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Safe dehumidifier

2big bronco

2big bronco

Og irate
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
188
Messages
4,375
Loc
Prunedale ca
What do you guys use? Just opened one of my safes for the first time in a year to see my 2 most valuable guns compleatly rusted and pitted well beyond what im capable of fixing. All the cheapos were mostly fine.

Anyways moving them into a new safe inside the house and wondering what everyone is using. Our house is dry and warm and generally humidity isnt a thing here... but apparently our damp garage was a different situation

Are desiccant packs enough or should I drill a hole and install a dehumidifier bar? I do have an outlet near by.
 
rockmup said:
Golden rod, nothing will rust if you have that.
I have one thats been running in the same safe for 30+ yrs
Click to expand...
I have a Golden Rod in the closet where the safe is, not even in the safe. No rust and it is WICKED humid here (MO, don't ask). When I lived in CO, I didn't need to worry about such things...
 
rockmup said:
Golden rod, nothing will rust if you have that.
I have one thats been running in the same safe for 30+ yrs
Click to expand...
I assume the cord plugs into the rod so you dont need a 1" plus hole in the safe?

Edit: i could always obviously just put a new plug on the cord and drill a 1/4" hole.

Thanks for the recommendation, $15 with 20% off for black friday
 
do not clean the rust off!
put the steel in boiling water for a while
then use 0000 steel wool and oil
 
You can do a light bulb as well, does the same thing as teh rods. Not sure if the new leds put out as much heat.

Sucks about the guns.
 
Last edited:
Reason 862 to not have a safe. They hold moisture.
 
I have a pair of these, recharge in the oven and switch them out about once every 18 months to 2 years. Safe is in a heated/air conditioned room. They work great.

www.midwayusa.com

MidwayUSA Silica Desiccant Dehumidifier Large Canister

Protecting your firearms is a top priority and MidwayUSA has you covered with the Silica Desiccant Dehumidifier Canister, which helps prevent...
www.midwayusa.com www.midwayusa.com


I did the plug-in the wall rechargeable desiccant for years. It's probably outside of their design parameters, but I'd just leave one plugged in 24/7 and swap when the one in the safe needed recharged. I still have the heat discolored spot on the drywall above the outlet from where one darn near burned our house down. I wouldn't recommend those, or at least don't sit them and forget them like I did.

I shared this in the OSR Deals thread already, but Amazon has Golden Rods on sale for Cyber Monday if you want to go that route.

 
2big bronco said:
I assume the cord plugs into the rod so you dont need a 1" plus hole in the safe?

Edit: i could always obviously just put a new plug on the cord and drill a 1/4" hole.

Thanks for the recommendation, $15 with 20% off for black friday
Click to expand...
Golden Rod comes with the plug-in but not connected for that very reason.
 
2big bronco said:
I assume the cord plugs into the rod so you dont need a 1" plus hole in the safe?

Edit: i could always obviously just put a new plug on the cord and drill a 1/4" hole.

Thanks for the recommendation, $15 with 20% off for black friday
Click to expand...
I bought a kit so you could put an outlet in the safe, then plug the goldenrod into that. The kit was a stupid purchase. All it is is a plastic junction box, recept, and appliance cord. All of which you can buy way cheaper individually at the hardware/bigbox store or amazon.

I just drilled a 1/4" hole, ran the appliance cord in and wired it in the junction box. Junction box is velcro taped to the carpeted safe wall. I put a dab of fire caulk around the cord as it enters the safe, inside and out.
 
two safes in an unclimate controlled garage. all my other steel rusts, but everything in the safes do not. i use the dessicant steel canisters you recharge in the oven. i also have hygrometers in the safes and in the garage to monitor.
 
2big bronco said:
I assume the cord plugs into the rod so you dont need a 1" plus hole in the safe?

Edit: i could always obviously just put a new plug on the cord and drill a 1/4" hole.

Thanks for the recommendation, $15 with 20% off for black friday
Click to expand...
Also, that safe you just bought from TSC should have a hole predrilled in the steel on the back. I have the same safe and I had to drill through the drywall and carpet but the safe its self was ready to go.
 
Mine has lights, I leave them on all the time. Never had a problem. Always warm and dry when I open it.

Doesn't take much but you have to have a heat source. Golden rod is great but doesn't need to be that fancy.
 
Toreadorranger said:
Also, that safe you just bought from TSC should have a hole predrilled in the steel on the back. I have the same safe and I had to drill through the drywall and carpet but the safe its self was ready to go.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I built a fireproof closet in my house and the safe fits tight. I put the outlet up high so I wouldn't be blocking it... so it looks like im going to need a hole in the top.

Btw that safe does not hold 36 long guns, haha.
 
[486] said:
knock out the rack and stack them in there one down, one up
pile your pistols on top of it all

be sure and smash them all together real good so the pointy bits can get a good bite on each other
Click to expand...
Basically what I had to do too get 20ish in there... and maybe eonly 3 have scopes
 
so did you boil the brown iron oxide into black iron oxide and card it off to see how bad the pitting is without ruining them further, or did you toss the wire wheel on the 4.5" and then hit them with a coat of bbq grill paint
 
[486] said:
so did you boil the brown iron oxide into black iron oxide and card it off to see how bad the pitting is without ruining them further, or did you toss the wire wheel on the 4.5" and then hit them with a coat of bbq grill paint
Click to expand...
I soaked them in oil and put them back in the safe. When I moVed them this weekend I wiped them down and got agressive enough with a rough kitchen scrbby thing to see the blueing comming off. I oiled it back up and put it away.
 
2big bronco said:
Was a really nice older engraved browni g trap gun... the other one wasnt actually that valuable but my personal favorite a lever action 357.
Click to expand...

"older" as in a Superposed? or a Citori? ive been a superposed collector for a few years now. Text me a picture of that gun under the lever where the serial number is. ill do my best to tell you about it. i have a Superposed book thats out of print and full of knowledge. Hopefully its not a salt wood gun.
 
[486] said:
knock out the rack and stack them in there one down, one up
pile your pistols on top of it all

be sure and smash them all together real good so the pointy bits can get a good bite on each other
Click to expand...
I basically do that, but everything is in a sock.

These go on sale for about 1/2 price a couple times a year. I usually put the link in the OSR deals thread when they do.

 
IMG_0916.jpeg
I have a larger Liberty safe, always just had one of these de-hum rods in it. I’ve never had any moisture in the past 20 years or so, and through 3 different houses. Never had it in a garage or anything tho, always been in a bedroom.
 
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