Gun safe humidity

[patrioticmarine]

Hi everyone,

I'm here in Portland and have a smaller gun safe (25"W x 22"D x 60"H), which is non-fire lined, stored in my garage (no room in the house unfortunately). I'm paranoid about my firearms rusting so this is what I have inside the safe now...

1) Two 18" GoldenRod dehumidifiers
2) Two Eva-Dry 500 mini-dehumidifiers

I have an electronic weather station inside the safe and another sensor in the garage to detect the difference in humidity levels and temperature. Here is the data so far after a day...

-Garage data = 77% humidity and 48 degrees F
-Safe data = 60% humidity and 52 degrees F

It looks like my setup is doing a good job, but 60% humidity seems a little high to me. Is this humidity % too high? I was thinking about coating my guns lightly with Ballistol before I put them in there as well just in case. If I do this, will it be good enough?

If anyone could provide input on whether they think this is good enough, and if not, offer some suggestions on how to improve the environment in my safe I'm all ears and would appreciate it immensely.

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[semperfi68to70]

I think you're good Marine. I have a very similar safe and I use one Golden Rod, I keep my long guns inside the sock sacks and wrap the handguns up in the same. I have been in Oregon 14 years now without problem one.

Semper Fi

 

[JSJPDX]

For a number of years I kept all my guns in my safe stored in an unheated shop building with just one Golden Rod and never had a problem. Just kept them clean and wiped down with a silicon cloth.

I have to say though, I like your style; you sound as anal as I am.

 

[patrioticmarine]

I think you're good Marine. I have a very similar safe and I use one Golden Rod, I keep my long guns inside the sock sacks and wrap the handguns up in the same. I have been in Oregon 14 years now without problem one.

Semper Fi

Semper Fi! Thanks for the advice Marine. It's nice to hear that I'm good to go.

 

[patrioticmarine]

For a number of years I kept all my guns in my safe stored in an unheated shop building with just one Golden Rod and never had a problem. Just kept them clean and wiped down with a silicon cloth.

I have to say though, I like your style; you sound as anal as I am.

Great. Better to overshoot than undershoot. It's nice to know there are other people just as anal as I am about this stuff. Thanks for the input.

 

[jbett98]

I read somewhere that 45-55% is the optimal humidity for gun stocks, wine corks and cigars.

 

[captqc]

My safe is running at 46% in the house with one Golden Rod, when I had it in the garage the best I could get was 60% humidity with the same setup. Gary

 

[Siglvr]

copy pasted from an earlier thread:

I had left a BB gun in the basement for @ 2 months and it got rusted fairly bad. My son pointed it out to me, and I think that's a factor of better eyesight. However, I could feel it with my fingers. I found it pretty disturbing. If you have a Sig P210, or 2, in your gun safe, then you might consider spending a bit more effort to keep them looking prime. In the Pacific NorthWET, that's a multilayered thing.
'
1st) Use Eezox and don't be just "oiling" your guns when you get back from the range. You might slather the bores with Hopps #9 or any other thing, but as you are putting them in the safe, think of this photo below and choose to spend a bit more time and effort to wipe or spray a light layer of Eezox on them. If you do nothing else, use this stuff as this should help a lot.





You can google this, lots of guys have done independent testing. Good stuff and cheap.

2nd) Get a room dehumidifer. A good one will both tell you what the moisture % actually measures, and pull the moisture out to what ever the heck you want it to be. I was shocked how much moisture I actually had in here. Of course, the house is over a 100 years old. So in retrospect....lol...My little Delongi will pull a gallon out per day. They make 2 versions of these, one you have to dump it daily, the other can be set up to drain into a drain. Get that one, even if you don't use it at first. You don't want to be checking and dumping water daily. <broken link removed> They come in a lot of price points. Do your research.

NEXT) Stuff a goldenrod in your safe. $20 and it works as advertised. As said above, it keeps the moisture from hitting dew point. You need a plug in for that, which means that your safe isn't moisture proof any more.

Lastly) , get at least 2 E-500 Eva-Drys. They will pull the moisture out of the safe. They recharge and work great. Don't get the little jobs cause you need to recharge them too frequently. I just went to replace one that finally failed after 5 years (which is the life expectancy of the things) and Dicks and Fishermans had not even heard of them. So here's a link. Amazon.com: Eva-dry E-500 High Capacity Renewable Wireless Mini Dehumidifier - 4 Pack - Fight dampness in boats, safes, RVs and BIG close: Home & Kitchen



Just toss them inside the safe, and rotate the bottom one to the plug in when needed. Moisture is heavy and will settle. The Evas get hot, so keep them off drapes etc etc. They suggest plugging them in overnight....a bit of trust is needed for that However, the color changes when they are recharged. Pretty simple. It sounds like a lot, but once you have it set up, never have to worry.

Good luck! Hope that helps.

 

[SP101]

+2 on the eva dry's

 

[Certaindeaf]

I just toss a bag of Earl Grey in there every once in a while.

Attempt at dry English humor. as you were

 

[techiej]

The real key is keeping the temperature inside the safe higher (only a couple of degrees is needed) than outside and air flow combined with keeping a light layer of oil on them. As long as the inside temperature is greater than the outside temperature the humidity in the air will not condense onto the firearms.

I keep all of mine (except SD) in a safe with a golden rod in an unheated detached garage with no problems.

The golden rod just generates some heat but since warm air rises it will cause the air to circulate and the inside of the safe to be warmer than the outside.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I read somewhere that 45-55% is the optimal humidity for gun stocks, wine corks and cigars.

