Silica Gel Cannister..How to recharge

[BTSDOG]

I recently purchased a 750 gram silica gel cannister for my gun safe. It gets somewhat humid in my basement gunroom, even when running a dehumidifier in another part of the basement. Because it didnt come with any instructions on how to recharge it, i have a couple of questions.....1. Do all of the silica gel beads turn color ? (pink in my case), or do just some of them turn ? 2. Do i put the whole cannister in the oven, or do i empty them out on a flat cookie sheet, then put them in ??...Thanks for any input.......

 

[MACGYVR]

Whole can in oven. 300 deg for 3 hours.

It should be stamped right on it.

"when pink recharge" right by the examonation window.

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[BTSDOG]

Whole can in oven. 300 deg for 3 hours.

It should be stamped right on it.

"when pink recharge" right by the examonation window.

Update: On this particular cannister, there are no markings whatsoever, except a small sticker on the bottom, "made in china"...well, i put it in the oven at 300 deg. F, for 3 hours and when i took it out, there was more moisture in the can than when i put it in......????? I think the small holes in the can weren't large enough to let the moisture escape quickly enough and it just built up on the top of the can as condensation which was just getting reabsorbed by the silica beads.....So i opened the can and spread all the beads on a rimmed cookie sheet and put this back in the oven at 250 deg. F for 2 hours.....we'll see what happens.......

 

[billwright]

What brand was it? There are several different brands of these out there, each having their own reactivation instructions.

Also, the way it sounds you have the Blue to Pink Silica Gel beads. I don't even know why ANYONE sells these anymore, it contains Cobalt Chloride which is classified as a IARC Group 2B carcinogen. It's also listed as a hazardous substance in Europe.

There are many manufactures out there selling the ORANGE Moisture Indicating Silica Gel which does NOT contain Cobalt Chloride. They are new to the market within the past 5 years or so, but much safer and pretty much ALL they use accross Europe.

So, my advice? Bit the bullet and trash the 750 Gram of the Blue/Pink Silica Gel and simply purchase a new canister from a reprible manufacture that is selling the safer ORANGE/GREEN moisture indicator. You can simply google them to find, or I provided a link below to one:

http://www.silicagelpackets.com/dry-packs-dehumidifier-products/900-gram-dehumidifier-box.html

 

[mac1911]

I have had several of the perferated can types with no instructions on the canister.
You need to pre heat the oven then install. Depending on how much moister is in the can it can take a good amount of time.
When I let mine go a bit to long it takes over 3 hours @ 300'f