Sillica gel; thirsty hippo; dry boxes; dehumidifier lamp in a cupboard which one?

Silica Gel; Thirsty Hippo; DryCabinet, Which ONE??


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You can recycle your silica gel by placing it on a pyrex plate and putting it in either an oven or the microwave. Microwave is way faster. Bake it till it is blue. If it becomes dark blue, the silica gel is damaged. There is a limit to how many times you can "recharge" your gel.

Caution it gets very hot, hence the use of pyrex. Plastic will melt.

It is not harmful to the body when you bake it in the oven or microwave.

The above was sourced from the web. Use at your own risk :think: I am not responsible for any loss of life or damage to your equipment.:nono:

For me I use a dry cabinet set at 40%. Any lower it will dry up your gear and cause cracks.

If you search the Zeiss website, there is a PDF on fungus on lens issue. Good read from one of the best two lens makers in the world.
 

Gentleman...

I'd seen an Yashicamat stored in an Milo Cans, the owner had lighted the Milo Cans with a small bulb, (Torch light bulb or bicycle bulb) It put me in complete disbelieve how "MINT" the twin lens Yashicamat is althoug it's 25 years old. And this very respectable elderly, would hug it out for shooting weekly ! Truly amazing !

I'm in electronics trade, and DIYing is easy for me, the bulb can get damaged easily and the battery have to be replaced weekly.... expensive and "LECHAE" so, I replaced the bulb with a vaccum tube, only lighted up the 6.3V filament with 3.05V and this tube had served me for 5 years, not a single failure !
 

Guys do you think this is good... Sells for about $19. Much cheaper then "Thirsty Hippo" Type in the long run..


dry1.gif


dry2.gif



Direct Plug In The Unit Into An Electrical
Outlet To Regenerate Until Indicator
Changes To Blue By It's Built-in Heater

Actual Size: 15cm (W) x 12cm (H) x 3.5cm (D) Weight: 450g (Dry) >580g (Wet)
Contains 300g of odorless & non-toxic SiO2 Crystals - silica gel, the highest capacity absorbent available today

Needs Absolutely No Batteries / Power / AC To Operate

100% Spill Free / Needs no refills / Renewable For Over 100 Times

Eco-Dry, A Tremendous Value To You And Your Family
Environmentally Safe / Non-Toxic / Made From Non-Combustible ABS Plastic

Protects Your Clothes & Valuables From The Damaging Effects Of Moisture,
Fungus Rot And Mildew by Removing Unwanted Moisture

:dunno: :dunno:
 

How about putting a hungry hippo into a dry cabinet ?? will it be better ?? :D
 

Ramius75 said:
How about putting a hungry hippo into a dry cabinet ?? will it be better ?? :D
This can be a bit too dry. Tried this myself. RH went down to 25%.
 

VR Man said:
You can recycle your silica gel by placing it on a pyrex plate and putting it in either an oven or the microwave. Microwave is way faster. Bake it till it is blue. If it becomes dark blue, the silica gel is damaged. There is a limit to how many times you can "recharge" your gel.

Caution it gets very hot, hence the use of pyrex. Plastic will melt.

It is not harmful to the body when you bake it in the oven or microwave.

The above was sourced from the web. Use at your own risk :think: I am not responsible for any loss of life or damage to your equipment.:nono:

For me I use a dry cabinet set at 40%. Any lower it will dry up your gear and cause cracks.

If you search the Zeiss website, there is a PDF on fungus on lens issue. Good read from one of the best two lens makers in the world.
Blue-pink silica gel contains cobalt chloride as an indicator which is deemed to be carcinogenic.
 

tzesian said:
Gentleman...

I'd seen an Yashicamat stored in an Milo Cans, the owner had lighted the Milo Cans with a small bulb, (Torch light bulb or bicycle bulb) It put me in complete disbelieve how "MINT" the twin lens Yashicamat is althoug it's 25 years old. And this very respectable elderly, would hug it out for shooting weekly ! Truly amazing !

I'm in electronics trade, and DIYing is easy for me, the bulb can get damaged easily and the battery have to be replaced weekly.... expensive and "LECHAE" so, I replaced the bulb with a vaccum tube, only lighted up the 6.3V filament with 3.05V and this tube had served me for 5 years, not a single failure !
I used to do that but don't do that with modern lenses/cameras because they contain plastic parts and in the long run may melt in the environment with increased temperature. I used to have a 200/4 Micro and the coating of one of the elements sort of peeled and I suspect that may be due to putting it too close to the light bulb.

Best is to get a proper dry cabinet. Since you already spent so much money on your gear, what's a little bit more for insurance and a peace of mind?
 

Last time use gel, but find it very troublesome... so bite the bullet and get a Dry box.... in fact, have been bitting a lot of bullet liao.... :cry:
 

lsisaxon said:
I used to do that but don't do that with modern lenses/cameras because they contain plastic parts and in the long run may melt in the environment with increased temperature. I used to have a 200/4 Micro and the coating of one of the elements sort of peeled and I suspect that may be due to putting it too close to the light bulb.

Best is to get a proper dry cabinet. Since you already spent so much money on your gear, what's a little bit more for insurance and a peace of mind?


That's why I'd run the valve, the temperature is almost a constant 36 degree

I'd also make a temperature presetable, electronic regulated version for my ex-colleagues, have not hear any complain from him, for the past 3 years ....
 

