Gun storage, North Carolina...and humidity.

Tom7

Tom7

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What do you guys do?

The safe I have the best success with [stays around 34%] I keep a 15w light bulb on in it at all times.
The safes I use 'passive' control in aren't nearly as effective. They spike to nearly 60% when the AC or heat isn't on in the house.

I've tried golden rods. Watt vs. watt they aren't nearly as effective as a regular bulb.
Really interested in 'passive' approaches (power bill and such as.)
I've tried Eva-dry, the tin things of desiccant, buckets of rice, charcoal...not much success.
 
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Where are you keeping the safe?
 
I struggle with humidity and moisture on my guns as well. I ended up buying breakfree co. It is a thicker oil and protects guns for a long long time. Had it on a few guns for years now and no issues.


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I have two of the EvaDry E-333 in my safe and they work well. I plug them in overnight about every 2 weeks to dry back out.
Never had any issues with moisture so far.
They are about $15 each on Amazon.
 
I use a goldenrod and dessicant cannisters. Stays under 40%.year round
 
Anyone ever try plain old red bricks? Heat them in the oven to dry them completely and set them in the bottom of the safe? Just a thought...
 
I fought problems for years. To the point that I can not keep any wood stock guns in the closet safe. We have a concrete slab house and the closet is carpeted. Based on the rest of the house, probably no vapor barrier under the carpet. This last time was really bad so we pulled everything out of the safe to clean it up. Then I moved the safe out of the corner and cut some scrap laminate flooring to put the safe one. Since I have separated the safe from the carpet it is much better. So if your safe is on carpet, try putting a barrier under it. Most safes have holes in the bottom to mount them to the floor. This was allowing moisture to get in via the carpet.
 
Light bulb and golden rod work the same way, by keeping the air and contents of the safe a little warmer than outside air, you avoid condensation when you allow outside air to enter. They do not lower the humidity, they just make sure that the contents are above the dew point.

For me goldenrod and desiccant works well, but my safe is in a humidity controlled environment at 40% anyway.
 
The Goldenrod at the botttom of your safe also promotes air circulation by warming the air at the bottom. A light bulb, assuming you hang it at the top like most folks would, doesn't have that effect. Circulation is good, otherwise you have a pocket of dryer air around the dessicant pack and who knows what you have in the stack of guns.
 
So far with 2 golden rods , no issue. in a barley AC'd space. As said it's important to get the warm air to circulate. I have them at the front bottom. and the top shelf pulled forward to get the cooler air dropping down the back of the safe to be warmed again.
 
I have some old computer fans, easy to wire to a small wall wart, was going to put one in the safe to draw air through a small filter and then a tube of desiccant, project was on the bench for months then scrapped, but still maybe useful in a more humid environment.
 
I haven't had to use dessicant or heaters in my safe, but I've not had any issues with rust or tarnishing. I typically wipe down the metal parts of blued guns with an oiled cloth to create a barrier between the metal and the air.
 
Took said:
I have two of the EvaDry E-333 in my safe and they work well. I plug them in overnight about every 2 weeks to dry back out.
Never had any issues with moisture so far.
They are about $15 each on Amazon.
Click to expand...

I run this and it's never over 45%
 
RedneckFur said:
I haven't had to use dessicant or heaters in my safe, but I've not had any issues with rust or tarnishing. I typically wipe down the metal parts of blued guns with an oiled cloth to create a barrier between the metal and the air.
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Same here.

We had several guns growing up, most of which were blued. Never had a safe in my parents house. It was a kind of a chore that I looked forward to, about once a month we got em all out from their hiding places and wiped em down with a rag that had a little 3 in One oil on it.

Nowadays I have safes, but the vast majority of my firearms are not blued finished. Some I pay attention to more often than others. I'll do the same style wipe-down on pretty much the same schedule for guns like my old Wingmasters and some of my older Smiths. Every once in a while I'll put some of the nicer ones in gun socks. After that I rarely check on them.
 
