dehumidification

[Glennbear]

When I placed my belongings from my NJ house and workshop in storage I was looking for a way to cut down on humidity caused damage. With no electricity available I searched for a non-powered dehumidification means. The big box stores had little containers for dampness control in closets etc but they were obscenely priced and not suitable for a 20x25 storage unit. Label reading showed that these contained nothing more than Calcium Chloride which is extremely hygroscopic. I purchased a large pail of Calcium Chloride and just left it open and half full in the unit. Over the year in storage in NJ and VA it sucked out several gallons of water from the area and rusting on metal surfaces was minimal and there was no mold growth on cardboard boxes, soft goods or my daughter's leather horse stuff which is notorious for growing green fuzzies



If the area you using it in has access by "little people" I would recommend placing it in a safe place as warned by the label on the side. A cage made out of scrap wood lattice with a solid top would work and also prevent dropped objects from falling in DAMHIKT


BTW, the accumulated result does a great job of melting ice also!!!

[cptully]

BE VERY careful with CaCl!!!!

CaCl + HOH = CaOH + HCl

CaOH = Calcium Hydroxide

HCl = Hydrochloric Acid (aka Stomach Acid)

Both of these will eat through metal and your skin!

I have personally seen small quantities of CaCl stored in metal lab drawers (in a clean room no less!) eat right through the draw bottom!

Chris

[Glennbear]

Originally Posted by cptully

BE VERY careful with CaCl!!!!

CaCl + HOH = CaOH + HCl

CaOH = Calcium Hydroxide

HCl = Hydrochloric Acid (aka Stomach Acid)

Both of these will eat through metal and your skin!

I have personally seen small quantities of CaCl stored in metal lab drawers (in a clean room no less!) eat right through the draw bottom!

Chris

Thanks for the warning Chris, but when combined Calcium Chloride is less noxious than it's components just like Sodium Chloride (table salt) which is composed of two unfriendly elements also. Calcium Chloride is indeed corrosive to metal just like salt water so precautions are in order. When used for road deicing crews wash their equipment religiously for that very reason. I am sure Dow and the other manufacturers would not market this material for household use if the risks were great.
From Wikipedia:
Calcium chloride is commonly used as an Electrolyte and has an extremely salty taste, as found in sports drinks and other beverages such as Smartwater and Nestle bottled water. It can also be used as a preservative to maintain firmness in canned vegetables or in higher concentrations in pickles to give a salty taste while not increasing the food's sodium content. It is even found in snack foods, including Cadbury Caramilk chocolate bars (purpose unknown).

[Bas]

Good info Glenn. Moisture is always a problem, and buying those small tubs at the home store is going to cause serious wallet damage.

CaCl works great, we had a small bucket full of the stuff on the sailboat a buddy of mine had, great for keeping the moisture in the cabin down. Of course, the bucket kept tipping over whenever we we're quartering into the wind, until finally he had enough of scooping the stuff off the floor and dumped the bucket overboard. SLURRRPPP - whole lake dried out instantly!

[sediener]

It also tends to get hot when dissolved in water.