Such a thing as TOO much de-humidifying?

[Krp7894]

Hey all

Just was thinking the other day after cleaning my LE6920 and putting it away in my safe, what would you all consider too much de-humidifying if there is such a thing? I have one of those Stack-On Total Defense 28 Gun safes, got it for about $1000 shipped here in NY which is a good deal around here. I have a humidity gauge in the safe which typically reads at 26% during the fall/winter and doesn't get much higher than 30% spring/summer. I started off with one of those rechargeable dehumidifiers from Stack-On, and it says it should last about 4-6 weeks before a recharge for up to I think 100 cubic feet, but mine was lasting maybe 2 weeks before the crystals became pink. I bought a second one and I run them two at a time usually and they still only last about 3-4 weeks tops before needing a recharge. My question is can it actually be harmful to run 2-3 of these things at once? I will say I don't have any wooden stocks on any of my guns, and I do have 9 guns in there (4 long guns and 5 handguns). I am pretty anal about keeping my firearms clean (police academy did that to me), I just wondered if that could actually be a bad thing to have too low of humidity.

[Split66]

Hey all

Just was thinking the other day after cleaning my LE6920 and putting it away in my safe, what would you all consider too much de-humidifying if there is such a thing? I have one of those Stack-On Total Defense 28 Gun safes, got it for about $1000 shipped here in NY which is a good deal around here. I have a humidity gauge in the safe which typically reads at 26% during the fall/winter and doesn't get much higher than 30% spring/summer. I started off with one of those rechargeable dehumidifiers from Stack-On, and it says it should last about 4-6 weeks before a recharge for up to I think 100 cubic feet, but mine was lasting maybe 2 weeks before the crystals became pink. I bought a second one and I run them two at a time usually and they still only last about 3-4 weeks tops before needing a recharge. My question is can it actually be harmful to run 2-3 of these things at once? I will say I don't have any wooden stocks on any of my guns, and I do have 9 guns in there (4 long guns and 5 handguns). I am pretty anal about keeping my firearms clean (police academy did that to me), I just wondered if that could actually be a bad thing to have too low of humidity.

No, you are fine. If you had fine wood stocked guns then I'd get anal about it.

Also if you need a good, cheap supply of desiccant you can get bulk bags of the silica crystal stuff at art stores ( for drying flowers) or pick up crystal kitty litter from Petco.

You can use a coffee filters and staple them shut. Then you have rechargeable packs for ammo cans etc. too :)

[BufordTJustice]

No, you are fine. If you had fine wood stocked guns then I'd get anal about it.

Also if you need a good, cheap supply of desiccant you can get bulk bags of the silica crystal stuff at art stores ( for drying flowers) or pick up crystal kitty litter from Petco.

You can use a coffee filters and staple them shut. Then you have rechargeable packs for ammo cans etc. too :)
Split hit the nail on head. No wood means no problem as long as you don't go below 20, where some cheaper polymers can get brittle over time.

[Ryno12]

30%RH is pretty dry already. Why waste the effort and cash to get it lower? I personally target 40%RH but you can safely go higher.
If I were you, I'd just leave it be and just monitor it.

After rereading your post, I'd double check your hygrometer if I were you. Something tells me that's reading too low. (But I'm no expert on NY climate). If you never get above 30% in summer yet your desiccant dehumidifier is toast in 2 weeks, something seems off.

[Krp7894]

No I leave it be. I always have one dehumidifiers up on the top shelf and one on the floor of my safe. Currently I have a synthetic grip on my SW 686 but I'm going to be ordering a wood grip for it soon and I don't want it to crack. I think the lowest humidity I have seen in my safe was about 21%.

[U&A]

30%RH is pretty dry already. Why waste the effort and cash to get it lower? I personally target 40%RH but you can safely go higher.
If I were you, I'd just leave it be and just monitor it.

After rereading your post, I'd double check your hygrometer if I were you. Something tells me that's reading too low. (But I'm no expert on NY climate). If you never get above 30% in summer yet your desiccant dehumidifier is toast in 2 weeks, something seems off.

im with Ryno12....if your really are at 26% in the fall and winter I wouldn even worry about recharging the dehumidifier. even at 30% you shouldn't have to worry about it. in Michigan we very rarely are around 60% in the winter, most of the time it is close to 80% and 90%. summer, your looking at 90% and up and I have never had any problems.

you should be exceptional with that low of humidity.

[kerplode]

I shoot for a 35-45% relative humidity range inside the safe year round. It's fairly dry in CO, but my stuff lives in a basement which can get up to 70% in the summer due to over-watering of grass by the community and a general lack of airflow down there.

I keep a couple of those little plug-in rechargeable desiccant boxes in my safe and my mag cabinet. They get recharged about once a month. In the summer I run an active dehumidifier to keep the entire basement at a more reasonable level. So far, no issues with any of the metal or wood.

As long as the temps and humidity levels don't fluctuate rapidly and you keep your stuff relatively clean and oiled, you would probably be safe across a fairly wide range of relative humidity. Where you can get into trouble is if the humidity is up and the air cools quickly causing condensation. Also, IMO, swings from high to low humidity are harder on wood than a fairly stable low humidity. When I lived in NM, humidity in the summer would regularly be in the low teens and I never had any issue with wood cracking.