Gun safe humidity management...

[Doc]

What do you guys use for humidity management in your gun safes, and how well does it work?

My safe is in a heated garage, securely anchored into the concrete floor. There's more moisture in the winter because my wife's car is coming in and out with snow on it that dries/evaporates over-night. I'm not fully happy with the humidity management system that I currently use in my safe. It's one of those boxes filled with a bag of silica that absorbs humidity. There's an indicator on the box that lets me know when the silica is max'ed out, and then I recharge it by heating the bag in the oven for a few hours. It does seem to work, but I have to recharge it pretty often...more with time. I'm thinking of putting two or three boxes in there during the winter, but maybe there's a better way to do this.

What do you guys use?

Doc (Chuck)

 

[seant]

What do you guys use for humidity management in your gun safes, and how well does it work?

My safe is in a heated garage, securely anchored into the concrete floor. There's more moisture in the winter because my wife's car is coming in and out with snow on it that dries/evaporates over-night. I'm not fully happy with the humidity management system that I currently use in my safe. It's one of those boxes filled with a bag of silica that absorbs humidity. There's an indicator on the box that lets me know when the silica is max'ed out, and then I recharge it by heating the bag in the oven for a few hours. It does seem to work, but I have to recharge it pretty often...more with time. I'm thinking of putting two or three boxes in there during the winter, but maybe there's a better way to do this.

What do you guys use?

I have been using the reminton brand dessicant. You recharge it every couple of months by plugging it in to the wall socket. I have used these for several years and have not had any rust issues in my safes. When the indicator turns from blue to pink its time to recharge.

 

[LeonardC]

I use a Golden Rod in my gun safe. Just a little extra heat. I've only had trouble with one rifle and I think that was because some cotton material in the safe came in contact with the barrel. No rust, but discolored the blue.

I have a relatively new car and it would fog up inside and started to have some musty smells. I put a DriZair in there and no more problems. The moisure in the air combines with the chemical and turns into a thick liquid that can be removed.

 

[1Cor15:19]

I've tried several things over the years, but I now keep all of my guns in silicone gun socks and I've not had a single issue since I've done this. For a few dollars apiece I keep them rust free and there are no nicks or dings from other guns in the safe.

 

[blybrook]

I use both the Remington Safedry rechargeable silicate packages (like you explained having) and a couple of the Military issue rechargeable ones (now I've got about 100 lbs of them things from a DRMO purchase.)

Have not had any problems with either setup.

 

[jakec5253]

humidity in safe

humidity in safe

I use one of the rechargable Remington dehumidifiers, and I also mounted a light socket on the bottom of the lower shelf, just above the rifle barrels. I use a 60 watt bulb, but not one of those energy efficient ones, they don't give off any heat.


Jake

 

[Arleigh]

there are some great ideas here

there are some great ideas here

If I up grade my box I would considder using a vacuum seal . Once established , there is no moisture to worry about.
there are several ways to create a vacuum and simple gages available.
I don't keep the amo or powder with the guns any way , so the inches vacuum is only limited to the integrity of the box.one could not open the box with out normalizing the atmosphere. added security.
ONe wouldn't put any thing in the box that has it's own seal like gun powder, as it would both damage the container, and draw out the gasses of the powder.
The light bulb sounds like a good idea initially , but Heat tends to keep moisture aloft . it is cold that is used to draw misiture out and condence.air dryers for compressed air systems use refrigeration to get the moisture to seperate. Your freezer shows the effect and it is because the door is opened regularly drawing the moisture to it . So that is why a vacuum is best , one is not manageing the atmosphere ,, one is removing it.

 

[Doc]

This is interesting guys, and I'm glad that I asked the question. Thanks for all the comments and sharing of ideas.

In some ways it seems like I'm doing what others are doing, so there's some comfort knowing that I'm not the only one cooking-up things in the oven for several hours...the other day my wife got home from work and was excited thinking that I had started dinner...wrong.

I did go out and get another one of those oven rechargeable cannisters that absorb moisture, figuring that two are better than one or at least two may not have to be charged as often.

The electrically rechargeable systems sounds interesting, and I'll look into that further. The gun sock concept I had not considered, but seems like a good idea. I actually have a couple of them that I got as gifts, but have never used...now I will.

I don't have an accessible opening for a power cord. There is one, but the way I anchored and mounted the safe it's inaccessible. I was more interested at the time making it a major production to steal my safe. I wasn't thinking of moisture management, and I'm reluctant now to drill a new hole for AC access.

Creating a vacuum is interesting, but sounds materially intensive and I'm not sure that I'm all that skillful or ambitious to do it up....however, I admire the ingenuity behind the idea.

Doc (Chuck)

 

[Chisana]

My safe is wired with an outlet that I have lighting and golden rod hooked into. Keeps the safe nice and warm inside and have never had any rust problems.

