hot humid environment equals instant condensation and foggy optics, cold guns become soaking wet in short order. Thats why they are stored in a non AC (climate controlled) environment. So it sound slike the mini dehumidifier would be my best bet, or reusable desiccant how is it reused to you heat or evaporate the water form it?

Posted: 8/10/2010 4:20:39 PM EDT

[#16]

You can get a replacement interior for it if it is that new. So you can take the sheetrock out, clean the shell and put a new interior in it.

Posted: 8/10/2010 7:39:26 PM EDT

[#17]

Seems like the most effective solution is to move that safe into the climate-controlled interior of your home. I'd work really hard to achieve that. None of those other approaches are likely to work.

Posted: 8/11/2010 10:26:35 AM EDT

[#18]

A rod mainly raises the tempature in the safe so the humidity is a lower%. You must find out what your humidity % is in the safe. Buy somehting like this from Homedepot and put the display in your home. You want the safe to be between 35-45% humidity. If it goes higher than you should be silica and put it in the safe. You will need to put it in the over every month to recharge it. If you dont do this you will probably have rusted guns soon.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg2/R-100654926/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Edit-
This is also a decent mini dehumidifier to use. Once a month you plug it into an outlet for 8 hours to recharge it. Thats it. It cost about $30

Posted: 8/11/2010 3:38:45 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
A rod mainly raises the tempature in the safe so the humidity is a lower%. You must find out what your humidity % is in the safe. Buy somehting like this from Homedepot and put the display in your home. You want the safe to be between 35-45% humidity. If it goes higher than you should be silica and put it in the safe. You will need to put it in the over every month to recharge it. If you dont do this you will probably have rusted guns soon.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg2/R-100654926/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Edit-
This is also a decent mini dehumidifier to use. Once a month you plug it into an outlet for 8 hours to recharge it. Thats it. It cost about $30

http://www.remington.com/~/media/Images/Accessories/Storage-And-Safety/Model365.ashx?w=420&bc=ffffff

I use one of those in my safe thats in the basement, I like it but it does need recharged every couple of days. The humidity holds steady at 76F and 47% with a golden rod and that remington dehumidifier. I'm thinking of adding an additional golden rod or another remington dehumidifier to drop the humidity a little bit. Ive noticed it does drop quite a bit when I leave my lights on for a while.

Posted: 8/11/2010 3:51:01 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:

Spent the day with a heat lamp in the bottom and door open with a fan blowing gently to let the air flow, i'm gonna oil all the guns again tonight and see if anything comes back in the meantime. It's in a big garage and keeps about the same climate as the outdoors, i don't think it seals really well, the heat rod keeps hot air in the top of it though. I had dissicant in it once but i dont like it because its expensive and only lasted a week for me, its not cost effective.

You can get 100% Silica Gel at a big box store like Target. Since I bought it over a year ago Target has dropped their brand for some other brand but it is still cheap for what you get. Look in the pet care isle for Kitty Litter. Somewhere on the label it will say 100% silica gel and make sure to get the type has does not have clay. Pick up a short roll of landscape cloth and extra staples for your stapler. Cut the size bags you want out the the cloth, staple them together and put them where you want. I have a HUGE bag hanging in my safe with twine. I make smaller ones for ammo cans. I used a clean and cheap funnel to pour the media into the bags.

ETA: Not sure of the price but Target has this listed as their crystal cat litter. The bag is a bit inconvenient but whatever.

Posted: 8/31/2010 8:50:46 PM EDT

[#21]

Mold can also reside in mil-surp wood stocks, in which case it will keep coming back until it is neutralized. Ask me how I know this.

Posted: 9/1/2010 5:16:07 PM EDT

[#22]

I haven't had mold so far as i can tell come back, but i had a couple rust spots show up on a shotgun. I ordered the medium rechargable dehumidifier off amazon for $25 shipped.

I plan on moving the safe eventually indoors but this too should stop the problem.

Posted: 9/3/2010 2:38:22 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Spent the day with a heat lamp in the bottom and door open with a fan blowing gently to let the air flow, i'm gonna oil all the guns again tonight and see if anything comes back in the meantime. It's in a big garage and keeps about the same climate as the outdoors, i don't think it seals really well, the heat rod keeps hot air in the top of it though. I had dissicant in it once but i dont like it because its expensive and only lasted a week for me, its not cost effective.

You can get 100% Silica Gel at a big box store like Target. Since I bought it over a year ago Target has dropped their brand for some other brand but it is still cheap for what you get. Look in the pet care isle for Kitty Litter. Somewhere on the label it will say 100% silica gel and make sure to get the type has does not have clay. Pick up a short roll of landscape cloth and extra staples for your stapler. Cut the size bags you want out the the cloth, staple them together and put them where you want. I have a HUGE bag hanging in my safe with twine. I make smaller ones for ammo cans. I used a clean and cheap funnel to pour the media into the bags.

ETA: Not sure of the price but Target has this listed as their crystal cat litter. The bag is a bit inconvenient but whatever.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hNhm0zVnL._AA260_.jpg

In addition to this, silica gel can be dried out and reused simply by putting it in your oven for a few hours on about 250 degrees IIRC.

Posted: 9/12/2010 6:42:57 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
I would try a mini dehumidifier if I was having that much moisture problem. The Eva-dry desicant packs work pretty well. But they do need recharged pretty often. I would get the largest size of that if you choose desicant.

http://www.eva-dry.com/

I got two eva dry in my safe.

I got them after I notice rust in one of my guns. Stupid safe mover told me I did not need one.

I was stupid in believing him. the rust was very minor. This was a year ago. so far, they work great. I really don't recharge them often. So get two or three.

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