Because of my recent research on archive safe currency sleeves Here i have come to realize that my existing way of storing my notes - that is, with each series in its own envelope, with some notes in sleeves, inside a large cardboard box meant for storing basebal cards or the like. It really was a good fit too. large enough, heavy duty enough, was just perfect! UNTIL, i recently discovered that storing my notes in paper envelopes was just plain bad news for the notes. So, i went out and bought several lock boxes. Now i have the potential for moisture problems. Anyone know of a good place to buy some desiccant packs? I am not really sure how big i need or what size packs will handle what size space. The lock boxes i have is 11"x7.5"x4" for 330 cubic inches. thanks!
Hey Daggerjohn... Any good coin supply internet site will have the boxes of silica. I use 3 of them in my safe and each one will provide moisture coverage up to 33 ft cubed. I'll look for my site and send it to ya later if I can find it... HD-SG450 $12.95/11.01 1 450 Gram Silica Gel Canister http://www.brent-krueger.com/ RickieB
I get desicaant from work. As a result, I put as much in the safe as I can fit. I feel that more is better than less. I like RickieB's way of using multiple packages so that you will still have some protection in the safe while you are regenerating one of the packages.
i use 2 evadry 300's to keep my 30 cu.ft. safe dry. they seem to need recharging somewhat often though. i may buy an evadry500 to add or maybe just another evadry 300 to help. But for my smaller lock boxes, that hold my currency, that sit in my safe, i was looking for some smaller packs of desiccant for them. I did find This that helped explain to me just how much i needed for the smaller lockboxes. I found that because the lockboxes were 330 cubic inches, i only had to use a 10 gram pack per box. One thing i dont like abotu the smaller desiccant packs, is that alot of sites say that to recharge them, to place them in an over for up to 16 hours? thats just NUTS! the evadry units i have, you plug them in for up to 8. I think if i buy the smaller 10 gram packs, i will just throw them out when they are wet. i certainyl cant leave them in the over for 16 hours! as for a site that sells them, once i knew what i needed size wise, i found lots of sites! i just need to look through them and find a nice cheap one
I find that overnight at ~250°F is sufficient for what I use. I use a jar and put the lid on the jar when I take it out of the oven. this keeps the desiccant from soaking up moisture while it cools before I put it back in my safe.
how often do you need to recharge your evadry 300's? i would rather rotate a couple of evadrys than bake silica beads on a regulary basis.
J.P.'s corner (www.jpscorner.com) has the best prices I've found on 40 gm metal canisters with indicators. They give volume discounts if you buy 6 or more. Their instructions say they can be recharged in only 3 hours at 300 degrees. It's probably overkill for a small lockbox, but the convenience of having an indicator makes it worthwhile. I use them in all my boxes that I keep proof sets in. The EvaDry's are great, but you need to have twice the number you use so you can always have one to use while you're recharging the others. I put them into a ziplock bag after recharging them and then when the next one needs recharging, you just swap in the recharged one. I think the EvaDry is the best solution for a safe.
both my evadry's are in use all the time. I only take 1 out at a time for recharge, but when that goes back in, i recharge the other. My Evaydry's last different time periods depending on how often i open the safe. the more i open it to work, it seems the less time they last. But i can usually get at least a couple weeks out of it. Longer if the safe is never opened!
I can't go that long without looking at my collection. I think a week is the longest my safe has gone without having been opened.
well, i always ahve some coins and currency outside the safe while doing research, re-organizing, inventorying, and other assorted tasks. It just sometimes takes me some time to complete each task but i agree with your sentiments 110%!!! i get edgey if i am not around my collection for long periods of time
