In AZ never worried about humidity for my safe in the garage.
Moving to South Carolina soon. Huge safe, so it might have to go in the garage again. Liberty that has the outlet plug in back already.

Looking for a dehumidifier for it. Choices?

Also, anywhere to shoot, indoor, outdoor around the Greer, SC area??

Goldenrod

https://www.amazon.com/GoldenR...ention/dp/B07W8JFN2F

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Goldenrod

Ditto. I've had the same rod plugged in continuously for 32 years. No rust, no issues.

The Golden Rod isn't actually a "dehumidifier," per se. It just adds a bit of heat to the safe's interior to ward off condensation.

Warm air holds more moisture than cold. So if the safe's interior is kept even slightly warmer than its exterior, you should never get condensation inside.

It also helps by keeping the air inside the safe moving. Usually you place it in the bottom of the safe, at the back. Warm air rises, cooler air falls. Constant circulation.

I've had one in my safe in the basement, which is decidedly cooler than the rest of the home throughout the year, and in which the humidity is higher throughout most of the year--even with a separate dehumidifier down there, and I've never seen so much as a touch of rust or other corrosion on anything in there.

Was just thinking about this recently, since our safe is in our laundry room. Not overly humid in there, but definitely more than the rest of the house.

Will have to see if I have power access close enough for it.

quote:

The Golden Rod isn't actually a "dehumidifier," per se. It just adds a bit of heat to the safe's interior to ward off condensation.

This is exactly correct. It's a dew point mitigation device. It doesn't remove any humidity, it simply prevents it from collecting on the now warmer metal.

If you have a cold beverage in warmer air, you'll notice the glass or can will sweat. However, you'll never see that happen with a cup of coffee. Same principle.

quote:

It also helps by keeping the air inside the safe moving. Usually you place it in the bottom of the safe, at the back. Warm air rises, cooler air falls. Constant circulation.

Most people don't realize this part either. Your safe is generally not air-tight. Not even close. If you have a folded sheet metal style of safe with an expanding fire seal, you'll generally have 1/16" or so of space around the door to allow proper operation (I've seen more). On a 60" safe, that's the equivalent of a 3"+ by 3"+ square hole.

As the warmer air escapes the top of the safe door, fresh cooler air is drawn in at the bottom. This is generally why you don't want to use desiccant alongside a dry rod. The constant flow of air will fill the desiccant quickly.

If you have a situation with extremely high humidity, you would be better off setting up a standing dehumidifier in the room with the safe as opposed to within the safe itself.

quote:

Originally posted by mike56:
In AZ never worried about humidity for my safe in the garage.
Moving to South Carolina soon. Huge safe, so it might have to go in the garage again. Liberty that has the outlet plug in back already.

Looking for a dehumidifier for it. Choices?

Also, anywhere to shoot, indoor, outdoor around the Greer, SC area??

I keep mine dry with a 60-watt light bulb inside the safe. My safe is seldom opened and the humidity inside is well controlled.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:
I keep mine dry with a 60-watt light bulb inside the safe. My safe is seldom opened and the humidity inside is well controlled.

That'll serve the same purpose, in the same way. (Though a mite more breakable and probably not as long-lasting.)

Though I wonder what wattage a Golden Rod consumes? Maybe I'll get ambitious and throw my meter on mine and see.

quote:

Golden Rod consumes? Maybe I'll get ambitious and throw my meter on mine and see.

From what I read about a watt per inch (i.e. a 12" goldenrod is ~12 watts)

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

quote:

Golden Rod consumes? Maybe I'll get ambitious and throw my meter on mine and see.

From what I read about a watt per inch (i.e. a 12" goldenrod is ~12 watts)

That's quite a bit less than what I would have thought.

I’ll look at the brand name when I get back. I have a dehumidifier pack, which changes color once saturated. I plug it into the wall, and it heats up and dries itself out.

The biggest issue with humidity is ensuring that your house has the correct size AC unit.

With that said, I run a dehumidifier as well as my AC at my house in Myrtle, which does have the right size AC.

What size Golden Rod? They say the 12" one is good for up to 100 cubic feet. A fairly large AmSec BFX 7240 is only 26 cubic feet on the inside, so the 12" one is good, right?

quote:

Originally posted by mike56:
In AZ never worried about humidity for my safe in the garage.
Moving to South Carolina soon. Huge safe, so it might have to go in the garage again. Liberty that has the outlet plug in back already.

Looking for a dehumidifier for it. Choices?

Also, anywhere to shoot, indoor, outdoor around the Greer, SC area??

Email me when you get settled. I’ll hook you up with some free passes to Sharpshooters Indoor Range. My address is in my profile. Welcome to the upstate!

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:

...As the warmer air escapes the top of the safe door, fresh cooler air is drawn in at the bottom. This is generally why you don't want to use desiccant alongside a dry rod. The constant flow of air will fill the desiccant quickly....

I learned something here (again) thanks alabdj. I have a Remington desiccant along with a Goldenrod in my main safe and even though it's in a heated/air conditioned room I have to remove it to plug it in to "dry" every 3 weeks or so. I'll quit using it.

You're not harming anything you're just not really helping much either.

Where desiccant begins to become a problem is in low humidity conditions. It will want to absorb any available humidity, and low humidity can also be bad for firearms with wood stocks, optics (along with watches and camera equipment), leather, and other miscellaneous things like opals jewelry. To little moisture will cause the moisture within these items to migrate into the air and be lost forever, causing cracking and failed seals.

45-55% at 70 degrees is an ideal storage condition.

An electric dry rod will do nothing but help, and short of catching fire will never do anything really to hurt. Some items are a bit more sensitive to heat, so you'll want to keep them away from coming in direct contact. The brand name goldenrods also tend to be a bit hotter on their surface than some of the other options.

Very useful information, thank you.