PC powder storage in the wet

[oley55]

I live in NE Florida on a saltwater marsh. Low humidity is rarer than 2" of snow and/or hen's teeth. I am looking at clear, post frontal, blue bird skies today and the humidity is a low 60% for me.

All that whining over, I have concerns over humidity messing up my leftover powders. I do expect I will need to prewarm bullets before shake n bake and will keep the powder in airtight containers, but wonder if the opening and closing while extracting powder for use could result in dampness contamination. Would it be advisable to immediately breakup a pound of powder into multiple smaller containers to mitigate moisture absorption, or is moisture in the powder even a concern? Or am I over thinking again?

[bangerjim]

You can buy desiccant drying materials to put in the containers. I believe there is even a clear crystal-like cat litter marketed in places that is a desiccant. Or buy on-line those little tiny canisters you find in pill bottles.

[BNE]

What Banger said. I live in SC where humidity is pretty high most of the year. I keep my powder in the garage.

I keep a packet of desiccant in any powder I open. NO issues so far.

BNE.

[Conditor22]

I live on the west coast, we do get a bit of sunshine during the year but we also get a lot of liquid sunshine. Double plastic zipper bags stored in my garage works just fine. I think the WH and furnace help take some moisture out of the air.

*** IF the PC does get damp, you can dry it out by leaving an open container by an AC or putting it in an oven UNDER 150° to dry out. It may get a little clumpy but these will crumble back into powder.***

[oley55]

thanks to all, sounds like the stuff is not supper sensitive to external moisture and issues can be easily mitigated. I just didn't want to allow 30 dollars worth of powder to get ruined due to negligence on my part.

[Dragonheart]

I live in the Gulf Coast. I store my powder in air tight containers stored in my garage freezer. I don't know how long you can store powder this way, but I can say its good for at least on 9 years now.

[barnabus]

What Banger said. I live in SC where humidity is pretty high most of the year. I keep my powder in the garage.

I keep a packet of desiccant in any powder I open. NO issues so far.

BNE.

i live in SC too and do the same thing and dont coat on high humidity days

[JSnover]

I live in the Gulf Coast. I store my powder in air tight containers stored in my garage freezer. I don't know how long you can store powder this way, but I can say its good for at least on 9 years now.

^that^
I take the containers out an hour or so before I open them so they can warm up.

[Dragonheart]

^that^
I take the containers out an hour or so before I open them so they can warm up.

Me too!

[45workhorse]

Yep, the fridge/freezer! It has worked for me.

[fcvan]

I store my powder in the bags they came in, and in the snap lid containers for the various colors I use with ASBBs. The CA North Coast house is a mile from the beach, and my powder is in the garage, humid all year around. I do the shaking in the house and baking in the garage so the powder is not really opened in ambient humidity.

I don't use a dehumidifier in the house, but have one, it's not really needed. In 8 or 9 years that I have been powder coating I haven't had a problem. I just remembered I have a PC gun that has a special color mix that has been kept in the gun, not exactly air tight, but haven't had a problem. I PC when it is pouring down rain or dripping wet coastal fog. The CO house is always so dry, the powder there never was a problem. 30 seconds of shake, I'm ready to bake.

[GregLaROCHE]

I think it helps a lot to use plastic bags and squeeze all the remaining air out of them. My basement is humid. I double bag mine and add silica gel packs. Then store in a non airtight container to protect the bags from getting punctured.