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Replies: 24 / Views: 30,521 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4618 Posts |
I have something that might work, but as I don't have a safe, I can't test it. I wear hearing aids and each night I place them in with Hal-Hen drying beads. It's a small jar filled with tan and blue beads. The beads remove all of the moisture from the hearing aids. I'm sure you could buy one or more jars at about $20 each and set them open in a safe with your coins to keep the moisture level down to a point that would help protect the coins. When the top is off of the jar, the beads are held in place by a small piece of foam that allows moisture to pass through to the beads underneath. As time passes and the beads remove moisture, the blue beads change color to let you know they need to be recharged. To remove the moisture from the beads, all you have to do is place them on a pan in the oven and dry them out again. Once a small amount of beads turn blue again, they are ready to use, and this can be done over and over. [url="http://www.amazon.com/Super-Dri-Aid-Hearing-Dehumidifier/dp/B000B7I8FQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1314516557&sr=1-2"> Click here to see what I'm talking about.[/url] I've even seen them on ebay for around $10. Just an idea, if it keeps my $5000 hearing aids dry and working, it should work to keep coins nice and dry. 
ANA ID: 3203813 - CONECA ID: N-5637 Clean a coin that may be worth collecting? Please DON'T! When in doubt, leave it dirty!! 
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
If it is only a slight problem put a small bowl of kitty litter in there. ( Make sure it is new not used)  It's cheap and effective, also works pretty well to get the stink out of a fridge that has been turned off for a while 
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1298 Posts |
I use a product called "SORB-IT" Comes is compact 3" X 5" packs.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Note the poster said a safe, not a gun safe. Normal safes do not have a place where an air conditioner could be added without some major cutting to make a hole for that product. And as I mentioned any gel packs, kitty litter, etc is only as good as the maintenence. If you forget to do something with it, over time it could make things worse. If your safe is in a high humidity area, every time you open the door, all the dehumidfied air comes out and is raplaced with new, nicely full of moistured air again. And remember that even if you had an A/C unit that could be mouted to the safe, you just have a location for the water removed to drain. Not sure if still around but a company called Hoffman used to make A/C units mounted on a cabinet. The cabinets were made air tight but not made for safe type of security. Almost any bank is Air conditioned so placing most of your valuable coins in their safe deposit box is a start to protect them. Any coins you have at home in an Album, place in a Zip Lock bag and push out as much air as possible. Coins in 2x2's could be placed in those 20 slotted plastic sheets for coins and then placed in a 3 ringed binder and that too could be placed in a Zip Lock bag. Naturally the safest solution is to move to a place like Egypt where the humidity is so low, Mummy's have survived for thousands of years. 
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
There are plug-in strips that elevate the temperature slightly, driving off moisture. Even a single low wattage conventional bulb will work.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3592 Posts |
Quote: Note the poster said a safe, not a gun safe The poster did say gun safe in his second post....but, anyhow, another cheap method is rice....it absorbs moisture readily and is cheap to replace.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote: There are plug-in strips that elevate the temperature slightly, driving off moisture. Even a single low wattage conventional bulb will work.
regardless of how low a wattage, as long as it is on, heat will build up. That would make for a great experiment. Just how hot would it get in a safe that is air tight if a bulb was inside lite all the time. And then too, just how would you get the electrical wiring in to that bulb? As to the Rice idea, remember that Rice, Silica Gel packs or any moisture absorbers require maintenance. The worst part of those is depending on how many times you open that safe. Every time more moisture goes in. Quote: It is a medium size gun safe .. and I am thinking of buying another. I missed that on your second reply. I thought you were talking about a regular safe. Most gun safes are made to keep people out. Not usually air tight but some are a bit on the fire proof side to protect against explosions of ammunition in case of a fire. At a store near me called Menards,they have many gun safes and I was investigating them not long ago. Only one stated air tight. All others did not mention air tightness at all. A few actually stated not intended for fire protection. One more thing you should check on with yours.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Rechecking my past Electrical Engineering type of work, I again mention Hoffman Enclosures. They are a company that is probably the largest manufacturer of all types of enclosures. One thing I remembered is for hasardous invironments, they make many types of special enclosures. AND many must be air conditioned. If you look into their web site you could come up with a thing called a Hoffman Thermoelectric Dehumidifier, Model H20MIT. The H2OMIT® Thermoelectric Dehumidifier removes moisture from the air within an enclosure, providing an inexpensive yet highly effective way to protect electronic and electrical components from condensation. This item is adjustible to any desired Humidity rating you want. One small problem is since they are the type of organization that primarily does buiness with hugh companies like CommonWealth Edison, their prices are a bit on the high side. BUT you may want to check that out.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Ziplocks and tupperwares, create micro environments. The silica gel needs to be INSIDE the ziplock/tupperware with the coins. The silica will absorb most of the moisture inside the bag/tupperware and the seal will keep more moisture from entering unless you physically open it. Multiple bags/boxes also let you only open the ones with the coins you want to look at while the bags/boxes keep the rest of the coins dry when you open the safe door. Use indicating silica gel so you will be able to see when it needs recharging.
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Replies: 24 / Views: 30,521 |