Camera storage - Drybox advice
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
Camera storage - Drybox advice
Hello I wonder if anybody can help me with a problem I've been having.
I live in UK and recently I made a simple drybox consisting of a plastic container with silica gel and dehumidifiers inside.
My problem is that even with multiple dehumidifiers and plenty of silica gel the humidity in the sealed box is upwards of 70%. I have no idea why.
In the past I'm simply stored my equipment in a wardrobe and never had any fungus issues but after realising that my houses humidity is so high I've srot of become obsessed with storing down properly.
Does anybody else use a drybox and if they do am I doing something wrong?
I live in UK and recently I made a simple drybox consisting of a plastic container with silica gel and dehumidifiers inside.
My problem is that even with multiple dehumidifiers and plenty of silica gel the humidity in the sealed box is upwards of 70%. I have no idea why.
In the past I'm simply stored my equipment in a wardrobe and never had any fungus issues but after realising that my houses humidity is so high I've srot of become obsessed with storing down properly.
Does anybody else use a drybox and if they do am I doing something wrong?
Also remember: If you close the box in a warm room and then stores it in a cooler room, the relative humidity will rise as an effect of the temperature change.
That is why good ventilation is sometimes better than a closed container.
That is why good ventilation is sometimes better than a closed container.
Troels Holm, biologist (retired), environmentalist, amateur photographer.
Visit my Flickr albums
Visit my Flickr albums
So how would I make it hermatic exactly? Do I need a better box?Lou Jost wrote:I don't know how you are caring for your dessicant, but if your house is humid, you have to constantly renew the dessicant. Your "dry box" is not hermetic and lets humidity enter easily.
I don't live in a tropical country so I've never used a dry box before, I can't wrap my head around how the humidity could be higher in the closed box than in the room.
It's the relative humidity that matters for fungi and mold. Cold air holds less water than warm air. If you put warm moist air in a closed container, and the temperature drops, the relative humidity goes up and could even reach 100%, causing condensation, because the cold air can't hold as much water as hot air.
It may be more efficient to dehumidify an entire room.
I use a 60 Litre/day Danby dehumidifier which keeps my large basement at 40% even in the most humid weather (have to keep door and windows closed). My cameras, microscopes and bug collection in the same room.
I use a 60 Litre/day Danby dehumidifier which keeps my large basement at 40% even in the most humid weather (have to keep door and windows closed). My cameras, microscopes and bug collection in the same room.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
wouldnt a airing cupboard be high humidity?ChrisR wrote:Think "airing cupboard".
With combi boilers, fewer houses in the UK have them.
Homebrew suppliers have low powered heating plates, and lizard-house heating pads start from just a few watts.
I think I'm just going to get a more airtight box and see if that helps, the percentage as dropped to 64% now however it is unusually hot right now so maybe once the temperature drops I won't have an issue.
Oh right.ChrisR wrote:No, the airing cuboard (traditionally housing a hot water storage cylinder providing heat) has warm air which holds more vapour in the air, so moisture comes out of your towels and cameras, into the air, and is carried away.
So, a cardboard box wouldn't come out soggy, it would be dry.
So maybe if I stuck my gear in a cabinet and put a couple of low watt bulbs in there they may have the same effect?