How to keep photo equipments off from moisture - Dehumidifier

[victor_ng2]

<p>Hi,<br>

I have two digital cameras and 4 lens. I always keep them in my photography backpack (with zipper & dividers inside - not the hard case). My house always have air conditioner/heater turned on, depending on the season. I don't use my equipments about once a month, or once in every two months, averagely.<br>

So, would you show me how to keep my equipments off from moisture effectively? I heard about those gell beans, but I'm kind of lazy to re-heat them, PLUS I've heard it's not very effective. Please advise. Thanks.</p>

 

[alan_zinn]

<p>Use the desiccant and re-fill. Buy larger containers and put gear in plastic storage tubs or 5Gal. paint cans.<br>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/DampRid-FG50T-Hi-Capacity-Moisture-Absorber/dp/B0029EGUNG/ref=pd_sim_k_3">LINK</a></p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Oddly, the subject just came up on the Canon forum. Perhaps you might find some useful answers there, including mine:</p>

<p><a href="../canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00aZ1S">http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00aZ1S</a></p>

<p>There's only one way to lazily dehumidify, and that's with heat. However, you will pay for it with energy consumption. You can butcher a cheap dresser/chest to do it. Cut holes in the drawer bottoms that are large enough to allow air flow, but small enough that your equipment doesn't fall through it. Then put a lightbulb in the bottom of the dresser, making certain you don't get anything too hot (fire hazard). The warm air will rise through the cabinet and keep all your equipment dry. </p>

<p>I would recommend monitoring your humidity levels with a cheap humidity indicator card, available many places, including the Drierite Corporation.</p>

<p>FAIW, the silica gel beads do work extremely well. They are my method of choice. They are also not difficult to dry out. However, they do require a bit of monitoring to make certain they are buffering humidity within the ideal 30-50% range and haven't taken on so much moisture that they are creating a problem.</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Alan, I sometimes use 5 gal paint cans too! :-) Victor, you can buy snap lids for them. We use the paint buckets for keeping anything dry that we take out on the water. The buckets are light and easy to carry, and they float! :-)</p>

[andre_noble5]

<p>"I always keep them in my photography backpack"<br>

<br>

<strong>Wrong move. Way wrong.</strong><br>

<strong> </strong><br>

To avoid fungus and mold, lenses in particular need:<br>

1) Air circulation</p>

<p>1b) dust free air<br>

2) UV light exposure<br>

3) Cool & dry conditions <br>

4) no quick temperature changes that will condense water vapor internally</p>

<p>Also if air is TOO dry (Below 50% humidity) , you'll get problems with gear prematurely aging, dried out lubricants, rubber, etc.</p>

[alan_zinn]

<p>Andre,<br>

You are 100% correct. Had all those problems with long-term storage. The rotted-desolved foam plastic gaskets really were a shock. I don't kow if they age no matter what? Maybe gear used fairly often and kept in sealed bucket <strong>without</strong> silica jell is smarter. I knew someone from Figi where humidity swiftly killed cameras -even those kept in "dry" chests.</p>

[victor_ng2]

<p>Thanks very much for your advises!<br>

I also read from some blogs on the web that recommend to buy a plastic storage box that is watertight/air-tight seal type, put my equipments in there with the moisture absorber. And before I close the lid, use the vacume cleaner to suck out all the air as much as possible, then quickly close it tight. What do you think? Thanks.</p>

[ilkka]

<p>It depends on where you live. Some places have a serious problem with humidity and therefore fungus. Playing around with silicagel packs and heating them in the oven is a joke in a place like that. What you need is a proper mains powered drying cabinet. Something like this:<br>

<a href="http://www.way-technovation.com/Dehumidifier/digicabi.htm">http://www.way-technovation.com/Dehumidifier/digicabi.htm</a><br>

For occasional or travel use there are also silicagel packs that have a mains plug and built in heating element. Something like this:<br>

<a href="http://www.homesteadcaravans.co.uk/rechargeable-dehumidifier-twin-pack/">http://www.homesteadcaravans.co.uk/rechargeable-dehumidifier-twin-pack/</a><br>

They can be put into a normal tight closing cabinet, or a big bag and recharged when they lose their mojo. They normally have a colourful indicator that shows when it is time to plug them in for a few hours.<br>

There are many manufacturers of the above cabinets and dry units. I have not tried the above two, they are just a result of a very quick web search and are meant to just illustrate what kind or products are available. I use similar things every day, living in tropical Asia with 90% humidity.</p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Ilkka, FAIW, I buy loose silica gel in bulk and tie it into small bags of old pantihose -- about 7 cm in diameter. I get lots of air flow through the bags that way. I have enough gel that I can dehydrate it as opportunities present. For instance during the winter I can just throw the bags over a heater for a few days. Anyway, the loose gel is very inexpensive and effective. It does work well enough to be convenient for year-round storage in humidity levels just like yours. (We live in a similar soup here in coastal Virginia.)</p>

<p>Victor, I would not suck the air out of the storage bags. You actually need space around the equipment for the air to move, or else the silica gel will do you no good. In my optics trunk, I built a system of dividers with large holes to allow free airflow all around my equipment. It's worked very well that way.</p>

<p>I would also recommend you buy a bunch of humidity indicator cards from the Drierite Corporation. They're very cheap (about US$0.10 each), and you can insert one inside each bag to monitor interior humidity conditions. You might find that it's more difficult to keep a stable humidity inside a collection of individual bags than inside a large, air-tight trunk. I've never tried bags, so I can't comment from personal experience.</p>