Dry boxes and humidity controled cabinets

[Avotius]

I was buzzing around zeiss camera a bit ago an noticed that it says that you should never keep your cameras in one of those electrical humidity control cabinets.

Oops.

Here in China everything gets covered in a fine black dust if you dont clean it every other day, which is one of the reason I kept my cameras in one of those electrical humidity control cabinets and my film in a regular plastic dry box with rechargable brick. The second reason is that the humidity here is constantly over 70% in the summer and over 50% in the winter. In the cabinet I have it set to keep the humitidy around 35-40% and the freshly rechaged brick will lower it to about the same.

All this time I thought I was protecting all my photo stuff and in fact I may have been putting in harms way.

But here is the question, who out there puts their cameras/film in those dry boxes when not in use and is it really that risky to keep stuff in those things?

Also how damaging is humidity to camera equiptment/film? In the summer here (like right now) it can easily hit 100 degrees (37 C) or more and the current humidity in my room according to my opened dry box is about 83%.



And yes mold is a problem here in China.

 

[Pherdinand]

At 1000 degrees the water will boil and therefore you should not be bothered about your cameras being infected by fungus, fungus cannot survive boiling water at 100 degrees.

 

[Pherdinand]

I mean 100, not 1000. Although, it is also true for 1000, of course, since 1000>100.

 

[Avotius]

I mean 100, not 1000. Although, it is also true for 1000, of course, since 1000>100.

indeed, one thing I forgot to mention however is one of my canon eos cameras, a 30V, which ive used for about 1 and a half years now. There are a couple screws on the front of the camera that have coroded down so there is nothing you can grab onto with a small screwdriver. This is pretty standard on the cameras around here and not isolated to that one sample. We seem to think it has something to do with the polution or what not going on here. For instance, fingernail clippers here rust away after about a year.

 

[Pherdinand]

Yep, that's why i like plastic cameras with pastic screws, they don't corrode.

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

Avotius
i use the dry boxes and rechargable bricks for all my equipment in Bangkok. If it's not the humidity its the dust from all the constant building of new condos.

Simon

 

[oftheherd]

indeed, one thing I forgot to mention however is one of my canon eos cameras, a 30V, which ive used for about 1 and a half years now. There are a couple screws on the front of the camera that have coroded down so there is nothing you can grab onto with a small screwdriver. This is pretty standard on the cameras around here and not isolated to that one sample. We seem to think it has something to do with the polution or what not going on here. For instance, fingernail clippers here rust away after about a year.

Humidity was rather noticable when I was on Okinawa many years ago. We often bought little bags of some kind of fungus killer to keep in our foot lockers and wall lockers. Maybe Zeiss cameras and lenses are imune? Nah, I doubt that. I don't know why they recommend against it. They would have to be strong at convincing me or I personally would keep doing it.

 

[oftheherd]

Avotius
i use the dry boxes and rechargable bricks for all my equipment in Bangkok. If it's not the humidity its the dust from all the constant building of new condos.

Simon

Must be like Korea when I was there in the late 80s. I don't know what they fertilized the ground with, but it sure grew apartments well. 😀

 

[Pherdinand]

Yeah, the special Okinawa Fungus Killers are the best. Some chinese monk schools try to imitate them but without serious success.
The Worldwide Fung-Kill competitions are always won by the Okinawian competitors.

 

[Avotius]

well then im just gona leave my stuff in the boxes, after two years ive never had a problem and my stuff stays dust free at the very least

 

[Simon Larbalestier]

Must be like Korea when I was there in the late 80s. I don't know what they fertilized the ground with, but it sure grew apartments well. 😀

The need to make as much money as you can while you can - i think is the buidling ethos here in BKK - no soi stays the same way for long. The averge annual wage of a Thai would't even come close to downpayment deposit on what they are building and the prices they are charging for these new luxary condos.......

and back on topic - if you think cameras suffer - imagine what happens to cheap paint and concrete in the polluted BKK air - these fancy new apartments in 5 years will be looking more like 50 years old.

