Keeping moisture out of a safe

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  • mlj427

    Active Member
    Sep 28, 2020
    148
    We have a small safe to keep some guns and ammo in. What are the best ways to keep it dry in there?
    Thanks
    Mike
     

    Donald1818

    Active Member
    Aug 22, 2013
    351
    Baltimore
    my safe has a small hole in the back for an electric cord.
    it is used for a heating element. i dont have a link at the moment, mine came with the heating element.
    it is a great investment, keeps the humidity out and all of the paper products inside nice and dry.

    If yours has the hole in the back, I would recommend the safe heater.

    D
     

    slsc98

    Ultimate Member
    May 24, 2012
    6,746
    Escaped MD-stan to WNC Smokies

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    GolfR

    Ultimate Member
    Oct 20, 2016
    1,324
    Columbia MD
    +1 for the golden rod. I thought about the desiccants but you have to refresh them in the oven or by other means fairly regularly for them to work best. I don’t need another thing that I have to remember to do.
     

    dist1646

    Ultimate Member
    May 1, 2012
    8,758
    Eldersburg
    A short strand of white Christmas lights will work. Has the added bonus of illuminating the inside so you can see when the door is open. Costs a LOT less too!
     

    babalou

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 12, 2013
    16,016
    Glenelg
    Hole

    my safe has a small hole in the back for an electric cord.
    it is used for a heating element. i dont have a link at the moment, mine came with the heating element.
    it is a great investment, keeps the humidity out and all of the paper products inside nice and dry.

    If yours has the hole in the back, I would recommend the safe heater.

    D

    My safe had a hole put in and the vendor put in a goldenrod for me
     

    slsc98

    Ultimate Member
    May 24, 2012
    6,746
    Escaped MD-stan to WNC Smokies
    I've always questioned the use of dessicants as it would seem to me they not only absorb moisture within an area but once that's accomplished, also "draw" moisture into the same space . . .

    MUCH prefer the goldenrod (and suppose the Christmas light idea works, as long as the lights are in the bottom 1/2 of the space - the beauty of the goldenrod is the "convection" it establishes after being on awhile and in the lower portion of an enclosed space ...)
     

    TapRackBang

    Cheaper Than Diamonds
    Jan 14, 2012
    1,919
    Bel Air
    A short strand of white Christmas lights will work. Has the added bonus of illuminating the inside so you can see when the door is open. Costs a LOT less too!
    Only if they are incandescent and not LEDs. (Or maybe terribly inefficient LEDs would work.)

    GoldenRods are just heaters (18" is 18 Watts) in a convenient package that raise the temperature inside the safe slightly, which decreases the relative humidity. It doesn't actually remove any moisture. That said, the principle is sound and they do work.

    So for a Christmas light string to work, it has to draw at least 18 Watts to have the same effect.

    Found this little chart of Wattage vs. size. Lights strings must draw the equivalent Watts:

    GoldenRod, 12" - 8 W
    GoldenRod, 18" - 18 W
    GoldenRod, 24" - 25 W
    GoldenRod, 36" - 38 W
     

    85MikeTPI

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 19, 2014
    2,699
    Ceciltucky
    Only if they are incandescent and not LEDs. (Or maybe terribly inefficient LEDs would work.)

    GoldenRods are just heaters (18" is 18 Watts) in a convenient package that raise the temperature inside the safe slightly, which decreases the relative humidity. It doesn't actually remove any moisture. That said, the principle is sound and they do work.

    So for a Christmas light string to work, it has to draw at least 18 Watts to have the same effect.

    Found this little chart of Wattage vs. size. Lights strings must draw the equivalent Watts:

    GoldenRod, 12" - 8 W
    GoldenRod, 18" - 18 W
    GoldenRod, 24" - 25 W
    GoldenRod, 36" - 38 W

    Add to that a string of Christmas lights would last about 6mos and need to be replaced. Hopefully not sooner and are inspected often before opening the safe up to a moldy corroded mess because you wanted to save $20

    Also heaters create a “current” of heated air flowing from the bottom of the door to the top, pulling out moisture as it goes. Make sure that mass of Christmas lights are all laying on the floor of the safe to create that flow, now you’ve created a forking mess
     

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