Using Air Conditioning to lower humidty in the room I store my gear

[Bear Dale]

How do I use Air Conditioning to lower the humidty in the room I store my gear?

I've got an accurate hyrometer in their and with all the rain that the south coast is getting the humidity is 94 percent. I've tried the humidity setting on the AC unit, but it won't do anything unless I have it set to 16 degrees. It will then lower the humidity to 65 after 2 hours.

Is this correct for an AC or am I doing something wrong?

[Lance B]

Get a dehumidifying cabinet as they cost almost nothing to run.

[Bear Dale]

How do they run Lance?

[fabian628]

if you store your gear in a cupboard you could try using a moisture absorber (you can buy them at supermarket and contain CaCl2 which will absorb moisture vigourously) they are not so good for a whole room with this weather, but do well in a cupboard. look in the cleaning isle of the supermarket.

[Bear Dale]

Bit the bullet and bought a dry cabinet, it will be delivered on Friday. I have wanted one for years as I am always paranoid about lens fungus after getting in on a few old FD lenses many years ago.

[mikec]

if you store your gear in a cupboard you could try using a moisture absorber (you can buy them at supermarket and contain CaCl2 which will absorb moisture vigourously) they are not so good for a whole room with this weather, but do well in a cupboard. look in the cleaning isle of the supermarket.

That won't be very effective. You need an air tight enclosure for those absorbers to be effective. Because if air is getting in it's bringing in most of that moisture as well.

A proper cabinet is the way to go if you are worried.

[Bear Dale]

Received it overnight which was excellent service from Sydney via Toll Express.

It's built a lot sturdier than what the picture shows. It's really well made and the shelves roll out. Very happy!

[Bennymiata]

If you set the A/C to just de-humidify, you need to keep it on all the time, as it will take some days to be fully effective, and you should keep all the doors and windows closed as much as possible too.

[Bear Dale]

The humidty is sitting at 94% rh, but all my gear is now at a comfortable 40% rh

Thats a lot of peace of mind for me!

[nardes]

From memory, I once read somewhere that if the RH is too low, it can affect certain lubricants in equipment causing them to dry out. Check your equipment manuals to see if they specify a lower RH value.

Cheers

Dennis

[Bear Dale]

Hi Dennis, the manual recommends between 40% and 45%

I did have calibrate the analogue hygrometer to a known electronic one (it was out by 15).

[nardes]

Thanks Jim, that’s good to know.

Which cabinet did you purchase, as we are experiencing our typically high RH in Brisbane and I use a DéLonghi room dehumidifier which so far has been effective although I have to keep the windows and doors closed. During hot, humid days, the room the air temp can get uncomfortably high.

Cheers

Dennis

[fabian628]

That won't be very effective. You need an air tight enclosure for those absorbers to be effective. Because if air is getting in it's bringing in most of that moisture as well.

A proper cabinet is the way to go if you are worried.

I disagree, as long as your cupoard does not have massive volume majority of the moisture will be absorbed quickly. Even though the cupboard is not air tight, there is not a large amount of gas movement in and out of the cupboard through gaps. Yes there will be some, but this does not affect the life of the absorber greatly.

[Bear Dale]

Thanks Jim, that’s good to know.

Which cabinet did you purchase, as we are experiencing our typically high RH in Brisbane and I use a DéLonghi room dehumidifier which so far has been effective although I have to keep the windows and doors closed. During hot, humid days, the room the air temp can get uncomfortably high.

Cheers

Dennis

Dennis, I bought this one -

http://www.drycabinet.com.au/html/products-3a-108c.html

Its the 103 litre model.

It's got the 4x sliding foam covered draws (they slide out and stop when fully extended) I have 3x bodies, all my lenses and all my flashes in there and it would take a lot more gear.

I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the unit (this is the latest model, some dealers still have the older model in stock, which I think is just a different colour).

[Bear Dale]

Not sure how these work, but they could be a much cheaper DIY alternative for someone handy -

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Electronic-Moisture-Absorber-Silica-Gel-Reusable-Dry-box-Cabinet-Camera-CD-/220959567813?pt=AU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories&hash=item3372376fc5

[nardes]

Thanks Jim.

Cheers

Dennis

[Harves]

I purchased a couple of these, hopefully they will keep the moisture away.

http://www.shooters.com.au/product.asp?pID=81983&cID=220

Handy to chuck one in the pelican case when I go away.

[KeeFy]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2x-Silica-Gel-Desiccant-Moisture-F-Absorb-Box-Reusable-/270724509569?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3f08702f81

These works as well as any other. :) I use a few of them whilst i wait to bring my dry cabinet from overseas on my next trip. The dry cabinet i have is digitally controlled.

[farmmax]

Makes me glad I live inland, and the overnight frosts are freezing the moisture out of the air every night :D

[landyvlad]

The Good Guys last week (and maybe still0 are selling cheap little dehumidifiers - work in the same way as the crystals but cheaper in the long run. I think they run on batteries but perhaps mains.

I'm going to see if I can get one for my gun safe, where obviously similar issues exist (rifle scopes can be expensive optics)

[Bear Dale]

Dennis, I bought this one -

http://www.drycabinet.com.au/html/products-3a-108c.html

Its the 103 litre model.

It's got the 4x sliding foam covered draws (they slide out and stop when fully extended) I have 3x bodies, all my lenses and all my flashes in there and it would take a lot more gear.

I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the unit (this is the latest model, some dealers still have the older model in stock, which I think is just a different colour).

Nearly 8 years old and the Dry Cabinet is still going strong (touch wood) :)