Does the Systainer box hold humidity out well?

[RC]

I've got a couple of Festool powertools in Systainers and a storage problem  [sad]

My storage options are basically limited to either having them in an uninsulated and unheated shed in their systainer boxes on shelves or taking alot of space under the stairs inside the house and being far away from where they would be used. Since I don't have a heated garage or workshop I need to haul my fold-away table and tools out of storage outside into the backyard for use it would be more convenient to store the tools in the shed with the work table and mitre saw table, but I'm a bit worried what will happen to the electronics and motors of the powertools being stored in an unheated shed?

Seasons here are similar to Canadian ones in the Toronto region if that gives an idea i.e. humid autumn, snow and freezing in the winter and more humidity in the spring and a hot summer.

The systainers seem fairly tight but don't have any seals on the lid so I'm wondering could they survive stored in a shed which has a proper roof and walls to it, but no insulation and a grille floor to the ground? It is slightly drier in the shed than outside, but definitely more humid then in the heated house. It is humid enough that saws and hammers that are stored there will get a bit of surface rust over the winter.

 

[Greg in Memphis]

I throw in desiccant bags or silica bags inside systainers or toolboxes that will be exposed to moisture,  humidity or temperature extremes. They work.
These are the chemicals in the "do not eat" packages you see in camaras and electronics that are shippped overseas.
The chemical reaction traps moisture inside the bag where it evaperates.
The bags come in all sizes. If you have a friend who receives a lot of shipped components, chances are you can get them for free.
Check out http://www.drypak.com

Hope this may help

Greg in Memphis

 

[GPowers]

I will plus one on the desiccant bags or silica bags. I grab these any time I see them. I toss them in the systainer I keep the router bits and in other systainers.

 

[agehall]

You can buy big bags of silica from well sorted camera stores. Those bags indicate when they are used up and can also be recycled by heating to 100C in an oven for a few hours.

 

[RC]

What sort of usage time can one expect from a silica gel bag? Would they need to be changed weekly, monthly or even less frequently?

 

[tbear]

If you buy bulk desiccant and make small packets or containers yourself  you can reuse the crystals after they change color by putting them in the oven and heating them on low heat to remove the moisture, the color will change back to their original color so you can re-use it. You can also use cat litter and make your own packets etc. again. I think Tidy Cat is the one most people use. There is another compound called Damp Rid but I think once it's used up you throw it away.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

I used to have a desiccant system attached to the air line filtering system when I did the mechanical and paint work.  The desiccant beads were pricey, but they had you manually regenerate them by putting them in baking pans no deeper than 1 inch so the desiccant would easily regenerate, getting rid of the trapped moisture in the beads.  350 degrees for an hour should be good, but check the color difference.  That's how you can tell whether they're fully regenerated.  Also, there is an odor emitted when regenerating the desiccant, so consider that when heating it up in your home oven.  I used my original batch for years without needing to buy new.  Always let the desiccant cool off before placing back into service or touching it!

 

[Bill Chang]

If I am worried about humidity I put them in a Pelican or Hardigg case w desiccant.  Those are air tight.

Add a rubber gasket to the systainers?

 

[Frank Pellow]

By mistake  [embarassed], I stored my Festool Linear sander together with a supply of sandpaper (all in a systainer) from October to July in the shed at  my summer camp north of Hearst Ontario.  This area is even more like Finland than Toronto is.  During the time it was "stored" the temperature ranged from -40 Celcius to +36 Celcius  and the temperature inside the shed would be close to that outside.

When I used it about two weeks ago, the sander worked fine.  The sandpaper had curled a little bit, but when I applied it to the pad, it flattened out well and appeared to work as well as it ever did.

 

[Sparktrician]

If I am worried about humidity I put them in a Pelican or Hardigg case w desiccant.  Those are air tight.

Add a rubber gasket to the systainers?

+1 on the Pelican.  They're nearly indestructible.  More info on dessicant packs is available here and here.

[smile]

 

[semenza]

Hi,

Silica gel can also be purchased at art / craft stores such as A C Moore.  It is about $7 USD for a pound bag. Which is enough to make a lot of packets.

Seth

 

[RC]

I'll give the silica stuff a try and see if one can find seals that fit a systainer. Moving the tools to a pelican case sort of defeats the purpose of getting tools in a systainer for the stackable, joinable and uniform boxes vs. my old random boxes from different makes that are hell to organise in any coherent order.

 

[fdengel]

I'll give the silica stuff a try and see if one can find seals that fit a systainer. Moving the tools to a pelican case sort of defeats the purpose of getting tools in a systainer for the stackable, joinable and uniform boxes vs. my old random boxes from different makes that are hell to organise in any coherent order.

If you get all of the Pelican or storm cases of the same size (which are apparently also owned by Pelican now), you don't get "joinable", but you can still stack them...  ;D

Yes, Systainers are great for organizing, but there is certainly something to be said for making sure your equipment will survive just about anything...  I am using some of each for various things.

 

[CDM]

I would say that your main rust risk is water condensing on cool surfaces, and that the systainer in a closed shed would be decent protection.  If you can spare the time and the systainer, you could test this out by keeping one hammer stored as usual and one hammer in the systainer through the course of a season that produces the rust, and compare them.

At my house outside Chicago the family car lives in a carport (roof and two adjacent walls), my bicycle lives in a breezeway year round (roof and two facing walls), and such outdoor things as we don't want sitting around are in an outdoor storage closet that is probably somewhat similar to yours.  We get heavy condensation of water on things in the breezeway and carport when those things cool down overnight and then warm up relatively slowly the next day, and when there is a fast change from cooler, drier air to warmer, wetter air.  The things in the closet are much less prone to this, which I think is because the air doesn't circulate as freely.  And things in boxes in the closet fare even better.

Just as a follow up point, you don't necessarily beat the rust risk by keeping your tools in your house and working outside.  When it's a hot, humid day in spring, summer, or fall and you bring your indoor-temperature tools outside, you will get condensation on them.  Similarly, if you work outside long enough on a cool or cold spring, fall, or winter day, then take your outdoor-temperature tools inside, you will get condensation on them then also.

 

[agehall]

What sort of usage time can one expect from a silica gel bag? Would they need to be changed weekly, monthly or even less frequently?

As a point of reference, when I went to Bangkok, the special bags I bought for my camera equipment lasted about a week in the humidity. In a less humid climate, I would expect the bags to last much longer.

 

[Rob Z]

We now know that the Systainers do a decent job of keeping water out.  One of the crew left two systainers outside, behind our jobsite, right before the recent hurricane.  When we came back to work we found them, and after many inches of rain, the tools inside were perfectly dry.

 

[Wood_Junkie]

We now know that the Systainers do a decent job of keeping water out.  One of the crew left two systainers outside, behind our jobsite, right before the recent hurricane.  When we came back to work we found them, and after many inches of rain, the tools inside were perfectly dry.

Nice!  I wonder if the water were really deep (e.g. 12+ inches of pooled water) if the Systainer would simply float and keep the tools dry.  Good argument for not drilling holes and such in your cases!