doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Gun Safe in unheated garage?

Jimmy: The difference between leather and gun metal is that leather is organic and will absorb moisture from the air until the moisture content of the leather stabilizes and matches the moisture content of the air, and if the humidity is high, the leather will have enough moisture in it to cause mold growth. That's why the standard advice is to never store any gun in a leather holster or a leather case. Moisture will not condense on a metal surface if the metal surface is even slightly warmer than the surrounding air. That's why GoldenRods work so well. They can keep the metal just warm enough so that no moisture condenses on the metal surfaces. Re your comment that "warm air can be damp, too." Absolutely correct. Warm air can hold more moisture than can cold air (thus, the concept of relative humidity) and that's why your skin dries out in the winter (cold air is drier). As Greg pointed out, the GoldenRod does not reduce the humidity, but it does warm the metal slightly as it warms the air in the safe, thus reducing the RELATIVE humidity inside the safe and preventing condensation. The metal offers a lot of thermal mass, and that's why wide swings in temps (and thus relative humidity) may cause condensation. If the garage warms up quickly, the metal may still be cold for awhile, and that can cause some condensation. Oil is good. Use oil.

I have a gunsafe in an unheated storage unit, with 1 goldenrod working. It has been fine for the eight years it's been there, at times it was unopened for 2 years! Don' ask why!! No rust or damage to guns, camerass etc. In a home garage should be fine.

The reasons I made the comments I did was because the holsters got moldy in the bottom of the safe under the shelving area. (There weren't any guns in them). But the heat was not getting down to the bottom of my safe, because heat travels upward. I was standing my guns upside down. And a few months ago when I took one of my Model 21s out, I was shocked when I looked at it and noticed that the muzzles were starting to rust. I liked to crap. The carpet in the bottom of the safe was obviously holding moisture. So it might be better to set them on a piece of wood. (?) Or just stand them on their butts. (?) Since then I have pushed my Goldenrods down toward the bottom of the gun safe and kept a better watch on them. All this can happen in a basement even though I use two dehumidifiers from time to time and at least one going all of the time in the summer. The air needs to move in an area that you want to keep dry, plus keeping the humidity down.

Jimmy: Muzzle down on a block of wood can still lead to rust if the wood is unfinished/unsealed, because the wood will always have some residual moisture. Even the most expensive kiln dried hardwoods will still be at 6-8% moisture content (usually) and can absorb moisture from the air when the humidity is higher than that. If you want to rest the muzzles on something that won't promote rust, go to your local restaurant supply and get a polyethylene (or is it polypropylene?) cutting board and make your muzzle rest out of strips of the cutting board. Absolutely no chance of moisture absorption from the air, and minimal chance of condensation forming on the surface of the board because there is not much thermal mass. Plus, the surface is often textured so there is minimal physical contact between the muzzles and the plastic. A silicone-treated gun sleeve is a good idea, after the gun is oiled or waxed for storage.

And here I am in Phoenix, apparently worrying needlessly, that the safe in the garge is too warm for my treasures.

The odd part about it is that when I run a dehumidifier it keeps shutting off because the lowest setting is 35%. But in the enclosed gun safe, it's a different matter...... Problems you have to be aware of in a midwest basement I guess.

mtwoodson, you probably don't even have basements in Arizona, do you? Probably the biggest concern you people have out there is putting bricks in your toilets.