Moisture munchers

[DandyDon]

Marketing! How many of us can always remember desiccant? But you're right; the name does sound funny. First time I heard it at my LDS, I went "You're kidding?!" :silly:

There are plenty of brands on google shopping, but this is the only one that turns color I know of - letting one know when one is used up.

 

[gypsyjim]

The Damp Rid is fast! 7 days and the capsule that sat out for 12 months is a deep blue. Much better than messing with the oven (although it's not inconceivable that the oven gets them drier...).

A craftsman needs to have more than one tool in his tool box. Have always been satisfied with results of the oven, but when I do stumble across DampRid I will be trying it too. Be fun to try both methods and leave one capsul from each drying method out and watch to see how quicly each goes pink again.

All that really concerns me is that I can dive with blue caps in the camera case.

 

[SkipperJohn]

I recently tossed one in my damp rid container and in 1 week it was dark blue. I think the key is, it is winter, cold and dry here. I know it takes longer in the summer when the ambient humidity is 90% instead of 40%

 

[gypsyjim]

The reason I use the oven is it is a fast way to dehydrate the used capsules where ever I am. Not going to run right out to find DampRid ASAP, but it's on my radar now and I'll grab some when I do come across it. Always fun to experiment.

I know when I was on Bonaire this Jan I was using one oven recycled Muncher for 1 to 2 days of diving. Usually every other time I recharge and down load pics to the laptop I replace the capsule in the DC500 case, and sometimes (like this trip) 1 a day when it was really humid (rainy season in Jan).

I "dried" 10 in my oven in mid Jan, when preparing for the Bonaire trip. It's been 5 weeks now since I returned and I just checked; the 3 Munchers I did not use are still blue in their zip lock. Not as deep blue as they came from the oven, but each of them very acceptable still for a day or so of diving. During the summer they'd have started to turn a bit more by now, even in the baggies, while even the pink, "used" ones from this last trip are far from the deep pink they get here in the summer. As SkipperJohn suggested it's a lot less humid here now. (By the way, John, nice boat on DNY thread!)

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Wow!

I am (at this moment) drying 18 moisture munchers in the oven at 170F... All are blue, but I am going for navy blue. I haven't lost any yet....

I haven't bought munchers for over 2 years...

 

[DandyDon]

I got to wonder what it costs to dry them in the oven vs Damp Rid 42 oz starting at $3.50...?

And if I lived in Florida, I am sure I'd be buying Damp Rid in bulk to protect a lot of electronics, guns & knives, etc.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I got to wonder what it costs to dry them in the oven vs Damp Rid 42 oz starting at $3.50...?

And if I lived in Florida, I am sure I'd be buying Damp Rid in bulk to protect a lot of electronics, guns & knives, etc.

Since my average electric bill is under $100, I haven't dwelled on it too much....

 

[gypsyjim]

I was wondering myself what the actual cost of each of these 2 methods is. Besides the consumer retail price there is also the environmental impact of producing the energy vs producing the product and then disposing of the wastes that are the real hidden costs of any product or method.
Sort of like our current debate over whether the hybrid car is more or less environmentally costly than the traditional internal combustion auto when the cost of producing and later disposing of the unique battery system is added into the equation. My Civic cost @$8000 less than my gf's Civic Hybrid, but mine gets 14-to-16 mpg less. No recycling is currently available for her battery which is at the very end of it's expected lifespan so there is another large hidden cost for that type of auto that has yet to be paid. Makes for much debate in our house over who is having more impact! I do know that her hybrid will have died long before she "saves" that $8000 extra at our 30,000 mi/yr, (or @395 gal/yr "saved", aprox $790/yr)

 

[Maximum Overdive]

Thanx to you guys at Scuba board! This is my first post however I've been reading the posts on this board for some time now and have learned alot. This peticular post I read some months ago and thought I'ld give it a try with a twist. I couldn't find the damprid at the home depot however I did find it at Walmart. I cut a sponge about 1 inch thick and stuck it in the bottom of a mason jar and then poured the damprid on top.( the pouch will yeild two jars ) Next I buried the moisture munchers in the damprid and left some on top. Within a couple of days they were a deep blue almost purple, beautiful!!! The mason jar seals the air from getting in allowing the damprid to do a faster job and fits nicely with my dive gear to take with me to the dive site, something you can't do with the oven. lol. Also with all that water around the container is safe from water getting in and wrecking all your hard work!!!

 

[SkipperJohn]

I just threw everything in a Chinese food take-out plastic container (boneless ribs seems to work best)