Moisture munchers

[do it easy]

The blue, round munchers can be rejuvinated by placing them in an oven set to 170 F

I do it whenever I need to rejuvinate them. I haven't lost one yet.

Thanks for the tip! Roughly how long does it take to get them blue again?

 

[DiverDADNJ]

I understand the recommendation not to try to reuse them. I mean, really, in the Bounty paper towel commercials they show them rinsing them out and reusing them, but I doubt I'd do that The moisture munchers are not that expensive and I wouldn't risk my camera with reused ones.

 

[DandyDon]

I understand the recommendation not to try to reuse them. I mean, really, in the Bounty paper towel commercials they show them rinsing them out and reusing them, but I doubt I'd do that The moisture munchers are not that expensive and I wouldn't risk my camera with reused ones.

Welcome to SB.

Yeah, rinse and reuse a paper towel - got to wonder about the germ count on that?

But with these blue MMs, it can be a challenge to get a blue one that has never been out of the packet - but the ziplock has been opened. Light bulbs in Mexico are all compact florescent now I think, not very hot. I'll start the microwave trials soon.

 

[SkipperJohn]

I'll bet sealife does not make the MM's either. They are probably made for them by a 3rd party. Most of the info they get are probably from the original manufacturer.
Regardless I am happy to see Denise here and she is awesome with answers and responses. I am also a big fan of the sealife products. My camera Sl130 has served me well for many years and am really looking forward to playing with my DC800! Like a kid at Christmas!

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Thanks for the tip! Roughly how long does it take to get them blue again?

It varies... I just check them periodicly. Last time I forgot the oven was on. They were in all night, and were all still OK

 

[DandyDon]

Microwave trials are over....!! Hope these loaded in the correct order...

First pic shows MMs in a never opened packet: Blue!

Second pic shows the new MMs with 3 that have never been used, but the packet had been opened, and one exposed to a humidifier fo 30 minutes: All 3 losing it

Third pic shows one after 15 seconds in a cheap microwave with no power settings: Blue again.

Fourth pic shows the remains of the two that exploded at the same instant: :11:

I have to clean a microwave now.

 

[SkipperJohn]

Yeah... microwaving doesn't seem like a viable solution or at least one I would try.
The oven basically makes a dry environment with lots of energy to help liberate the water into vapor form the crystals. I'll bet that with a little heat applied you can get them dry and blue in NY in the winter in a heartbeat as the RH here dips to 40% on some days at subfreezing temperatures (& 30% at 30 degrees is VERY dry).
Learning what I did here I think I will probably store my unused MM's in some sort of airtight container with some silica crystals. Maybe a simply key chain dry-tube thing. That should help.

 

[DandyDon]

I like his idea if you have a week...

There is a way to rejuvenate Moisture Munchers.

1. Go to Home Depot and buy a container of "Damp Rid" - the small size, about a pint.
2. Open it up and insert your spent Moisture Munchers into the white material.
3. Put a piece of plastic wrap across the top and put the lid back on.
4. Put the container inside a big ziplock plastic bag (gallon size works best)
5. Let them sit for about a week or until you need them - pull them out and put them back into the bag they came out of. They will be DARK blue.

Steps 3 and 4 are necessary to preserve the Damp Rid - if you don't do it, the Damp Rid will suck moisture out of the air and be bad in a couple of weeks. Even though I think it can be rejuvenated in the oven - but I've never tried it.

I've probably rejuvenated 15 Moisture Munchers about 10 times each this way using the same container of Damp Rid - total cost about $5. And I've never seen even brand new Moisture Munchers this blue.

 

[TN Traveler]

I like his idea if you have a week...

I take 15 caps with me for a week of diving (for 2 cameras) - normally put them is 3 small packets (5 each) and put those in a plastic zip-lock bag. I change out the old one each day, when I change batteries/cards. I put the "pink" caps into another "baggie" and then regenerate all when I get home. I leave them in the "Damp Rid" until the next time I need them.

I bought 2 "10 packs" - so I always have 5 ready to go.

Actually, I'm not sure it even takes a week to rejuvenate them - I have never checked them before then.

I guess when we do a live aboard, I'll just need to get another 10, so I can do 2 changes per day.

 

[FireDiver443]

Don,

You raised a great point with the microwave AND provided photographic evidence to boot. Well played!

I was going to raise the point that in my personal experience, popping them in the microwave is most safely accomplished (and this will vary between microwave ovens) in 20 second increments at a 60-70% power setting with ~ 1 minute in between trips.

I too have experienced a steam-induced MM-overpressurization failure.

I'm eager to try the DampRid.