Humidity in gun safe ?

According to the website, 12" Goldenrod is adequate for 100 cubic feet of storage space. So yes, 12" of most heat rods will work for you. FWIW, my safe is 59x22x30, I use a 12" Liberty rod and several large dessicant packs to keep moisture as stable as possible.

Curious, but have not figured out why adding a HEAT source, that will attract moisture, to the inside of a metal box is a good idea????/

dcloco said:

Curious, but have not figured out why adding a HEAT source, that will attract moisture, to the inside of a metal box is a good idea????/

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nothing about heat attracts moisture, as air cools its capacity for moisture decreases, the relative humidity will increase until it hits its dew point (100%) where the excess water the air cannot hold will condense out as a liquid, the opposite is also true, As air warms its capacity for moisture increases, and its relative humidity decreases. corrosion responds to relative humidity, below 40% it is slowed to almost a standstill. well oiled 50% and 60% are tolerable.

Buy a hygrometer and measure your humidity instead of guessing.

ColtPythonElite said:

Buy a hygrometer and measure your humidity instead of guessing.

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This.

Here is a pic of the top of my north gunsafe. Its ThermoHygrometer can be seen in the upper left.



Buy a 12" rod if your safe will not readily accommodate an 18" and see if it works for your situation.

dcloco said:

Curious, but have not figured out why adding a HEAT source

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The presumption is that, by keeping the internal temperature above the dew point temperature, humidity is less likely to condense on the contents.

This can be complicated if one is in the humid South, especially littoral and maritime climates, where the Dew Point might be higher than ambient--Room--temperature.

A small heat source is simpler and more compact than an actual dehumidifier--where the humid air is passed over a chilled plate to y pass the air through the dew point and extract the water vapor mechanically. Which would want a drain line. Which is also the limitation with desiccates, they need to be removed so that they can "dry out." (Surface area of desiccants is another issue.)

Years ago I was living in north Florida and and purchased my first gun safe. It was a big heavy “Sturdy Safe” made with 4ga steel.

I keep the safe out in the garage where temps would fluctuate wildly. Sometimes it would be cool for a few days. Might even get down down to freezing. Then it would warm up pretty quickly.

The safe with all its steel would retain the cool for a few days and during this time period would condense water on the outside until the safe warmed back up. It was just like a cold drink sitting outside. It would condense water like crazy.

I think the scenario above is what the dry rod it trying to prevent.

I now live in south Florida and don’t have the same temp fluctuations. I keep an Eva-Dry EDV-1100 in my safe. Every two weeks or so I drain it. It keeps the humidity between 45-55. Which is much better than the usual 75-85% it’s at outside.

I like to keep two hygrometer with the safe. One on the outside of the door and one on the inside of the door. That way I can check the humidity before I open up the safe and then again once inside.

Dan

One thing I recommend is spending 3 or 4 extra dollars/bucks to get a hygrometer that shows minimum and maximum temperature and humidity in the safe. Knowing how high and how low both go helps immensely in solving rust problems during storage. You can look at a hygrometer during the day and it is 55% but gets to 70 or 80% at night. Just checking mine, humidity has ranged between 56 and 67%. It has been about a year since I reset the records.

I’m not a fan of Goldenrods because they are constantly drying. If your safe gets too dry, gun stocks can crack.

What is too dry? My research has shown that ideal humidity should be between 40-50%. That’s not set in stone, just ideal. If you go a little bit above or below you will be fine. I have small AA battery operated temperature/hygrometers by Accurite in each safe. They are under $12 at Walmart.



Everyone’s situation and climate is different. A Goldenrod MAY be fine for my safes in the garage, I live in a humid area. But I wouldn’t consider a Goldenrod for safes in the house since I have climate control (central heat and a/c).

As far as dehumidifiers (DH) go, I have tried a few, and have found something I really like now.

The old metal canister DH are a PIA. Whenever the lame color code card changes from pink to blue you put the canister in the oven for 12-14 hours at 200 degrees. Very similar process with the bag type DH as well. Besides the inconvenience, the lame color cards “die” quickly and don’t last long. This is another reason for the hygrometer.

Now this Eva Dry DH is pretty good, but multiples are needed for a large safe and they “Fill up” too quickly. It seems convenient on the surface that you just plug it in to reactivate it when the beads turn green, but it takes 10-12 hours.




I prefer this Eva Dry because it holds more water and thus lasts longer. Also, since you set it on a warm blower to reactivate it only takes 1-2 hours.

I have Dri Rods in my safes which are in the climate controlled part of the house. Humidity in my safes is usually under 50%, but are rarely under 40%. No worries about stock cracks.

I don't want anything in my safes that I have to maintain or service regularly when it comes to humidity control

Reinz said:

I’m not a fan of Goldenrods because they are constantly drying. If your safe gets too dry, gun stocks can crack.

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Eh, no. Goldenrods and their various knock offs slightly warm the air which lowers the relative humidity. The don't do much to lower the humidity. You would get the same effect having some low wattage bulbs in your safe on all the time. I have a 12" Goldenrod and 3 large dessicant packs. Humidity remains quite stable between 56 and 66% year round. I have smaller dessicant packs placed in individual handguns cases and ammo storage to keep all humid levels down.

Can anyone recommend a humidity/temp monitor that can be wirelessly connected and checked remotely via some smartphone app? Maybe with "alerts" for extreme variations of temp or humidity? I'm also curious, for those that have one of these, how reliably it connects to the wi-fi from the inside of a gun safe (mine is a 10 ga body.)

A bit off topic, but I'm also wondering if anyone has a "shake or tilt" sensor inside their gun safe that connects wirelessly and can send an alert to a smartphone if the safe was moved, tilted, etc.

A gun safe is nearly a faraday cage, if the rods make an electrical connection it is a faraday cage, wireless is not going to be reliable, you want wired, my last safe I added a cat 5 cable for network attached storage. Was not dificult

Bought the standard flexible gun safe heat strip and it seems to keep my guns rust free

I manage to get by with several large dessicant canisters, think I have 4 in my cabinet. It is in my bedroom closet though, and the area has climate control, the dessicant canisters are just an additional control, but I could probably get bye without them.

The Front Range of Colorado has been in a moderate to severe drought for over 20 years.

I can't remember the last time the humidity in my gun safe got UP to 20% let alone 36%

I swap out two Eva-Drys.