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About ten years ago I learned a very expensive lesson. I had a Amsec 7240 installed in my new homes garage. Safe company recommended a combination of a dryrod and several rechargeable desiccant packs. I had quite a few spendy sticks residing safely in there.....Or so I thought.
One year I decided to take a trip up to Alaska for a few weeks in the spring. When I came back I was so busy that I didn't go out right away and inspect the safe contents. About a week or 10 days later I wanted to go shoot so I cracked open the safe and just about had a heart attack from what I saw. Come to find out the dryrod had burned out at some point while I was gone, which then allowed the desiccant packs to load up with moisture. At that point all of the moisture and cold air was allowed to hang out in a steel box for anywhere from 1 day to about 1 month. The result was probably the most depressing moment of my adult life. The rust grew up the guns from the floor and made it about 3 feet up every gun in the safe. The ones towards the door were the worst. I ended up selling about 30k worth or rusted guns for around 10k with full disclosure of what had happened.
Lessons learned.....no safes on concrete unless the area is heated AND a moisture barrier is installed, don't trust Dryrods to keep your stuff dry AND desiccant packs get loaded up faster than an alcoholic at an open bar if not accompanied by a functioning dryrod.
Since then I am a firm believer in having a safe inside. I still have the same precautions in place and check things out regularly. Including reaching down and putting my bare hand on the dryrod to make sure that its actually hot to the touch. Being in a climate controlled area gives you an extra safety margin when everything else fails. Concrete wicks moisture by nature. Just my depressing .02! YMMV
One year I decided to take a trip up to Alaska for a few weeks in the spring. When I came back I was so busy that I didn't go out right away and inspect the safe contents. About a week or 10 days later I wanted to go shoot so I cracked open the safe and just about had a heart attack from what I saw. Come to find out the dryrod had burned out at some point while I was gone, which then allowed the desiccant packs to load up with moisture. At that point all of the moisture and cold air was allowed to hang out in a steel box for anywhere from 1 day to about 1 month. The result was probably the most depressing moment of my adult life. The rust grew up the guns from the floor and made it about 3 feet up every gun in the safe. The ones towards the door were the worst. I ended up selling about 30k worth or rusted guns for around 10k with full disclosure of what had happened.
Lessons learned.....no safes on concrete unless the area is heated AND a moisture barrier is installed, don't trust Dryrods to keep your stuff dry AND desiccant packs get loaded up faster than an alcoholic at an open bar if not accompanied by a functioning dryrod.
Since then I am a firm believer in having a safe inside. I still have the same precautions in place and check things out regularly. Including reaching down and putting my bare hand on the dryrod to make sure that its actually hot to the touch. Being in a climate controlled area gives you an extra safety margin when everything else fails. Concrete wicks moisture by nature. Just my depressing .02! YMMV