Gun Vault Moisture

[costanza]

Hi Everyone:
I just wanted to share a minor gun vault experience that surprised me a bit. I have two vaults in my basement-a big 600 pound Cannon that I purchased a few years ago, and my original 150 pound vault I now use to store only ammo. I run a 30 pint dehumidifier in the basement at 60 percent(which will now go way down asap!), and have two 'goldenrod' type dehumidifier units- one in each of in the vaults. This weekend, I had to move my little vault with 600 pounds of ammo in it. It would not budge! So I took everything out of it to organize the ammo stash, and found that the dollar store moisture remover I put in there two months ago had over a pint of water in it! I didn't think these things really worked! And I thought my vaults were keeping things fairly dry! I have an electrical outlet in the big vault, and will have to buy something that works a bit better for the high humidity summer months, when my humidifier runs nearly non-stop.

Regards,
Costanza

[juicemon]

At 60 percent humidity you could almost use the basement as a cigar humidor! I'm sure dropping the level will go a long way to keeping your safes dry.
k

[costanza]

At 60 percent humidity you could almost use the basement as a cigar humidor! I'm sure dropping the level will go a long way to keeping your safes dry.
k

I really had no idea 60 percent was that damp! I now wonder what the basement humidity is without the dehumidifier! Maybe I need another unit? I think the dehumidifier settings only go down to 50 percent, and I empty the water bin every other day at that rate. Winter months are fine, but in the summer, the amount of water collected increases tenfold. I will be buying more of those moisture removal canisters until I figure out what to do...Thanks for the reply!
Regards, Costanza

[lethean]

A lot of dehumidifiers have a hookup for a garden hose, which you can then route to your sump well or drain. It keeps you from having to empty it regularly.

[somebody]

A lot of dehumidifiers have a hookup for a garden hose, which you can then route to your sump well or drain. It keeps you from having to empty it regularly.

This is precisely what I was going to recommend.

[Draken]

A lot of dehumidifiers have a hookup for a garden hose, which you can then route to your sump well or drain. It keeps you from having to empty it regularly.

This. I run mine into my condensate pump for my furnace, works like a charm.

[Thrindle]

Even 50 is too high. The reason is the big ugly hairy evil looking centipedes. They like humidity over 45%. I keep my dehumidifier at 40%

[erict]

Mine just has a dial setting of 0-10. Keeping mine set at setting 6 will keep the basement at 40-45%. I have two humidity monitors in the basement. One in the open and one in the safe to keep an accurate monitor on things. One thing about dehumidifiers is they cost $$$ to run. Mine is around $50 per month,crazy.

[bolonytony24]

I keep a mason jar with desiccant inside my safe. A few holes in the top and I shake it about once in a while and change beads occasionaly too. Seems to work well but I have access to desiccant at work and it's free to me when it's left over from a job .

[costanza]

Even 50 is too high. The reason is the big ugly hairy evil looking centipedes. They like humidity over 45%. I keep my dehumidifier at 40%

Ha! Yes! I hat those things. Yesterday, I bumped my dehumidifier down to 40 percent, it has been a couple of years since I have had(seen) any centipedes, but used to see them fairly often. They are the real reason I carry a gun! Gotta rig up the drain hose!