Best things for a Dry Box

[BananaRepublic]

Hi,

I have had/am having an encounter with fungus and now that the horse has bolted Im creating a dry box. Im wondering about how best to contain the silica and I would like to hear what your experiences are with hygrometers, are mechanical or digital more reliable.

1. Silica, are little containers just more convenient than the reusable pouch things ?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indicating-Rechargeable-Functional-Microscopes-Telescopes/dp/B01H6W4HT4
or this type of thing
https://www.amazon.co.uk/FiNeWaY-RE...ywords=reusable+silica&qid=1600943248&sr=8-13

 

[mjcmt]

This is a nice version of the silica pack style dehumidifier.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H0XFC...Format=grid&impressionTimestamp=1600946936515

 

[cgw]

Silica pacs are really only effective in very tight spaces like quality ziplocks. Sealed cabinets or small rooms require plug-in dehumidifiers suitable for the space.

 

[mjcmt]

The OP did say dry box so it's a closed space.

 

[JBPhotog]

Another option is a chemical reactive agent in products such as damp traps. They chemically absorb the moisture in the air and trap it a reservoir to be discarded when the chemical is exhausted. Personally, I would place this item on the lowest level in your cabinet and put it in another plastic container should it leak. They can be purchased on Amazon or your local dollar store.

I use two of these in a large cabinet with a digital hygrometer and replace them every 6 months or so when they are exhausted. They drop the humidity significantly but keep in mind the cabinet should have weather strip seals around the door to minimize air exchange.

 

[cgw]

The OP did say dry box so it's a closed space.

Right but there's no penalty for overdoing silica pacs which are usually less effective per unit than claimed.

 

[BananaRepublic]

What I was going to do was to use a self sealing plastic storage container, around 15 litres/4 gallons, approx, with a humidity meter and some reusable silica. The chemical agent things seem over kill for the size of box I was thinking of.

 

[petrochemist]

I'd probably go for the smaller of the two you linked to, but I'd make sure to get two of them
I think the ones I use hold about 25g but I get them free from work and often use several together.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the plastic housing which looks quite brittle.

Several of mine use molecular sieve rather than silica gel as the dessiccant, this hold quite a bit more moisture & is more difficult to regenerate but backing them in the valcuum oven at work does the trick nicely. Several hours at >200C also works if required but only because mine are in metal cases (which rules out microwave drying).

Silica gel can normally be regenerated at 100C, but the glue used to hold the normal packets won't hold at this temperature - you'll end up with silica gel all over the place...

 

[BananaRepublic]

I'd probably go for the smaller of the two you linked to, but I'd make sure to get two of them
I think the ones I use hold about 25g but I get them free from work and often use several together.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the plastic housing which looks quite brittle.

Several of mine use molecular sieve rather than silica gel as the dessiccant, this hold quite a bit more moisture & is more difficult to regenerate but backing them in the valcuum oven at work does the trick nicely. Several hours at >200C also works if required but only because mine are in metal cases (which rules out microwave drying).

Silica gel can normally be regenerated at 100C, but the glue used to hold the normal packets won't hold at this temperature - you'll end up with silica gel all over the place...

Ive seen ones with metal cases also, again containing silica gel. Can all silica desiccants be regenerated as in could I get a bunch of shoe box type and just open up the bags into a bowl and stick them in the microwave or must I get the specific regenerative kind.

 

[petrochemist]

Ive seen ones with metal cases also, again containing silica gel. Can all silica desiccants be regenerated as in could I get a bunch of shoe box type and just open up the bags into a bowl and stick them in the microwave or must I get the specific regenerative kind.

Silica gel can always be regenerated, but it's not worth opening up small ones. Silica gel without the bags is actually cheaper when brought in moderate quanities. More importantly the gel makes a right mess if spilt. Despite the name the particals are hard & will scratch paint & some types of glass.

Not all silica gel is indicating - the pure form is white - and it's available in a wide variety of mesh sizes low numbers being coarse mesh & more suitable for drying gases.