Moisture in Gun Safe.
I have a Champion Crown Series safe, which is a very-secure, well-built safe, with two Golden Rod dehumidifiers placed on the floor of the unit. The safe is situated on the first floor (as opposed to the basement or attic). The house is air conditioned and (I thought) dry. I’ve had this safe for about four years and have no problems with it. Until now. We’ve had wet weather for a few weeks, and I’ve begun to notice that a few of my guns have begun to show signs of surface rust. This has never happened before.
So I sprayed down every gun in the safe with preservative, and ran out and purchased a large canister of desiccant, rated to protect up to 60 cubic feet (my safe has a 50 cubic-foot interior). The canister has been in place for about two weeks. Tonight I noticed that the blue indicator beads had started to turn pink – a definite sign of moisture.
Naturally, I’m beginning to panic; there are a lot of guns in this safe.
I’ve called the manufacturer, but they could offer no explanation. The only possible cause I could determine is that the safe is completely airtight, being sealed with a rubber-like strip that runs around the inside edge of the door (this strip is designed to expand in case of fire to seal the safe from heat damage.
Because of this, no air can flow through the safe when the door is closed. As I understand it, the operational principle of the Golden Rods is to heat the air in the safe, which becomes dry and then rises and exits through the top edge of the door. This sucks in new air from the bottom, and creates a flow of dry air, theoretically preventing rust.
If, however, the safe door is sealed, air cannot flow, and any moisture is trapped inside the safe. This is my theory, anyway, and I’m considering removing the rubber-like strips to allow air to flow (of course the safe will no longer be as fire-resistant as it once was).
Has anyone in the forum ever heard of anything like this happening? And does anyone have any suggestions? Any informed advice would be greatly appreciated!
I have a Champion Crown Series safe, which is a very-secure, well-built safe, with two Golden Rod dehumidifiers placed on the floor of the unit. The safe is situated on the first floor (as opposed to the basement or attic). The house is air conditioned and (I thought) dry. I’ve had this safe for about four years and have no problems with it. Until now. We’ve had wet weather for a few weeks, and I’ve begun to notice that a few of my guns have begun to show signs of surface rust. This has never happened before.
So I sprayed down every gun in the safe with preservative, and ran out and purchased a large canister of desiccant, rated to protect up to 60 cubic feet (my safe has a 50 cubic-foot interior). The canister has been in place for about two weeks. Tonight I noticed that the blue indicator beads had started to turn pink – a definite sign of moisture.
Naturally, I’m beginning to panic; there are a lot of guns in this safe.
I’ve called the manufacturer, but they could offer no explanation. The only possible cause I could determine is that the safe is completely airtight, being sealed with a rubber-like strip that runs around the inside edge of the door (this strip is designed to expand in case of fire to seal the safe from heat damage.
Because of this, no air can flow through the safe when the door is closed. As I understand it, the operational principle of the Golden Rods is to heat the air in the safe, which becomes dry and then rises and exits through the top edge of the door. This sucks in new air from the bottom, and creates a flow of dry air, theoretically preventing rust.
If, however, the safe door is sealed, air cannot flow, and any moisture is trapped inside the safe. This is my theory, anyway, and I’m considering removing the rubber-like strips to allow air to flow (of course the safe will no longer be as fire-resistant as it once was).
Has anyone in the forum ever heard of anything like this happening? And does anyone have any suggestions? Any informed advice would be greatly appreciated!