W.Jr. said:
Used to use an old pot, put the silica gel in it, heat it up and watch them change color..that was a loooooooong time ago. Now I use a dry cab.

used to "fry" the sillica gell.. but now... just $3-4 dollar can get 500g sillica gell... :D
 

bonifas said:
used to "fry" the sillica gell.. but now... just $3-4 dollar can get 500g sillica gell... :D
So, after used them you throw them away??? What's a waste.... :( .

Regards,
Arto.
 

For a proper electric dry cabinet that costs slightly less than $100, and comes with a 5-year warranty... Why sweat and waste so much effort. Don't need to think so much, MTL, go out and get one.
 

Hi,
may i ask a question, i'll be going europe so wanna bring along something that will keep my cam dry, how do i use silica gel:dunno: . I saw some shops selling in small bottles of 500g. how to pack them and put in my camera bag? does it mean tt i always have to change the gel everyday? since it is exposed to atmosphere wherever i take the cam bag along with me?

helpeeee :hung:

thanks!
 

i recently found a cheap dehumidifier, going for SGD98 i think. small little cute electrical thingy. At first the seller told me it will be good to place it in the storeroom/bombshelter as the RH will be good, i realised that the RH fell only to 70% then i decided to go extreme. I took out all the wooden shelves in my cupboard and replaced them with stainless steel perforated sheets the size of a big dri cabi. i now have about 53% RH in the cupboard.... I think that should be sufficient.... Overall cost...
1) dehumidifier : 98
2) perforated sheets: $20
3) labor on drilling thru the cupboard: FOC (DIY)

i think its pretty cost effective, as i dun like the inconveniences of taking out gel to reheat and stuff.... very troublesome.... and for those who have plants, the dehumidifier churns out clean water for your plants... i dun think you wanna drink em.....

REgards
David Ong
 

interesting but i can't imagine the perforated sheets
and how it looks like..
but $98 seems abit ex.. how big is the unit?
 

Takes about 12hrs to recharge and last only a few days in the open, 2 weeks in cabinet. No good for home use but okay for pelican case when on overseas assignment.

lvsaint said:
Guys do you think this is good... Sells for about $19. Much cheaper then "Thirsty Hippo" Type in the long run..


dry1.gif


dry2.gif



Direct Plug In The Unit Into An Electrical
Outlet To Regenerate Until Indicator
Changes To Blue By It's Built-in Heater

Actual Size: 15cm (W) x 12cm (H) x 3.5cm (D) Weight: 450g (Dry) >580g (Wet)
Contains 300g of odorless & non-toxic SiO2 Crystals - silica gel, the highest capacity absorbent available today

Needs Absolutely No Batteries / Power / AC To Operate

100% Spill Free / Needs no refills / Renewable For Over 100 Times

Eco-Dry, A Tremendous Value To You And Your Family
Environmentally Safe / Non-Toxic / Made From Non-Combustible ABS Plastic

Protects Your Clothes & Valuables From The Damaging Effects Of Moisture,
Fungus Rot And Mildew by Removing Unwanted Moisture

:dunno: :dunno:
 

xiaolanku said:
Hi,
may i ask a question, i'll be going europe so wanna bring along something that will keep my cam dry, how do i use silica gel:dunno: . I saw some shops selling in small bottles of 500g. how to pack them and put in my camera bag? does it mean tt i always have to change the gel everyday? since it is exposed to atmosphere wherever i take the cam bag along with me?

helpeeee :hung:

thanks!

1) Keeping your equippment dry is only applicable to this region where it is hot and humid. Temperate countries do not need such measures like we do here because their weather is pretty dry.

2) The chance of fungus growth will only be high in humid and still air. So, if you regliously bring your equipment out for use every week, there is little need for a dry cabinet. Nevetheless, being the kiasees we are, we take no chances.
 

Almost as useful as a fridge to an eskimo.

My experience with this is that, yes, it takes too long to charge and then it would be quite hot. Quite hot really.

Then you put it into a air-tight box, then the heat would cause condensation (moisture) and then it will attempt to 'suck'dry its own moisture, gel turns pink again, you take out , recharge and the whole sick life-cycle starts all over again...

Be warned.

VR Man said:
Takes about 12hrs to recharge and last only a few days in the open, 2 weeks in cabinet. No good for home use but okay for pelican case when on overseas assignment.
 

Eco-dry takes too long to charge!

What am I gonna use for those 12 -15 hrs when it is under charging?

Plain silica gel I also dun like, cos the moment you open your box, it turns pink very very fast.

The same thing after you try to dry the silca gel in the oven, after taking out to cool down it would absorb the moisture so fast it turns pink before it is cool enough to reuse in the camera box.

The best in my opinion is those Thirsty Hippo. It will not rapidly turn bad when you open your camera dry box often. They last a very long time too. I bought a second hydrometer for verification and it does do the job nicely - 45 % humidity (Note: I only need to tear half the top seal of the Hippo based on the size of my box). The Hippo will collect some water at the bottom reservoir eventually. Being kiasu, I drill two holes of about 2mm at 2 corners so that I can drain out the water when it is collected (only need to do so once in 2 month so far) The 2 holes are taped over with scotch tape to prevent accidental spills.

The Hippo comes in a small size too (3 in a pack), its economical and demands little maintenance compared to silica gel! A Pack of 3 box cost about $5 only can last me for almost 6 months.