Updated July 24, 2022.
Whenever we talk about guns, we know that the most fun events revolve around buying new guns. We’re all guilty of wanting that next one. But ideas that are equally as important to consider are safety and maintenance. And these ideas are interlinked.
First we pick a safe that’s high quality. Ideally no one unauthorized can enter into the safe. But there’s an enemy that can cause much equal amounts of trouble when it comes to damages, and that is moisture.
Lack of airflow inside the safe increases moisture which results in rust and mold catching both the guns and safe.
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Moisture accelerates the formation of rust inside the chilled steel of the gun and the safe. This is why we need to control the moisture and humidity inside the safe. In this case, a dehumidifier is a must.
A dehumidifier is a device that helps control moisture and humidity level in the air. It often goes hand in hand with a hygrometer. However, if you’re looking for maximum performance, then place it in a suitable place.
We wrote this document, or article if you will, to answer the question “where do I put a dehumidifier in the gun safe?
It’s part of a sub-series that we call Gun and Gun Safe Maintenance. In this series you’ll find information about moisture, mold, rust, hygrometers and dehumidifiers.
Contents
Where to put dehumidifiers in gun safe:
To keep your gun safe moisture, mold, and rust-free, you need to use a dehumidifier. We wrote our thoughts about the current market, including the best ones here.
Best place for dehumidifier rod
To prevent the corrosion of both the guns and the safes, we recommend using a dehumidifier (whether that’s a rod or something else). This helps to extend the life of both the safes as our firearms.
Dehumidifier rods can be placed on the bottom of the safe to get maximum performance. You can put one at the front side, near to the door, or deep inside the safe, near to the back of the wall. Most of the gun safe contains pre-drilled holes at the bottom to pass the wire through. We recommend using these.
Another place is in the middle of the inside of the back wall. In that case, your gun safe needs to have pre-drilled holes at the back to pass screw and wire. If it doesn’t come with holes then you can drill holes as per your requirement.
Dehumidifier rod can also be placed inside of the middle of the door. In that case, you also need to drill holes to pass the wire, screw and fix the dehumidifier rod. Among all the options we recommend you put your dehumidifier at the bottom of the safe as it hassle-free and secured.
Best place for desiccant based dehumidifier and moisture absorber
If you are in search of a non-electrical dehumidifier then the desiccant based dehumidifier is the best option for you. It contains silica gel beads to absorb moisture from the air. This type of dehumidifier can be recharged. There are also moisture absorbers that require baking on the over after a certain time.
A desiccant based dehumidifier can be placed inside the selves of the gun safe. It also contains plug on the back to hand at the wall of the safe. For moisture absorber, the self is the best place. Try to place it to the middle so that it absorbs moisture easily from all corners. But if you don’t have that space in the middle you can put it on top and bottom.
Best place for silica gel bag
Silica bags are the most commonly used dehumidifier at the present time. These bags can be placed in any corner of the gun safe. Although silica beads are placed inside the bag preventing direct contact with the others, it should not be touched with firearms and valuables inside the safe. Like other moisture absorbers, a silica gel bag requires to bake on the oven when it completes absorption capacity.
Why finding a suitable place is important?
Finding a suitable place is really important to get the highest performance from the dehumidifier. If you have come to this point means you have already studied where a dehumidifier should be placed inside the gun safe. Setting up a dehumidifier in an inappropriate place may result in uncontrolled moisture and humidity inside the safe.
How to choose the right dehumidifier model?
Right now there are basically two types of dehumidifiers on the market. One is being electric and the other being desiccant based dehumidifier. Dehumidifier rod is operated by electricity and desiccant based dehumidifier requires to be baking or recharging.
You need to choose the perfect dehumidifiers based on your gun safe area and location. If you have an electrical plugging outlet near your gun safe then obviously you should choose the dehumidifier rod. On the other hand, if your gun safe is far away from an electric outlet then you can choose a descant based dehumidifier.
If your gun safe is too big you can choose both electric and desiccant dehumidifier. However, you can use a gun safe hygrometer to measure the effectiveness of your dehumidifier and decide which model is perfect for your gun safe.
Do gun safe dehumidifiers really work?
It’s been proven that gun safe dehumidifiers play a crucial role in reducing moisture. Most gun safes are made of metal, steel or iron. So it’s essential to keep them moisture-free to avoid rust. The dehumidifier works to reduce the moisture and humidity level, to a safe and acceptable level.
How many dehumidifiers should I use?
It depends on the size of your gun safe and the number of guns present. Normally people use a single dehumidifier but if you have a large safe we recommend using more than one.
To create more accuracy, we recommend using a hygrometer to measure the humidity levels. If a single dehumidifier can maintain acceptable humidity levels then using one more isn’t a necessity. For other reasons it may be a smart move. But in this scenario, a necessity it is not.
Final Thoughts
Humidity means the presence of vapor of water in the air which is invisible to the human eye. Humidity levels vary according to the context of the region. We know that steel and metal become vulnerable when exposed to unacceptable humidity levels, especially if for prolonged times.
We recommend valuing both your guns and gun safes properly by maintaining an acceptable moisture level. When it comes to the matter of controlling the moisture of the air, there is no alternative to the dehumidifier.