Dry Cabinet - Digital versus Analog

[limwsv]

Hi All,

Can the seniors here give me some guidance. I have gone to a shop to take a look at dry cabinets.

The sales person told me that digital cabinet not good. The reason is that you set the humidity to a precise value and therefore, the cabinet will heat the cabinet and the heat will not dissipate easily unless the equipment under air condition.
The person says that analog would not have this problem as it is set as a range so the humidity and temperature fluctuates.

Is my legs being pull? My basic understanding of physics tells me that both should be the same, since the gel absorb the moisture and get heated to drive it out.

 

[Shizuma]

Hi All,

Can the seniors here give me some guidance. I have gone to a shop to take a look at dry cabinets.

The sales person told me that digital cabinet not good. The reason is that you set the humidity to a precise value and therefore, the cabinet will heat the cabinet and the heat will not dissipate easily unless the equipment under air condition.
The person says that analog would not have this problem as it is set as a range so the humidity and temperature fluctuates.

Is my legs being pull? My basic understanding of physics tells me that both should be the same, since the gel absorb the moisture and get heated to drive it out.

Bull la. don't use too much time, money and effort to worry so much about storing your equipment. spend more time out there shooting... be happy!
meow

 

[chillicutter]

Well I not too sure about the heat problem but personally I would prefer an analog one

 

[undergrd]

Nv hear of such thing as mentioned by the sales guy before. I'm using an analog one cos I feel analog will not spoil that easily as compared to the digital type. I could be wrong though...

 

[Shizuma]

May I petition the Moderators to move this thread to Newbie Section as it is not an Article or Guide...?

Thank you
Meow.

 

[ricohflex]

The "digital" only refers to the readout display of the Relative Humidity. A sensor (usually battery powered) will show the RH in LCD.
The "analog" will display the hygrometer readout in the form of a needle on a dial.

You set the dehumidifying cabinet by turning an internal knob. The manual will tell you the usual recommended settings.
Then you wait for the RH to stabilise to the reading within the range where fungus is less likely to form.

Unless the sales person is referring to a new type of dehumidifying cabinet that I do not know of, it is likely that he is either:
• smoking you and having a good laugh after you left the shop.
• or he is not given any proper training and lacks the education to understand the theory behind how it works; so he mistakenly figures it out and tries his best to sell the wares. I think this is the more likely option. I have come across salesmen who give wrong explanations of their products.

Personally, I always use dehumidifying cabinet equipped with analog dial readout. LCD meters (if not powered internally) need frequent battery change and the LCD can fade over time. You do not need EXACT RH setting to 1 decimal place for camera storage purpose. Within a certain range is good enough.

I do have additional separate battery powered LCD readout RH meters; if I want to double check anything.

 

[Octarine]

TS might want to read this article which has been made sticky
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/others/481380-sharing-my-research-dry-cabinets.html
The sales person tried to pull very hard on all your legs .. please tell us which shop that was. In case we are in need of a good laugh we know where to go to (unless Kumar is on stage somewhere)

 

[limwsv]

May I petition the Moderators to move this thread to Newbie Section as it is not an Article or Guide...?

Thank you
Meow.

Hi, actually I started in the Newbie section where I thought it would attract more attention. Someone moved it here!?!

 

[eleveninth]

i prefer analog as well. my digital reader the batt leaked. bought an analog one to place inside my dry cabi

 

[ManWearPants]

I prefer digital as LCD panel easier to read and just set the required RH once on the panel and leave the controller to cut on and off the dehumidifier on its own.

Actually, what the sales person said is logical. The digital dehumidifier might stay on longer to attain the specified accurate RH. It might also cut in more often to maintain the RH. But the temperature affected is very mild cos the wattage used is very low. It's not as if your DDC will turn into an oven overnight. My hands definitely did not get toasted when I reach for my gears. I think it is not a major consideration even if true.

Bull la. don't use too much time, money and effort to worry so much about storing your equipment. spend more time out there shooting... be happy!
meow

Actually, storage is impt in Singapore where the RH is high. I learnt it the hard way. I was using air tight Tupperware with silica gels. A couple of my lenses still kanna fungus and have to send for cleaning.

 

[ManWearPants]

Will a dry cab kill off fungus or just prohibits their growth? If you store your certs which have mold on them in the same dry cabi, will the spores of the mold float to the lenses waiting for the right condition to grow or will the mold just die off in the dry cabi?

 

[snowc]

Will a dry cab kill off fungus or just prohibits their growth? If you store your certs which have mold on them in the same dry cabi, will the spores of the mold float to the lenses waiting for the right condition to grow or will the mold just die off in the dry cabi?

I think that a dry cab will not kill off fungus already present on the lens. Another thing is that fungus spores are everywhere which includes the interior of your dry cabinet. They are just waiting for the right condition to grow so it's a common misconception for people to think that fungus will spread from infected equipments.

For me personally, whether analog or digital it is necessary to get a hygrometer to double-check the humidity.