Hello guys/gals... we are into collecting coins and someone told us to always use silica gel packets to help preserve our collections. Is there any downfall? You guys use? I will take a look around the net to look for more information and cheap places to buy... let me know if you guys can give me some expert insight!
kewl thanks... I found another site from searching google. It was: http://www.silicagelpackets.com They seem to offer the packets cheaper per packet then JPS, also they offer Free Shipping which JP'S does not. I even used the "live chat" link on the side of there page to ask customer service a few questions and went great.... seems like a good company and will probably place my order for one of the 250 packet sampler packs.
Don't forget that there is also those dessicant packets that come when you buy a pair of shoes in a box.I get them,but I throw them out,as I have no use for them. Aidan.
They seem to simply be the manufacture of the packets. I went to the order retail to check prices and took me a site that says order online and had a link for JP's again... lol Oh well, just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of places selling this stuff... I just ordered the 250 pack sampler from the http://www.silicagelpackets.com site... I'll let you know how it goes. Checkout was easy and got a confirmation e-mail... hopefully it will get here by the weekend!
I've always just gotten mine from electronics and shoes. Ask around, don't pay for it. I'll bet someone has some around that you can have. I keep some in my gun cabinets, and my safes. You can also "reactivate" it if you think it absorbed some moisture by throwing it in the oven at 300f for an hour.
Yes, I have thought about reusing some, but from what people say in other threads they do not suggest reusing. It makes sense though... a packet of silica gel can only absorb so much moisture. These shoes/electronics are all made overseas and must be shipped to the US on BOAT. By the time these shoes/electronics get here the packets have to be fully absorbed. From what it looks like both JP's and silicagelpackets.com offer packets very cheap... it's only a few cents a packet and I'd rather pay that instead of spending time collecting old packets. That was my theory anyways...
I use silica gel, but I use the 40 gram aluminum canisters that I bought from JP's corner. They seem to be working well so far. It looks like we've got a whole bunch of new folks on board here too. Welcome!
I saw those canisters, but they cost almost $10 for 1! Wouldn't be cheaper to buy $10 worth of 10 gram packets? You'd have a lot more then 40 grams of silica gel... I think from http://www.jakemp.com or http://silicagelpackets.com you can get much more then 40 grams of silica gel if you buy by the packet...
Yeah, but you can re-charge the canisters and they have the built in color indicator. They're supposed to last a lifetime. I don't think you can do that with the packets, can you? I thought with those, once they were saturated, you threw them away. I may be wrong though.
You are not wrong, you are correct. If you put an ordinary silica pack in the oven - ohhhhhh boy, you aint gonna like it !! But the rechargeable 40 gram in the metal case - those are made to be put into the oven. And they are the only ones that are. They must in the metal case.
silicon gel my cartoon box is 12" x 12" x 12" or 1 cubic foot. the 40 gram silica gel can protect very large area. should i use 40 gram or lesser gram. 10 gram pack can protect 2 cubic foot. anyone?.
Yes, the 10 gram can protect up to 2 cubic feet. But what they are not telling you is that the 10 gram pack will last about a month, maybe two months. After that you have to throw it away and buy another one. But the 40 gram pack will protect up to 3 cubic feet and it will last about 3 months. After that you put the 40 gram in the oven at 350 degrees for 3 hours and it's good for another 3 months. After that you do it again, and again - the point is you only have to buy one 40 gram pack for several years worth of protection. For just 3 years worth of protection - you'll buy 36 - 10 gram packs. Which one makes more cents
yes, using an oven to "recharge" the pack does have the added cost of using the oven. if you coordinate it to use when you have completed baking some food you were cooking anyways, then the heat up cost is attributed to the food and you are paying very little to keep your oven heated for a little longer.
you can buy silica gel packs at any electrical supply house they are use in electronic control boxes and most of these can be revived in any oven. just leave them in over nite and the pilot light will dry them out. ( has to be a old gas oven)