 

[ampguy]

I don't know about the dust issue

I don't know about the dust issue

but IMHO, 35-40% is a little on the dry side, I'd ask ZI about the best RH to store at.

In Tokyo, we never stored our cameras in any special way, though some folks used dessicant for long storage of items, and stockpiled film is refrigerated, but also read the storage data sheets for your film, refrigerating doesn't stop all fungii.

I was buzzing around zeiss camera a bit ago an noticed that it says that you should never keep your cameras in one of those electrical humidity control cabinets.

Oops.

Here in China everything gets covered in a fine black dust if you dont clean it every other day, which is one of the reason I kept my cameras in one of those electrical humidity control cabinets and my film in a regular plastic dry box with rechargable brick. The second reason is that the humidity here is constantly over 70% in the summer and over 50% in the winter. In the cabinet I have it set to keep the humitidy around 35-40% and the freshly rechaged brick will lower it to about the same.

All this time I thought I was protecting all my photo stuff and in fact I may have been putting in harms way.

But here is the question, who out there puts their cameras/film in those dry boxes when not in use and is it really that risky to keep stuff in those things?

Also how damaging is humidity to camera equiptment/film? In the summer here (like right now) it can easily hit 100 degrees (37 C) or more and the current humidity in my room according to my opened dry box is about 83%.



And yes mold is a problem here in China.

 

[Hamster]

For you corroded screw predicament, I suggest a small dab of superglue on the screwdriver blade and then try to turn it, it works even when there is very little left of the screwhead.

A preventative measure would be to clean the screwhead when new with Ethyl Acetate (not sure if it is plastic camera safe), and then apply Clear nail varnish to protect.

The dust problem in China really is diabolical, I cannot get any good quality darkroom work done here as everything that is not covered get coated in dust within an hour. So I only use cheap cameras but good FSU camera gear that doesn't need so much pampering and I don;t have to worry about resale value.

 

[RFluhver]

Hello you blokes. Apologies for reviving this thread, but I didn't see starting a new one and I am interested in the same topic.

Is one of these electrical dry boxes really necessary or do you just keep your stuff in plastic tightly sealed boxes with plenty of those desiccants? I only use the latter.

Thanks boys.

 

[Snowbuzz]

The latter, as you do.

 

[john_s]

If the air is too dry, it can adversely affect leather and camera lubricants. Probably the best solution is an electric dry box set on, say (guess) 50%. For those who haven't lived in a damp place or house it might seem like overkill, but fungus can be hard to avoid.

 

[noimmunity]

While living in Taipei, I always keep my cameras in an electric dehumidifier cabinet. It has both a thermometer and a hydrometer. Relative humidity is usually best just below 50%.

Keeps out the dust and keeps fungus out.

Note that I will take all of my gear out occasionally for use in sunlight at one point or another. For long term 'mothball' type storage, I don't know.

I've heard here and there counsel against using the non-electric dry boxes with removable dessicant.

 

[Avotius]

Kind of nice to provide an update here on a thread I forgot about.

I have kept using the "Wonderful" brand dry boxes I have. Two boxes with film and what not, and one cabinet which has my cameras. No problems using it, no problems with lubricants, and whatever else. I know for sure that my cameras were be much worse for ware because of an old semi nonfunctional Chinese TLR sitting on my bookshelf that over the last few years developed from what was a clean lens to a lens so full of fungus you could search for new life forms.

I stand by my dry boxes 100%.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I was buzzing around zeiss camera a bit ago an noticed that it says that you should never keep your cameras in one of those electrical humidity control cabinets.

Can you give us a link? I'm intrigued as to why (say) 50% humidity should be a problem.

Cheers,

R.

 

[japancamerahunter]

Here in Tokyo I always use dry boxes to keep my gear, as in the summer the humidity is simply unbelievable. The film stays in the fridge, but that is fine as I go through it pretty quickly anyway.
I started keeping my stuff in dry boxes after a couple of my friends started to ask me "what are those little spidery things on my lens?" this shocked me enough into going out and buying a massive bag of silica gel and plastic storage tubs.
It gets damned clammy here in Tokyo.