bringing my tools home. . . . maybe?

[Toolmaker Tim]

Also keeps the spiders and other creepy crawlies out of your tools!!!

[Toolmaker Tim]

I put Champhor blocks in my toolboxes at work. You can get them at the local drugstore, but you might have to have them ordered. Hope it keeps them from rusting while I am unemployed.

[BigDick]

something else i just thought of (thanks tc for mentioning dessicants) is they sell cans of dehumidifiers to use in gun safes, and they are "rechargeable" ie. you bake the can in the oven at ~250 degrees for x number of hours/minutes then put it back in the toolbox/gun safe etc.

[crazy steve]

The trick we always used when we had to store electrical equipment in damp areas was to 1. get it off the ground 2. Cover it with plastic to the ground 3. put a light bulb under it.

The heat given off by the bulb would keep the dew out, and the plastic would keep the heat where you want it. You don't need a large bulb; for a rollaway chest I'd use a 50 or 75 watt, smaller for a tool box. Dessicants work too, but only for a while.

78E original owner

[DGXSER]

Silica is a desacant and will obsorb moisture, but it only obsorbs so much. Luckily, it will also give it back up to dryer air. however, the air can't take it at cold temps, so they will only do so much.

As was stated in another thread somewhere, the issue is not so much the moisture in the air but the fact it condenses out on the surfaces, like your engine, or tank, or your tools because the environment they are in is warmer, they hold that warm air inside the box, then the temp slowly drops inside the box due to heat transfer through the box, to the dropping air temps. But moisture does not transfer through, so you get high moisture and low temps which equal condensation. My tools live in my craftsman tool boxes in my unconditioned garage. They dont seal at all, so free air movement in and out. Been there for alot of years, not a one of them has rust on em. However, on a particularly warm winter day in December, I opened the garage door when it had been about 30degrees cooler in my garage than outside, water was running off the bike, and my tool boxes. No rust yet on them though. Just my two cents.

[79XS11F]

Hey Rob,

I hate to say it but SALT doesn't make sense! Remember why you have to wash it off of the underside of your car after driving on sand and salted roads! Those little packets are SILICA beads, not salt. Salt has free or loosely linked atoms, sodium and chloride, and easily contributes to the oxidation process of iron based metals. Salt IS a good preservative for meat, but not metal! I know that salt will obsorb a bit of moisture and stick together in the shaker, and so folks use dry Rice to help keep the salt dry, but the rice doesn't necessarily obsorb the moisture vs. the salt, but that it acts as an agitant to help break the clumpy salt into small granules...as per a program on the cooking channel I saw!

Also, the use of a Desiccant(suggest folks do a search) often requires a fairly environmentally controlled container space. A garage or storage shed wouldn't be an effective storage space for humidity control.

Okay, I just NOW read this whole thread, and BNE hit on the right idea, you can get a variety of those well sealing plastic storage bins, and in that small confined space, the use of a DESICCANT pack WOULD be an effective protectant, but also a slight film of light OIL...3n1/not sure about WD-40, but oil would help.

Okay, I'll stop being an Agitant!
T.C.

OK so would an open pail of silica beads do the trick?
Rob

[TopCatGr58]

I have been told that when one stores metal items in an enclosed space where rust may be an issue you can include an open container of salt (table salt grade) in the storage area and it will absorb moisture out of the air. It is suppose to be the same as those little salt packets that are often packed with items from the factory. I have never had reason to try this but it does make some sense.
Rob

Hey Rob,

I hate to say it but SALT doesn't make sense! Remember why you have to wash it off of the underside of your car after driving on sand and salted roads! Those little packets are SILICA beads, not salt. Salt has free or loosely linked atoms, sodium and chloride, and easily contributes to the oxidation process of iron based metals. Salt IS a good preservative for meat, but not metal! I know that salt will obsorb a bit of moisture and stick together in the shaker, and so folks use dry Rice to help keep the salt dry, but the rice doesn't necessarily obsorb the moisture vs. the salt, but that it acts as an agitant to help break the clumpy salt into small granules...as per a program on the cooking channel I saw!

Also, the use of a Desiccant(suggest folks do a search) often requires a fairly environmentally controlled container space. A garage or storage shed wouldn't be an effective storage space for humidity control.

Okay, I just NOW read this whole thread, and BNE hit on the right idea, you can get a variety of those well sealing plastic storage bins, and in that small confined space, the use of a DESICCANT pack WOULD be an effective protectant, but also a slight film of light OIL...3n1/not sure about WD-40, but oil would help.

Okay, I'll stop being an Agitant!
T.C.

[Cobia]

Hey Dick.
There's a product used to avoid corrosion in fishing tackle boxes. Heard it's pretty effective but expen$$ive.

[79XS11F]

I have been told that when one stores metal items in an enclosed space where rust may be an issue you can include an open container of salt (table salt grade) in the storage area and it will absorb moisture out of the air. It is suppose to be the same as those little salt packets that are often packed with items from the factory. I have never had reason to try this but it does make some sense.
Rob

[trbig]

Sure, there's extra fancy tools out there, but on road trips, I usually bring enough tools, (and lots of times a few spare parts) to where I could pull a motor, split the cases, and put it all back together on the side of the road if needed. All these tools fill approximately HALF of a saddle bag. No huge tool boxes needed. It may be nice to have an assortment.. swively things here, ratchety things there.. but it can be done without a massive box of tools.

Tod

[BigDick]

>
Hi BigDick,
every question contains it's own answer. it's Zen thing.

I do that a lot, I like reassurance that I'm not crazy, or that I'm doing something right.

>line the toolbox drawers with this stuff:-
http://www.daubertcromwell.com/PapersFerrous.asp
Come to that, a military base should have such stuff laying around that could be diverted to your use?

Yes they'd likely have it, but i have no clue where. I was in structural maintenance (the sheet metal shop) and didn't see any laying around, ditto the machine shop. But in the basement I'll be a lot less worried, I'll be seeing the tools at least once every two weeks and then stop any corrosion before it gets a good hold.

[fredintoon]

- - - more or less I know the best solution is to put them in the basement and stop whining, but I like to b1tch and bullsh1t THANKS FOR INPUT! ! !

>
Hi BigDick,
every question contains it's own answer. it's Zen thing.
So you gonna keep your tools in the basement, select only what's needed to do a particular job and haul them to the worksite in a suitable tote-bag.
And what was the other thing? Yeah, put the tools away again afterwards.
About your expensive sh1t going rusty, line the toolbox drawers with this stuff:-
http://www.daubertcromwell.com/PapersFerrous.asp
Come to that, a military base should have such stuff laying around that could be diverted to your use?

[CatatonicBug]

I can understand what you are saying. I have a carport (no garage), but I don't even have a storage area in the carport. I have to keep all my tools down in my basement shop. I built a workbench out of free lumber from work, and I have to haul all the tools I need for each job up the basement stairs and out into the carport whenever I need to do anything. It's a pain, but at least I know the tools are safe when I put them away. If you don't already have one, get a small portable toolbox or bucket tote that you can swap tools in and out of for each time you need to drag them upstairs. It's a pain, but a lot better than an armfull of screwdrivers and a pair of channel-locks on your toe halfway up the steps.

[DGXSER]

My suggestion would be your basement for the security reason. Hate to say it, but some of the worst thieving I ever put up with was when I was in the military, and it was by fellow soilders.

Locks just keep honest people honest, and on base folks are very transient and tend to be alot less....uhhh...concerned about others. The dogs don't matter if you are not home. And the security...well.....85% of all theft in work place environments is by the cleaning crews and the security folks. To them, on base IS a work place environment. JMHO

[madmax-im]

I have alot of stuff stored in my basement that is subject to getting damp,moldy or rusty...what i have done is buy some large tupperware type storage bins that have a good sealing top...this helps preserve my stuff with out any worries about stuff deteriorating...you can also buy an absorbant...or a dessicant material to absorb moisture and put that into the storage bin too. JAT