Storing Regs in Dry Cabinet

[Cruiser24]

hi, i live in an area where the average daily temperature is about 88 deg fahrenheit and the relative humidity is in the region of 83-87%.

as you can see, it is a pretty hot and humid environment. as such, things can and do get mouldy pretty quickly if they are not used for awhile e.g. regs.

hence i hv been thinking about storing my regs in a dry cabinet. with the dry cabinet, i can at least control the humidity and hopefully my regs would not go mouldy.

however i hv been advised against it saying that the dry air in the cabinet would cause the rubber parts in the regs to crack and deteriorate quickly. i am only looking to set the humdity in the cabinet to about 50%. am sure at 50%, that is what the average daily relative humidity in some areas.

what do you guys think? do you think there is a valid reason against using the dry cabinet in such an environment?

your thoughts and comments. many thanks.

 

[Cruiser24]

comments anyone?? do you guys think it is a good idea to store the regs in a dry cabinet??

 

[knowone]

If I ever get around to it I am going to build a foam aluminium, sandwich panel room for that sort of stuff and hide it so knowone knows it's there.
Air conditioned when the house is on, vent shut in winter.
Speargun rubber and other disconnected rubber components are currently stored in a bar fridge, as well as some really irreplaceable connected ones. No more room for liquid consumables? They live upstairs.
Dry is for cigars.
Sometimes I splash a couple of plips of bleach in when washing regs and suits and bcs and?

The Panacea Room!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

hi, i live in an area where the average daily temperature is about 88 deg fahrenheit and the relative humidity is in the region of 83-87%.
....

Sounds cool and dry compared to where I live.

Keep your gear stored in as cool and dry (and clean!) place as possible, but I think keeping the gear out of UV light might trump low-humidity. Try to store it in conditions you'd be comfortable in (room temperature).

Me: I hang my gear in a large closet in my car port, with only dive gear in it (no paint cans, chemical fumes, etc....). It does fine.... some of my gear dates from 1976, when I started diving.

I'm not sure if a "totally dry" space would be good or bad (I'd think the soft parts might get "dry rot" over time?).

Best wishes.

 

[Damselfish]

there's dive shops in hot/humid tropical locations all over the world that don't store their gear anyplace climate controlled. I'd think sun or not cleaning gear properly would be bigger concerns. Or no air flow. Using the stuff as much as possible might be the best strategy!

 

[spectrum]

Cruiser24

Regulators are not porous, they will dry and not go moldy. Be sure to rinse well to remove corrosive sat which will also attract moisture. Other than that the heat side of your climate will dry things well. Of course be sure its all safely out of the sun.

 

[Hatul]

The one thing I read is that insects go for silicone. Personally I've never seen it but it's something to be aware of.

Adam

 

[Damselfish]

I can say from personal experience that some kind of critters do like silicone. Very first trip we made to Little Cayman Beach Resort back when it first opened, we had issues with things in the drying shed, People had mask skirts nibbled and I had a small hole eaten in my inflater hose. Don't really know if it was insects or rodents but they seemed to think the latter as they imported a cat from the Brac to try and get it under control.