You read wrong, at least on cigars and wine corks. Most cigar guys run their humidors at 65% (that's where my cabinet is set), but if you ask a bunch experienced cigar guys what their preference is, you'll get answers anywhere from 60-75%. Been in several wine aging rooms in Napa, they almost exclusively ran the rooms at 65F / 65%.

We now return you to the topic at hand.....

 

[Dave Workman]

Also, those little silica bags that come with so manyn products...
I keep them all and toss them in the gun safe.

 

[liquidsys]

Hi everyone,

I'm here in Portland and have a smaller gun safe (25"W x 22"D x 60"H), which is non-fire lined, stored in my garage (no room in the house unfortunately). I'm paranoid about my firearms rusting so this is what I have inside the safe now...

1) Two 18" GoldenRod dehumidifiers
2) Two Eva-Dry 500 mini-dehumidifiers

I have an electronic weather station inside the safe and another sensor in the garage to detect the difference in humidity levels and temperature. Here is the data so far after a day...

-Garage data = 77% humidity and 48 degrees F
-Safe data = 60% humidity and 52 degrees F

It looks like my setup is doing a good job, but 60% humidity seems a little high to me. Is this humidity % too high? I was thinking about coating my guns lightly with Ballistol before I put them in there as well just in case. If I do this, will it be good enough?

If anyone could provide input on whether they think this is good enough, and if not, offer some suggestions on how to improve the environment in my safe I'm all ears and would appreciate it immensely.

Personally I'm not a fan of the Eva-Dry products. I don't think they work as well as classic big hunks of silica. I have a much larger safe and use a single Gold Rod (the large model) and have two of these in the Safe that I recharge in the oven about once every 1-2 months depending on the color of the silica.

Cannon Safe SGD57 Silica Gel Dehumidifier - Amazon.com


My safe this morning was 52 degrees and 42% humidity. I swear by those big Cannon silica containers. I have smaller ones as well that go inside ammo cans and such. You don't have the buy the Cannon branded containers, you can find a ton of no-brand versions that are probably made in the same factory for cheaper. Buy one and toss it in your safe and I bet you see a big reduction in humidity.

 

[Spitpatch]

All the gadgetry was very attractive to me when it started coming out (Golden rod, Rem-dry, etc.) But when I got my first safe, almost none of that was available. I started tossing every single little packet of silica gel that I obtained (from various packaging of electronics, optics, etc.) into my gun safe. Never had ANY oxidation issues whatsoever. Now with multiple safes, I continue the same strategy for each, and haul out the packets once a year and dry 'em in the oven, then toss 'em back in.

The little packets are also readily available and handy when I case up a gun for a trip: I just insert one into the tip of the case prior to sliding the gun into the case.

Disclaimer: my safes are in-house, not in the basement or garage where this strategy may become challenged. My exterior protection on guns consists of a carefully applied coat of Johnson's Paste Wax on all surfaces, and an occasional wipe-down and barrel swab with old-style CLP (Still working through the two gallons I got from a Marine tank mechanic when they phased it out due to carcinogenic concerns).

"Might be bugs on summa you mugs, but there ain't no bugs on me."

 

[patrioticmarine]

The real key is keeping the temperature inside the safe higher (only a couple of degrees is needed) than outside and air flow combined with keeping a light layer of oil on them. As long as the inside temperature is greater than the outside temperature the humidity in the air will not condense onto the firearms.

I keep all of mine (except SD) in a safe with a golden rod in an unheated detached garage with no problems.

The golden rod just generates some heat but since warm air rises it will cause the air to circulate and the inside of the safe to be warmer than the outside.

Thanks techie, that is exactly the situation I'm in - unheated, detached garage (uninsulated as well and no drywall or ceiling for that matter). It's good to hear that I'm ok for now, although I'll still look for minor ways to improve the humidity %.

 

[patrioticmarine]

Thanks for all the input everyone, I guess I'll try a few more things to get the humidity down. I was looking to insulate and put drywall up in my garage (and a ceiling) and stick a space heater in there, but that would cost thousands of $ that I don't have unfortunately. Just need to keep trying the little things I guess.

 

[liquidsys]

Thanks for all the input everyone, I guess I'll try a few more things to get the humidity down. I was looking to insulate and put drywall up in my garage (and a ceiling) and stick a space heater in there, but that would cost thousands of $ that I don't have unfortunately. Just need to keep trying the little things I guess.

Before you go to that expense and time, start with the quickest bang for the buck, seriously just order the things I linked on Amazon. They're $20 and you can return them if you don't see a big gain. There is no risk

The Eva-Dry things do not work nearly as well as they claim from my experience. I tossed mine.

 

[SP101]

with the eva dry products, were you guys using the plug in the back type or the small dehumidifiers?

 

[liquidsys]

with the eva dry products, were you guys using the plug in the back type or the small dehumidifiers?

I was personally using the plug-in type. Seemed to me that adding electricity would somehow just be better. Then I started reading up a ton more, especially from guys who know more than I ever want to know about humidity. Guys who store things like cigars and such for long periods of time tend to know their stuff on the subject.

Increasing the temperature through the gold-rods above ambient (and creating circulating air) + the static 750 gram containers of silica has done more than I could have ever asked for. The fact they change colors to indicate their water content was icing on the cake and keeps lazy people like me from ignoring them for 8 months out of the year =).

If you're still paranoid after that, a light sheen of oil or silica gun cloths will help you sleep at night. As I said though, I'm running 42% relative @ 52 degrees this morning. I don't pay too much attention anymore.