My 18" goldenrod clone (Lockdown dehumidifier rod) consumes a claimed 12 watts and keeps my 2 x 3 x 6 foot indoor safe at about 80 degrees and 35-45% humidity when indoor temps are 74-75

When I dig out my power meter, I'll measure what the actual power draw is.
 
I use an Eva-Dry E-500 in the safe along with a DampRid moisture absorber. Still not sure the DampRid one is worth using though as I mentioned in another thread, as the humidity seems to still sit at 45%. I'll recharge the E-500 for a full 24 hours and see if it helps drop it.

I am going to try the E-500 with a golden rod next if I see no change.
 
This is an interesting thread. I have a safe in a spare room that doubles as my 'office'. I'm in it every day and pretty much have my safe open every day. The house is on a slab, laminate floors and never have used any type of a dehumidifying device. I have read - I don't believe everything in the web -that if the interior air of the safe is relative to the outside air, should have no problems. I'm open to comments or suggestions. But I can't see fixing something that ain't broke.
 
I'm a firm believer in the value of metrics -- it's better and cheaper to know what's going on rather than guessing.

I have an AcuRite 01080 Pro Accuracy Indoor Temperature and Humidity Monitor in my safe - $20 from Amazon.

I'm getting consistent 40% humidity, 78F using the goldenrod.

BTW, My kill-a-watt says my goldenrod clone is pulling 15 watts vs. it's claimed 12. At my most expensive electricity rate of $0.1275 per KWh, it's costing me $16.75 a year (at 12W it would cost $13.40, a $3.35 difference, which wouldn't even buy me a Starbucks coffee).
 
g-dad said:
I have read - I don't believe everything in the web -that if the interior air of the safe is relative to the outside air, should have no problems.
Click to expand...

You were correct in your first statement - don't believe everything you read in the web.

The main issue is humidity. Too much moisture in the air will cause rust.

It is true that a temperature differential will cause the moisture to condense. This why your glasses fog up when you go outside on a hot and humid day. Not having a temperature differential doesn't mean that the moisture isn't in the air, or that your guns won't rust in high humidity storage.
 
My safe was getting up to 74% in my garage, and that was with about 1lb of desiccant packs, so I got an Evadry 333. To my surprise the Evadry had little to no effect. It would turn green in 2-3 days but didn't actually lower the humidity level measurably despite being rated for 333 cubic feet.

I got a 55qt Frigidaire Dehumidifier and now can easily keep my entire 2 car garage at 50-55% and inside my safe in the 40's. This is middle of the summer, so I'm sure as the cooler temps roll around I'll be able to unplug the dehumidifier.
 
BowWow said:
Keep them in silicone embedded gun socks.
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Cheap guy that I am, my wife makes my "gun socks". First one was cut out of a $2.49 100% cotton bath towel from Wal Mart. It produced 4 too large socks. Now she makes them out of our cotton towels when they're at end of life. I suppose we could add elastic or ties if I cared. Every time she comes up with a holie towel, she makes socks for me in various sizes.

Save money and make your own. You'll find they cushion a gun much better than those commercial gun socks. You could spray the inside with silicone or lube. :D

IMG_4932.JPG
 
Tom7 said:
What do you guys do?

The safe I have the best success with [stays around 34%] I keep a 15w light bulb on in it at all times.
The safes I use 'passive' control in aren't nearly as effective. They spike to nearly 60% when the AC or heat isn't on in the house.

I've tried golden rods. Watt vs. watt they aren't nearly as effective as a regular bulb.
Really interested in 'passive' approaches (power bill and such as.)
I've tried Eva-dry, the tin things of desiccant, buckets of rice, charcoal...not much success.
Click to expand...
Oh my dear Lord....now I have another thing to worry about! Lol. What's going to happen in the humidity? I've had one of my guns for over 30 years, never knew humidity was an issue! I know I hate it,but do my guns hate it too?
 
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If you continue searching around, you'll find a thread where I posted a photo of a very precious rifle that I permitted to become completely rusted out.
 
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