Gunsafe Humidity…

[BCB]

I have a gunsafe with a temp/humidity sending unit in it and it sends the data to a receiver in my living room…

The humidity inside runs right at 56% and the temperature is 75 degrees. I do have a heating rod in it…

I noticed a bit of rust on a Contender hinge pin and in that general area…

But in all honesty, I may have got that handgun damp in a bit of rain and although I cleaned it and applied a coat of oil, I may not have given the internal parts enough attention…

Is 56% humidity a problem in a gunsafe?...

The safe is in my basement so I doubt I can get it lower…

Any thoughts?...

BCB

[canyon-ghost]

I have some mil-spec dessicant I can send you. I collect it from welding electrode.

Looks like the small ones (for the most part): http://www.desiccare.com/unitpaks.html

And no, I'm not talking about charging you for it, either. PM me if you'd like a big old box of these.

Ron

I'd think 56% humidity is awfully high, but not sure of that.

[Lee]

I just checked my basement and safe, out of curiiosity. Last 36 hours has been off and on rain, comfortable but with a hint of humidity in the air. Basement is 76 degrees with 56% humidity. Safe is 81 degrees with 51% humidity.
Now my safe is not tight, in fact it's very leaky. I have a goldenrod on the floor, and I have an EVA-DRY 2200 unit on the top shelf. I just emptied out 1/2+ quart of water, in a 1 week period. (Told ya it was leaky )
You can Google EVA-DRY or EDV-2200(my unit) and find some info. They also make a smaller unit the edv-1100 I believe. The 2200 unit has a Peltier module and small fan, and consumes about 60watts. The unit draws in ambient air, passes it over the Peltier module, which extracts moisture from the air, heats it some, and expels it back out. Any heat generated by the unit adds to the safe, and the collected water is manually drained every so often.
Notwithstanding what the meteorologists and a/c salesmen will tell you, the unit seems to ALWAYS remove water from the air. How much depends on ambient.
My simple logic is this: anything that takes water out of the air, and helps to heat the air(like a goldenrod) can't be all bad.....
Sorry, to your question. You see my basement numbers aren't too far off from yours. My basement was bad a couple weeks ago, temps in the 80's and humidity in the upper 60's to low 70's. Now that's too humid!
It's been my experience that any steel, left out, unprotected, will eventually rust, no matter.
First line of defense, clean/oil at least yearly.
Second line of defense. Any other preventive measures your budget will allow. YMMV

[BCB]

canyon-ghost,

PM sent...

Thanks...BCB

[BCB]

Lee,

You're beating me with the humidity...

Don't know where you are from as that could make a difference..

That is why I asked the question...

I think the humidity should be a bit lower in mine also...

But it has been a hot humid summer here in Western PA...

I agree, use lots of oil...

Thanks...BCB

[Lee]

Just over the border. NE OHIO. Near Andover(Bendover)
Unless one of us typoe'd, our numbers are fairly close.
Remember that the dessicant paks need recharged occasionally. As well as the freebies, I'd suggest you obtain one that has the blue/red "indicating crystals" in it. That way, when it turns red you know they all probably need recharging. Usually done in an oven, SWMBO might not acquiesce to the practice
There are also small dessicant kits that sit in the safe, when the crystals turn red, you take it out of the safe and plug it in a wall outlet. That heats up the dessicant, dries it out, turns the crystals blue, and you're ready for another round.
If the dessicant paks make a noticeable difference in your safe humidity, then you might want to consider the drier(s) I mentioned. Sorry if you already know all this, just throwing my $0.02 around

[pergoman]

Those rh figures are frighteningly high for firearm storage. The low rh is why metal in the desert doesn't rust away like it does in Pa and Ohio. The lower you can keep the humidity, the better your metal will do. Relative humidity is a number which tells you how much of the total possible water that air at a given temperature can hold is presently in that air. Warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. In a sealed room simply dropping the temperature raises the rh. At a certain point condensation begins to form liquid water droplets on surfaces.The cooling air can no longer hold the water vapor.
My business is largely involved with psychrometrics and I would never choose to store guns at 50% or higher rh.

