OT: Gun Safe Moisture Eliminator

Lou from Wi.

Well-known Member
My Son has a medium rifle gun safe and uses a product called moisture eliminator, it's a plastic type container with some type of moisture beads in the top tray, the bottom is for water it collects. The other day he checked it and it was full of water,but the rifles and guns were unharmed.What do you guys use in your gun/rifle safes?
We have small packages of Desiccants in the handgun cases also,no rust or corrosion on them at all. It goes to show after the purchase of a gun there is a lot of upkeep on them to keep them in order.

Thanks for reading,
Regards,
LOU
 
I would second the use of Golgenrod. They come in differant lengths depending on the the size of your safe. Like arleninor said nothing to mess with. The only thing to do is periodically check it to see that its working.
 
I see the ads for the air dryers, desiccant bags, etc, etc, but haven"t had a call for any of them. I"ve always kept my guns in either a wooden gun cabinet, or in a safe, and have never had any problems with moisture. I don"t know whether it comes from the fact I open it on a regular basis, or what, but I have never even seen a hint of moisture anywhere.

As far as protecting my guns, and I have quite a few, all I do is clean them before putting them up so they will have a light coating of lubricant on them. This insures not only corrosion protection when in storage, but also protection for them the next time the go into the field.

I know Dad has been keeping his guns the same way for as long as I can remember, and I have never seen a speck of rust on any of them either.
 
Some dessicant products use chemicals similar to fertilizer. Seems to me that that fumes or vapors may be corrosive to guns. I think a Goldenrod heater is better.
 
Sounds like he is using DriZair. We use them in our camper. Work good there but can be messy as the salt brine water is pretty gross. I have to agree with not using one in a gun safe.
My safe has a heater rod.That seems to do the job so far anyway.
dirzair
 
Is it difficult to install a Goldenrod heater? I currently use a desiccant, but am not sure it is the best solution.
 
Been using a rod heater in mine with no problems. Very much trouble free, just check it once in a while. Never had rust problems.
 
I keep all my bullet moulds in an old dead fridge. Most of the moulds are iron and rust very easily. We don't want to oil them down because it takes a lot of work to get them clean again. What I use is a large, reusable desiccant box from Brownells and a simple 25 watt light bulb fixture in the lower part of the fridge. Seems to work pretty good and I can keep my no-freeze meds in there in winter too since it's in the barn. The desiccant box is renewed by roasting in the oven when the indicators tell you it's time.

The same system would work in any safe or cabinet.
 
Lou,
Where I live, humidy is high, dew points in summer run in the 60-70's. It's ugly when in the 70's. What happens in a gun safe is no different than what happens in a home. You don't control the humidity, everything inside will get moldy.

I have a tenant who insisted on leaving the back door open, which allowed 60-70 degree dewpoint air to come in contact with the 55 degree concrete floor and walls. Now the carpet in basement needs to be pitched. If bleach doesn't remove the mold, I have ordered a chemical that will, not cheap.

Controlling humidity in gun safe applies to everything. Guns rust, tools rust, welding rods soak up moisture, condensation collects on metal roofs, condensation forms on concrete floors in basements, garages, moisture in air compressors, moisture collects in gas tanks, even seen engine rust internally, freeze up. Fighting humidity is an endless battle in Indiana.

Some people use the moisture beads you talk about, which I've purchased at menards. I use 2 dehumidifiers in two different basements to fight moisture. One runs all the time, the other is for when the one can't do it all. I've heard of some welders using old refrigs and putting a light bulb inside. Increasing temp, lowers humidity.

I can only think of about 3 ways to battle humidity, one you mentioned using chemicals to soak up moisture. The other cool the air, AC or dehumidify, to make the moisture condensate out.
Third way is to warm the air, warm the inside of buildings, warm up the tools, guns. Heat lowers relative humidity, but more importantly if you keep the temp of items above dew point, condensation can't form causing gun and tools to rust. I think wd40 was invented to displace water keep guns from rusting in WW2. I have to keep my tools, lathe, drill press, saws, vice covered in oil.

I designed my pole barn with vented eves, a ridge vent, and a power vent. I put conventional vents in roofs, but also use power vents. Power vents lowers attic temps, it saves shingles by drying things out, and it saves on AC bill. You can always tell when attics are too damp, shingles will curle up on edges, shingles will grow a black mold, it shortens their life.

Good luck fighting mother nature, she has the upper hand.

George
 
Lou,
My safe has connectors/pass thru for 110V and a USB. I run a rod heater, works like a champ. Don't recall, but they are in the $40 range. Draws very few watts and you never have to change out the desiccant.

Bonus with the USB, my hard drive is "fire proof". Well nothing is fire proof, "fire resistant".

Rick
 
I have been using the product you mentioned for several years. Seems to work quite well. I usually change the tray out and dump the collected moisture while there are a few of the moisture collecting beads left yet. Just checked mine yesterday and I have about 1/4 of the beads left. Change them about twice a year. Maybe will have to change them once more this year.

I do have a dehumidifier set up to run year round in my "man cave" since I have serveral mounted heads in the room. Saves a lot of grief when it come to maintanence of the mounts.
 
If you buy a new Goldenrod they will have directions on best place to locate rod in safe( best is in bottom of safe). Most of the better safes have a hole in them to run a power supply cord and some of the new safes have plugs for power supply and for your computer.If you don't have a hole in safe you can drill one and put rubber grommet in it.
 
(quoted from post at 08:42:53 09/01/14) If you buy a new Goldenrod they will have directions on best place to locate rod in safe( best is in bottom of safe). Most of the better safes have a hole in them to run a power supply cord and some of the new safes have plugs for power supply and for your computer.If you don't have a hole in safe you can drill one and put rubber grommet in it.

[b:4c372bd7e2]Thank you! [/b:4c372bd7e2]I will turn my safe around and look for the tap-out hole for the electric cord. This is exactly what I needed to learn.
 

I have a closet I keep my leather motorcycle jackets and other items that are damaged by humidity. Since the house is not air conditioned the humidity can be problem.

I use Calcium Chloride (snow melter) and at the end of the summer I pour the liquid in my storage barrel for loading tractor tires. You can buy the fancie shemancie container at Menards (DampRid) and refill them or make your own containers. I use a 5 gallon plastic bucket in the basement.
 

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