Safe Hygrometer

[Oddball Six]

Do you have a hygrometer sitting in your safe to monitor humidity?

Bought some land and for the first time have a nice "shop" space to bolt down the safe. It will be less climate controlled than the house, but... its Colorado so its pretty dry here.

Thinking maybe add a hygrometer to the safe. No point if I dont need to....

 

[ballisticdaddy]

I also live in CO and have my safe outside of the house, agree that it is generally very dry but I have a humidity 36" rod inside the safe just to be sure.

 

[Oddball Six]

I also live in CO and have my safe outside of the house, agree that it is generally very dry but I have a humidity 36" rod inside the safe just to be sure.

Makes sense - definitely adding desiccant of some kind - probably initially doing bucket o silica, and then moving back to the rod once I get the electric cleaned up in the shop.

Does it make sense to monitor humidity with the hygrometer? Or skip, its just another useless thing?

 

[Baron23]

Makes sense - definitely adding desiccant of some kind - probably initially doing bucket o silica, and then moving back to the rod once I get the electric cleaned up in the shop.

Does it make sense to monitor humidity with the hygrometer? Or skip, its just another useless thing?

IMO, waste of $$ but you can get really cheap hygrometer/thermometer from Amazon and a 100 other places.

if it will give you peace of mind, spend the $20 for one.

but I’m afraid it may be a lot like Bore scopes. Mostly there just to cause unnecessary alarm.

 

[Hairball]

I keep them in my safes as they are relatively inexpensive and give you temp/humidity at a quick glance. Before you add any rods or desiccant, measure what your safe will maintain in the location you place it over time and see if it's needed. Many automatically put in heating rods and desiccant and actually make the safe too dry. Ideally, you want to maintain the safe at 70 degrees with 50 percent humidity. I don't use heating rods or desiccant in my safes as I do not need them where I live.

 

[GH41]

Bad news guys.... Heating rods do nothing to reduce humidity.

 

[Baron23]

Bad news guys.... Heating rods do nothing to reduce humidity.

But by raising the temperature of the air with some absolute humidity, it reduces the relative humidity which I believe is the key figure in preventing condensation.

 

[ballisticdaddy]

A Golden Rod or any other method of heating the air in your safe will not keep the humidity level down but it will lower the relative humidity which in turn prevents condensation and rust.

 

[Baron23]

But by raising the temperature of the air with some absolute humidity, it reduces the relative humidity which I believe is the key figure in preventing condensation.

A Golden Rod or any other method of heating the air in your safe will not keep the humidity level down but it will lower the relative humidity which in turn prevents condensation and rust.

haha....great minds think alike.

Well, actually anybody who thinks like me should be worried...very worried! haha

 

[B y r o n]

Bad news guys.... Heating rods do nothing to reduce humidity.

Correct and incorrect. They do not change the "absolute humidity" but they do reduce the "relative humidity." Keeping the relative humidity below 50% prevents metals from rusting.

 

[LuvDog]

I wouldn't bother with a hygrometer in your safe... save that for your humidor.

Just run a golden rod after you have electric, or one of those "rechargeable" desiccant dehumidifiers

 

[Baron23]

LOL

 

[Hardholder439]

You guys are killing me as I am currently evaluating what I need for two safes in my garage in my new state. Garage temps range from 35-110 degrees plus. Humidy levels unkown at present time. Based on my research thus far the only way to determine what you need is to install something like this:

Grumble. Grumble. 2 attempts to get this Amazon link to show failed. Product description:

Wireless Gun Safe | Digital Hygrometer and Thermometer | Temp and Humidity Monitoring in Gun Safes and Cabinets - Monitor Humidity Level and Temp Inside Your Safe Without Having to Open it​

brand is Illumisafe Lights

Monitor it and humidity is over 50% try a Goldenrod 12" ( 100 cubic feet or less) If no joy. Add an EV 333 ( https://www.eva-dry.com/product/e-333-renewable-dehumidifier/ ) or a larger Golden Rod. Still above 50% ?

Maybe RollingThunder51 was right in 2012:

Controlling Safe Humidity and Rust

Here’s how I killed the Ugly Rust Monster!! Those of you living in Texas can stop reading now… you don’t have any humidity! Those of us living in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, know what humidity is. Here in North Carolina I have measured the relative outdoor humidity on average to be...

www.snipershide.com

Not thread digging intentionally. That thread was the first that came up in search. Changed the parameters and this was the newest thread I found. If there is a newer one, please provide a link. Thanks.

Looking forward to what I find out as below 30% is not supposed to be good for wood stocks so contrary to a couple of articles I read recommending the largest rod that fits in your safe it is possible to remove too much moisture.

Any new thoughts on the subject?

 

[strikeeagle1]

Old school.....box of baking soda in the safe, swap out once / month when you change the A/C filters.