Controlling humidity in your safe

[Sinus211]

The desiccant shaker thread got me to thinking about safe humidity. I'm not currently using any moisture control in my safe but probably should. What are the best/most economical ways to keep your safe dry inside? What are you guys using, if anything?

[Classic]

Does your safe have an electrical plug-in in side? Mine does and I use an 18" Golden Rod which is on sale at Midway
http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/614184 ... fgod1aQAMA

[Sinus211]

Does your safe have an electrical plug-in in side? Mine does and I use an 18" Golden Rod which is on sale at Midway
http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/614184 ... fgod1aQAMA

No but I can drill a small hole with a diamond bit and feed the wire through. Have you had any rust issues since you started using the goldenrod?

[old11bravo]

Tagged for interest

[cmica]

white christmas lights low setting. I've got a dimmer control set to where I can even leave it on. next day its cozy inside but then again I got the hole for the cord.

Ive heard people using that RedHead-Safe-Dri-Rechargeable-Moisture-Control/product

[OhShoot!]

A silicon sock for each gun and a reusable plug-in desiccant box works well for me.

[scorpion rider]

I bought a 1 gallon jug of orange desiccant from amazon ($45) to use in the safe and our travel trailer for the winter. It changes color to green when it needs to be cooked. I put it in a flat baking pan so all i have to do is toss it in the oven when needed. It works good and is easy to see when its time to cook. i have found that the top layer turns green first so i shake it a little to get fresh stuff on top so it lasts longer between cooking.

[uwdawgs]

I've got a Stack-On cordless dehumidifier model spad-100. Amazon has it for $20 It has a window showing the degree of dryness & when to plug it in to dry it out/ recharge. Easy, simple, effective if you are not pre wired.

[Massivedesign]

Western WA has an average 55% humidity, which is actually pretty perfect in a gun environment. The "rod style" humidifier works by raising the air temperature in the safe, thereby lowering the relative humidity.

If you don't open your safe very often, then a desiccant system (absorbing water in the air) is a good solution, but too much and you can run into issues of over drying. I have read where you don't want any wood furniture to be exposed to anything lower than 40-45% RH over a long period of time.

If you open your safe often (as I do), a dehumidifier is pointless because each time you open the door, you do an "air-change" and your safe is now 55% again! It usually takes days to weeks (depending on the system) to lower your safe 5-10% using a non-mechanical system.

If you lived in FL or someplace that has normal high temp WITH high RH (wet humidity), then lowering the safe to 50% RH makes sense.

[Spokepoker]

not sure where to get it now, but what about vapor phase inhibitor (vpi) impregnated cloth?

[platz]

I use both a plug in heating rod that heats up to like 150*F and a plug in desicant that changes from blue to pink when it gets wet. I also use a cheap gun safe humidity gauge. It always seems to be around ideal when I haven't been in it for a bit and towards the higher end of ideal when it's opened frequently. Just because I'm a freak about not having my guns rust they all get a generous wipe down of frog lube prior to going in the safe.

[olydemon]

Pfft, like i have any room in my safe for something like this..... (note, next time buy the one bigger size....)

[tenxambition]

The safe heater rod is the lowest maintenance form of protection. Installed at the bottom of the safe, it works by keeping the inside of the safe and it's contents several degrees warmer than the air temperature outside the safe so that the safe contents are never exposed to the "dew point", that is the temperature at which moisture condenses, for a given relative humidity of the outside air.

[Wetpaperbag]

I've been using a golden rod in mine, and so far things have been going well.

[Pablo]

I don't like mine over 50%. No margin. And 38% will not destroy wood. 40-50% is the decent range to shoot for.

First of all use good lubrication and safe entry techniques. Nothing cold, dirty or wet goes in the safe. Cleaned and properly lubed or if not goes in the triple alarmed lock box until cleaned that day or the next.

Next I use VCI. This is simple, buy the otherwise useless Rem Oil with VCI (you need to shop for this product, but a bottle lasts 5 years easy). Just spritz it on your safe walls or a rag 5-6 times per year.

For straight up humidity control, the other have good advice. I don't currently use anything electric. I have two large desiccant bags that my wife sewed for me from some cut off pants legs, then I bought bulk desiccant material. I also have one large H2O that I got from Nitro (Randy) at a show and around 10 of the medium size milspec pouches. Plus I have one of the plug in desiccant units, that I take out and plug in to dry. This set up works well.

I have a $20 digital humidity and temp indicator. It is accurate enough to know that my desiccant needs a dry cycle....I can watch the humidity start slowly climbing. I do open my safe daily, but still when all is recharged, it lasts 3-4 months. All fresh and warm the humidity goes 38-40%. Then stays 42-44% for months, and goes 45-46-47-48%........time to recharge.