How to use silica gel in a dry box?

[TsQ]

got a dry (plastic) box with those silica gel... the silica gel is stored in a plastic, and the bag of gel in the plastic comes in a plastic container..

so do i just undie to plastic bag then leave it inside the plastic container with the lid open????

or i pour it all out into the container and leave the lid open???

or what i am thinking as per above is all wrong?

Thks bros...

[foxtwo]

untie the plastic bag and leave it in box. Close the lid tight, Don't leave the lid open. the point of the gel is to absorb moisture from the air in the box. Store your photography eq there. The plastic box should be the airtight type.

[binbeto]

Buy a stocking. Preferably those "lace" type.

Pour the silica gel in and it will do it's job.

[Witness]

buy a dehumidifier.....and pour ya gel in....then close the box...less messy this way..

[TsQ]

Originally Posted by foxtwo untie the plastic bag and leave it in box. Close the lid tight, Don't leave the lid open. the point of the gel is to absorb moisture from the air in the box. Store your photography eq there. The plastic box should be the airtight type.

it's actually a tupperware i borrowed from my mom



nah just kidding...haha

so no need to pour the gel out? just undie the bag, close the lid then close the cap? (there's actually another lid within the lid) ..

just curious.. if i close the lid back, how is the gel gonna suck up he moisture?

[Witness]

some chemical reaction tt is too minute for us to understand....

[TsQ]

erm.. i bit lost.. and this is very important to me as i am storing some very old VHS tapes inside... hope that one day I can transfer all to vcd/dvd, so until then.. need to protect it

so a picture tells a 1000 words .. is this the right way to place it??

[mervlam]

not very effective as only the top bits of the gel absorbs the moisture.

what i do is to pour the gel onto the bottom of the dry box, then lay a piece of paper or thin piece of sponge on top of the gel, then place my stuff on the paper/sponge lining

the idea is the gel is spreaded out to more effectively absorb moisture. disadvantage is it may get messy/dusty when you change the gel

[TsQ]

Originally Posted by mervlam not very effective as only the top bits of the gel absorbs the moisture. what i do is to pour the gel onto the bottom of the dry box, then lay a piece of paper or thin piece of sponge on top of the gel, then place my stuff on the paper/sponge lining the idea is the gel is spreaded out to more effectively absorb moisture. disadvantage is it may get messy/dusty when you change the gel

ohh good idea.. will try that.. thks

how often u need to change the gel? or rather, how to tell if its time to change new ones?

[zod]

Originally Posted by TsQ ohh good idea.. will try that.. thks how often u need to change the gel? or rather, how to tell if its time to change new ones?

dun worry
when the time comes,
you WILL know

[justarius]

Originally Posted by TsQ ohh good idea.. will try that.. thks how often u need to change the gel? or rather, how to tell if its time to change new ones?

it will change colour.

[tingchiyen]

to pink... ...

[Splutter]

Just try not to let the silica gel have direct contact with ur equipment as they tend to crack over time, especially if u reheat them. And it'll be quite troublesome if the tiny fragments get into the camera

[jimtong]

If you dun mind to have another alt method, is to get the thirsty hippo.. the packet type and just leave it in your dry box. more tidy that way

[TsQ]

Originally Posted by jimtong If you dun mind to have another alt method, is to get the thirsty hippo.. the packet type and just leave it in your dry box. more tidy that way

so Gel vs Thirsty hippo, which is better? or both are the same?

[lytefunk]

Don't mind me..
On a side question, I now found out you shouldn't exceed 300 degrees when drying the gel..

Problem is.. I usually use a microwave oven cause its a lot faster (heating in 1 min intervals then 10 sec cooling.. for about 3 mins) and temperatures in there is unknown..

So any idea is this a good method?? Safe?

[jimtong]

Originally Posted by TsQ so Gel vs Thirsty hippo, which is better? or both are the same?

They should be the same.. depend on your like.

However, Gel can recycle, thirsty hippo use once and throw...

[RAIN_MAN]

"it's actually a tupperware i borrowed from my mom" Well i use tupperware,specially ask my mum to help me buy one and it works well!
No dry box work this well,trust me!

[vincentt_whale]

just want to ask how does hydrometer works?

[angy]

personally, I would not bother with the silica gel approach. It is going to do more harm than good to your precious equipment.

Why? Silica gel does not know when to stop abosrbing the moisture in the box. So you can start with a relative humidity of 98% and then go all the way to 30%. Then you camera gear will get too dry. So you imagine, everytime you open your box, the relative humidity goex back to 98%. Then the gel starts to absorb the moisture till it cannot absorb anymore. You can imagine what your tape will be like if you have silica gel inside the box.

I still prefer buying the electric dry box where there is a thermostat to control the relative humidity.

Good luck if you insist in using silica gel or hungry hippo.