 

[ADfields]

I have a 100 watt bulb down low wired on a humidistat up high, works for me. I had to go to Browns Electric to find the humidistat since Lowes and Home Depot don't stock them.

 

[kimo]

Golden Rod works well for me. I had the same problem in regards to routing the electrical cord. I ended up putting the goldern rod in from the door opening. Check the clearance when you close the safe door over the wire. You may have enough tolerance that the door can lock closed without pinching/damaging the wire. The wire will take a set and stay in place. My large treadlock has been fine this way for over 13 years with 1 golden rod, and no rust or mildew.

 

[Cast Iron]

I use the golden rod in my safe. I have had it for about 10 years without any problems. I don't know of a brand of light bulb that I would trust in my safe. Seems like I have to replace one in something about every week or two.

 

[needcoffee]

golden rod

golden rod

I use a golden rod with a humidistat. Also, most if not all safes have a hole in the rear for installation of wiring. The steel is pre-drilled but you have to drill out the gypsum. Then run the wiring and seal with a bit of silicon.

 

[Ozarks]

golden rods

golden rods

I recommend golden rods, or similar for two reasons. First is they are electric so you don't have to worry about the re-charge, and second they work well for keeping the humidity fairly constant.

Been using two of them (I think they are about two feet long) in my safe for about ten years now and they are still working fine. My safe is in my basement and the temperature is pretty constant in the basement but it has too much humidity some times of the year. I used two goldenrods due to the size of the safe being fairly large.

The golden rods keep the internal temperature a degree or two warmer than outside the safe and humidity remains constant between 45-50% year round. I bought a digital thermometer with inside/outside temp and humidity and that lets me know at a glance when I open the safe what the temp and humidity is. That is how I know it has remained basically constant for years.

The important thing is not letting the humidity fluctuate a lot in the safe. It is not good for corrosion prevention, and especially not good for the wood stocks for moisture content to be shooting up and down drastically over time.

 

[reddogiii]

gun humidity

gun humidity

Goldenrods or similar devices work the best. To augment a dehumidifier, you should store guns and knives in specially-treated gun socks. Gun Sacks is a brand that works well, protecting your weapons from smoke and water in case of fire as well as from humidity. They also protect guns from scratches and nicks when stored in close proximity to each other.

 

[kodiakrain]

What NOT to do,anyway & solution

What NOT to do,anyway & solution

I do have to post a bad experience I recently ran into with the DriZair deal. Having used them in the marine environment around boats in past I thought that would work to help dryout my Weatherby gunsafe after it was in the garage during a minor fire, well major enough that the fire dept guys hosed the inside of garage completely including the safe with direct full power blast for quite a while I believe. Seemed the inside of safe was fine, all guns fine, but somehow it felt very moist inside. So I stuck the driZair setup in there after doing all I could to dry it all out. Then left it for a while without checking like a month maybe. Well by then the bottom of the DriZAir bowl had filled up with water and actually overflowed !?! Just a little water but the bowl had water in it for a long time I imagine and I somehow got enough moisture in the carpeted shelf where I had laid the Beretta 92 9mm (in holster but top part of barrel was against the carpet which seemed to wick up moisture)and it picked up a bad pitting rust burn on the barrel where it touched the carpeted shelf. A bad day that was!! Bottom line was I left it too long before checking the bowl but this is not a good idea inside a safe that can be a bit "out of sight out of mind". So even after refilling with new drying crystals and trying again I came to the conclusion that it holds moisture inside the safe after pulling it out of the air and collecting it in the bowl.
So yeah, I now have the small electric dehumidifier stick, measures 10watt at the receptacle outside safe and feels mildly warm to the touch. Seems to work really well and safe feels drier than ever before. Big issue in coastal areas where I swear everytime I open it up some more heavy humidity air sweeps in. So I leave it plugged in at all times with very good results. Found in a gun store, Remington Dry-Rod.

 

[Cast Iron]

I bought my safe and it come with one golden rod. I bought a spare golden rod just in case. The spare golden rod is still in the package. and my guns have not had any rust on them. I pluged the golden rod in the day I bought my safe and have never unpluged it. That has been over ten years ago and my guns have remained rust free.

 

[BrownBear]

One of the biggest deals in humidity management is where you put the safe. Keep it away from exterior walls, where it cools and warms even slightly. Condensation is less an issue with stable temps.

 

[Kenaimike]

I've not used the Goldenrod, but that's likely the easiest way to avoid moisture problems. A light bulb accomplishes the same thing. It does not take much heat to avoid the moisture - a 15-40 watt incandescent bulb will do.

My safe is in a heated garage like Doc's. Another thing that also helps is to lift the safe off the floor with 2" lumber. The cold mass of the concrete floor should be avoided. A gun does not have to shown visible condensation in order to develop rust - "higher" humidity is all it takes.

Getting the safe off a cool floor and warming it a bit will lower the relative humidity inside the safe.

 

[BrownBear]

Good point on getting it off the ground.