Dont know what to do

joseaventurero

joseaventurero

Regular
Rating - 100%
44   0   1
Location
now in pickering ontario
My safe is bolted in the basement to the concrete walls. I left 5 handguns in the bottom of the safe standing upright. M213 is brown, STI is partially brown, MP9 is spotted rusted, CZP40 only in the hammer, Beretta 92 all brown rusted.
I dont know what to do can someone give me advice on how to fix this problem. What can cause this problem?
 
Humidity and condensation. The basement floor is likely cool, and the firearms are acting like condensing towers, pulling water from the air.

Buy an dehumidifier, and run the condensate down a floor drain. Buy a safe mounted "goldenrod" dehumidifier, which dries the air within the safe. Make sure you lightly oil the guns before they go in the safe.
 
Corrosion of steel in atmospheric conditions is caused by two obvious things, moisture and oxygen. If you have rust, you have moisture.

The best thing you can do is get your safe out of the basement. Basements are always cool, so air that is heated at ground level will have a higher humidity when it gets into the basement, and may become condensing. Some other things you can try are to warm your safe slightly to lower the humidity in the safe. A low-wattage light bulb or the "Goldenrod" safe heater are ways of doing this.

You can also install dessicant packs, Volatile Corrosion Inhibitor(VCI) packs, or preferably both in your safe. Or you can pull them out and thoroughly oil them every few days.
 
You need one of these;
i227686sq01b.jpg

cabelas.com/prod-1/0034792227686a.shtml
 
People would be amazed at how much humidity can be in your house. Couple of questions, how old is house, (Seadled for drafts or not)and do you have one of the newer high efficiency furnaces (notorious for building humidity in houses) in it? Plus do you use bathroom exhaust fans when showering / bathing, do lots of cooking with water? All these can have a substantial effect on your home's humidity levels.
 
The easy fix is to do two things. First is lift the safe and insert a pad of 3/4 plywood then bolt it back down. The plywood will act as a very effective insulaton. Second is to add a shelf up top to get your guns out of the moisture retaining foam at the bottom of the safe. If you don't have room for a shelf because it'll get in the way of the long gun barrels do what I did. Add a ring of hooks around the top of the inside and then fold your guns up in small towels and tie them with cord so that the cord has a loop sticking out to put over the hanger hook.

Instead of the rag and cord I sewed up some light duty "gun cozys" that act as padding during transport. Since I tend to take 5 or 6 at a time to the range I don't use the one or two gun cases. Instead I've got an old metal tool box I use and just lay all the wrapped pistols into the box and then lock it.

The good news about the storage method is that it uses previously open space. I've only got one of the smaller Stack On cabinets so far and it's holding WAY more than it is rated for. I've got 9 long guns along with 12 handguns in this thing as well as pouches with the magazines for those that need 'em. The hooks on the door and around the top of the inside is the only way I can do this without damage.

And I've got a new long gun coming tomorrow.... GAD I need a bigger cabinet SOOOOON! ! ! !
 
Some other not so obvious solutions would be to

1) Shoot them more often, clean them more often
2) Tuck them in at night, give them a wipe down with an oiled rag while your at it.
 
Oh, in reading this over again I noticed that you're also bolted to the outside concrete of the foundation. Again space that out with a panel of 3/4 plywood for the same reason.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom