Moisture munchers

[TN Traveler]

Here is a link to the Damp Rid at Home Depot - when I bought mine they had a smaller container that looked like this - I think it was a 1 or 2 pounder for about $5. They have the smaller container at Lowes.

DampRid Hi-Capacity Moisture Absorber - FG50T at The Home Depot

 

[SkipperJohn]

I use these on my boat during winter storage. Any marine supply store should have them in various sizes too.

 

[markr]

There are two kinds. The litte blue tubes are blue when good, pink when not, and cannot be rejuvenated I don't think. And no matter how careful I am to open the ziplock in a air conditioned room and reseal it, the rest start turning. I figure on at least one new one a day, one new package per trip.


The other kind is not for inside the camera housing, but for inside dry boxes, and can be rejuvinated.

Is there some reason other then size the packets aren't for use in a camera housing? They look like they would fit under the mounting tray of an Ikelite housing.

 

[DandyDon]

What about this? 42 oz at Walgreen for $3.79...
[c]

[/c]

Is there some reason other then size the packets aren't for use in a camera housing? They look like they would fit under the mounting tray of an Ikelite housing.

• They can slide around in interfere with the controls
• They do not change color to tell you they've gone bad
• You can catch the edge of one in an O-ring causing a leak

But I've seen people do it..

 

[do it easy]

Just a note of caution when regenerating MM in your microwave or oven- I think the blue/pink silica gel is typically doped with cobalt chloride to get the color to change. The cobalt chloride might be toxic in large doses, so use reasonable caution to avoid contact, dust, contamination.

In reality, the amount of cobalt chloride is probably small, so just wash your hands...

Now Don- if these thing happen to explode in your microwave, it might be another story.

 

[DandyDon]

Just a note of caution when regenerating MM in your microwave or oven- I think the blue/pink silica gel is typically doped with cobalt chloride to get the color to change. The cobalt chloride might be toxic in large doses, so use reasonable caution to avoid contact, dust, contamination.

In reality, the amount of cobalt chloride is probably small, so just wash your hands...

Now Don- if these thing happen to explode in your microwave, it might be another story.

The one surviving MM turned back to lilac in the ziplock.

I sent out those pics with that post a prefacing explanation as to what they are to my email buddies. Got a lot of laughs from non-divers.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I know most automatic ovens don't go down to 170 F these days, but mine does... I put them on a sheet of aluminum and watch for changes. It takes about two hours for most to turn the dark rich blue that they are in original form... It seems 170 is not enough to melt, or burn, but is enough to take the humidity out of the oven, and still allow for the rich blue to remain. I have 15 tubes that I refurbish regularly...

 

[tfsails]

I used to work on fighter aircraft avionics systems and we used dessicant by the ton, it seemed. We had a gallon paint can of it and several refillable canisters that then went onto the "black boxes". When a canister turned pink, we'd refill it with blue, and then stick the pink in the oven at a low temp. The moisture in it would evaporate and it'd be good to go.

Dessicants can be dried out, reused, and refurbished many, many times as long as the container they're in isn't compromised.

 

[do it easy]

Dessicants can be dried out, reused, and refurbished many, many times as long as the container they're in isn't compromised.

That's the issue with MM- the container only has a few small holes in the ends, so when drying them in the microwave, they tend to explode; drying in the oven seems to work, but takes a little while.

I was experimenting with them in the microwave and I had a MM turn into a balloon, but it didn't explode. I cut the top off and put it back in the microwave and turned it back to a deep blue rather quickly at a higher power setting since I wasn't worried about explosive steam buildup.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Random thought here, what about a food dehydrator? Or would you just end up with MM jerky :rofl2:

I've tried the microwave and ended up with the balloon issue.
Ber :lilbunny: