21 Oct
2004
21 Oct
'04
7:42 a.m.
On Oct 21 2004, 8:50, Cameron Kaiser wrote:
> Moisture has a habit of getting into funny places
and going
unnoticed.
This reminds me. Anyone in the States know a source for those silica
gel
desiccators? Those might be a little insurance and
they seem
inexpensive,
but I need a source in bulk.
You can get silica gel in bulk from any laboratory or craft supply
house that caters for chemists, biologists, microscopists, mycologists
(mushroom collectors) or people who do flower arranging (and drying).
It's not always as cheap as you might think, though.
I get mine by asking our techs to throw each little bag that comes with
a PC/monitor/harddrive into a box at the end of their bench. Ask your
local PC shop to do the same?
Bear in mind that it works by absorbing (pedantically, adsorbing)
moisture from the atmosphere in the region you're trying to protect,
and there's a limit to what it will soak up. Some of it comes with an
indicator: usually cobalt chloride; pink when moist, blueish-purple
when dry. You can drive off the moisture by warming it in an oven at
130C for an hour or so (the time tends to depend somewhat on the
quantity and packaging).
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York