So I have several large Gun safes. I have the golden rods dehumidifiers on the bottom
Of them. I also added those yellow zerust vapor tube things. I put a handful of guns in there in the main level garage. Always keep the garage Doors closed. Came back a month later. Half the guns have some fairly significant rust. I live in a slab garden home. Honestly the garage is the only place the safes will fit.

How can I keep the guns from rusting in the Alabama humidity????

My first thought is to ask what sort of rust preventative you use on the guns. Various experiments posted online seem to demonstrate that some products are better than others.

Are you not in the house all the time? Is this like, a vacation/lake home?

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
So I have several large Gun safes...

Sounds like you need a secure gun room...IN the house!

Other than coating them in good gun grease or gun socks maybe but even then I am not sure. Keeping guns in any state of long term humidity is not good. In Florida it is the same way. Keeping ammo in the garage could destroy it if not protected.

Are the safes actually setting flat on the concrete slab that would allow moisture to migrate into the safes....Maybe elevate off slab to allow ventalation. But still anchored down for security. ............... drill sgt

Moisture is migrating thru the slab. You can’t fix that. Seems like you are doing what you can to mitigate the moisture by using the dry rod and silica gel.

The next step is to look at what you’re using on the metal itself, some oils will vapor off due to heat (balistol-which is just mineral oil, Hoppes-which is kerosene).
Maybe some heavy weight oil, and dipping the weapon in it(remove the stock, place a barreled action in a tube and submerge it, then drip dry-do not wipe) or heated grease (we did that for what’s called “lay up” in the PMS system in the Navy and Coast Guard-it’s for long term storage.)

This is a mini dehumidifier that works well, but you will have to drain it frequently. It may take two since it is outside.

Lockdown Dehumidifier

You'll want an external free standing dehumidifier or possibly a mini split a/c to keep your conditions favorable. 70 degrees at 50% humidity is ideal.

But before you start taking drastic measures, you need to know what you're working with. Get a couple of hygrometers and take readings both inside and outside of your safes.

There are probably multiple methods to address the humidity, but first and foremost, I'd start with how I'm going to monitor it. I do so with my guitars. Every case gets a sensor.

Govee WiFi Hygrometer Thermometer Sensor

The reason I asked, are you not in the house all the time leads me into what a few mentioned above about using a small dehumidifier.
The big part of that is depending on the humidity levels it would need to be emptied a couple times a day.

You can fix moisture migrating through the slab pretty easily but laying down a plastic vapor barrier. Standard 6 mil doubled would work nicely and be cheap.
In the long term a mini split would be ideal for the garage if your garage door is insulated. If not then you can insulate it pretty easily as well.

Rig Rag + Rigs

Been using it for 50+ years and my Dad for a generation before that. No rust.

We live in a similar climate in the Houston burbs. Its still hot and humid here. It would cost more to make the garage humidity controlled than it would to move the safes somewhere else. Garages are usually not insulated and the humidity level is going to be super high all summer long, not to mention the heat. I have a man cave built in the 3rd bay in our garage where my boat used to go. Its on the house alarm and has its own HVAC system and humidity control. Never had a single issue with gun rust. Get your guns inside.

just a thought, but check to see if you have any chemicals stored in the garage that are leaking vapors. for instance muriatic acid that's vaporizing from the lid will rust all things in its wake. Same with some oxidizers. Stuff like that need to be airlocked or moved out of the garage entirely.

I live in South Texas and have a small safe in the garage. I keep a dehumidifier going and have not had anything rust. Prior to the dehumidifier I had rust issues.

The small one I linked to earlier works well but it has a small reservoir so it needs to be emptied often or a drain tube can be installed for continual draining.

Do the safes sit directly on a concrete floor? The guns won't be the only thing that rusts. They need to be elevated and supported so air can circulate underneath.

4 safes in an insulated but not HVAC garage
gets humid in VA,
never goes above 90, rarely below 35 in the garage

I pull and clean once a year, with practically 0 rust issues

white mold is the devil here, due to humidity

I wipe everything with CLP or Ballistol, and use a rag or fabric gloves over nitrile,

as in I don't touch the metal after the rubdown, everything is covered ,
and the golden rods are on,

no issues in many many years



the only time I have had rust, is fingerprints, and i catch or caught those early

I use a goldenrod in the safe and CLP on the metal in Florida. I also don’t touch the metal after wiping it with CLP. The CLP was enough to prevent rust this past summer when the GFCI breaker tripped on the circuit the goldenrod was plugged into this past summer. I did have to clean white mold of the stocks though.

If your safes are in direct contact with your slab, consider putting a thermal break between the slab and the safe such as several hockey pucks or rubber mud flaps. Moisture from the air "may" be condensing inside the safe. Not sure about yours, but my safe has 4 holes in the bottom so it can be bolted to the floor, this is just another access point for moisture.

Mine is in the basement and I built a 2x4 platform with leveling bolts to keep air circulating around it and have a golden rod inside. No rust issues, but you have much higher humidity in AL than I do.