[Tom-ADC]

I'm in southern CA close to the ocean, my humidity probably averages 50% or so I have zero problems with that, now back east and 85% plus I'd be concerned.

[JIMinPHX]

When I lived back east, I used to use the desiccant bags in my gun safe. When the little blue/pink dot card said that the humidity got to around 40%, I would cook the desiccant to recharge it. I saw very little rust, but I did see some.

[John Boy]

The recommended conditions to store firearms in a safe is:
* 50% Humidity
* 70 Degrees Temperature
Then, if you buy a can of Eezox and wipe your firearms with it before they go in the safe, your worries are gone
Eezox Rust Prevention Test

[lathesmith]

Here in Missouri, you can't get relative humidity below about 45-50 percent in the house in summertime, even if you run your AC and/or a dehumidifier continuously. Those safe dri-rods on the market don't actually de-humidify; they just raise the temp in the safe, which should keep its contents well above the dew point. That's the critical part; if your house's main floor is, say, 76 deg, with 55 percent RH,(which is pretty typical here in MO right now), then if your dri-rod has elevated the temp in your safe to, say, 85 degrees, you are about as "safe" from airborne moisture-causing rust as you are going to get around here, because you have raised the temp of the air in the safe well above the dew point.

However, if you have a safe in your basement, AND that basement's floor/wall temp is around 62 degrees, then your relative humidity is going to be 80+ percent, which is getting dangerously close to dewpoint and some serious rust problems. Remember for every drop of 1 degree in temp, relative humidity goes UP by about 2 percent, which explains why basements around here can be damp and musty, even if they don't have any leakage problems. Around here, to keep a basement relative humidity around 50 percent or so, running a dehumidifier is a must, as you house AC just can't pull enough moisture out of the air fast enough, plus the fact that you have a natural 12 degree + temperature variation from main floor to basement.

lathesmith

[cajun shooter]

Hey Fella's, Try Louisiana at 97 degrees with 100% humidity for the past two weeks. The only way I have no problems is to use the product that John Boy posted. I use EEZOX on all my guns after cleaning. I have also found that it works on many other things in the sporting goods area. It is by far the best product I have ever used.

[pls1911]

got me to thinking I'm probably a little delinquent in my empty, oil and replace rouitine.
Thanks for the remnder....

[bearcove]

The recommended conditions to store firearms in a safe is:
* 50% Humidity
* 70 Degrees Temperature
Then, if you buy a can of Eezox and wipe your firearms with it before they go in the safe, your worries are gone
Eezox Rust Prevention Test

Guess I need to put a humidifier in mine.

[Storydude]

I actually have a humidor humidifier in my safe.

Being in High Desert AZ, my gunstocks started to shrink in the 7% humidity here, as opposed to the 50% back east.

Every locale will have different needs. In NY I tried like mad to keep moisture out of my safe...here I'm trying like mad to keep it in. LOL

[maglvr]

Pretty hard to beat a open container of dry white rice! Few things absorb moisture faster than salt, but if you put rice in your salt shakers it absorbs any moisture before the salt does, and keeps your salt running freely. I have used rice for a LONG time and never had any rust in the safe.
If it gets really wet, dry it out in a warm oven and it's ready to go again!
Rice "bean-bags" are the best, you can toss them in about anywhere.
I also made some smaller ones for my ammo cans.
A old sock does well for this purpose also, just fill it with the rice and zip tie it closed!

[wiljen]

You can also ask your pharmacist for the desiccant packs that come in the boxes of drugs they receive. They get shipments nearly daily at the larger stores and every one of them comes with a big desiccant in it.

[John Boy]

You can also ask your pharmacist for the desiccant packs that come in the boxes of drugs they receive.

Is an excellent source for multiple uses, such as:
* In the casting mold boxes
* In the cans of brass for reloading after cleaning
* One under the cover of digital scales to reduce the moisture on the strain gauge that is the 'heart' of digital scales for better accuracy

[Robert.Smith]

You want to keep humidity for a gun safes have 2 methods:
- Use desiccant dehumidifiers
- Use electric dehumidifiers
But if you want dehumidify for your gun safe, need to consider the following issues:
- Area it can dehumidify: Important
- Water removal capability