Silica Gel desiccant packets in the studio?

[digitaldrummer]

in a response to another of my threads, Mjau mentioned silica gel packets and it's a nice coincidence. I used to keep them from other items I bought but I just ordered some from Amazon yesterday with plans to distribute them into various mic bags and cases around my studio. I do have an A/C unit and a separate dehumidifier that I run (in the summer when it tends to build up more humidity in there) so I keep the humidity relatively even.

I ordered a pack of 45 x 5g for something like $6. the 5g are pretty small and I thought about getting a few larger ones too (20 or 50g). These are supposedly "food grade" meaning they are OK to put near food and they don't change color (so no cobalt chloride which can be bad...). But they are all made in China so I'll probably test with a few cheaper mics first to make sure they don't cause some other kind of corrosion or oxidization issues. They are "rechargeable" meaning you can bake them at a low temp or microwave them and get the moisture out so they will be effective again.

anyway, just thought I'd mention this because I had not really even considered before that I could buy a whole bunch of these and it turns out to be pretty cheaply too. Anyone else do this?

[drumsound]

At Tape Op Con many years ago Brad Avenson had rechargeable silica packs in all of his mic boxes. If I buy a new mic and they are in there, I keep them in the cases with the mics.

[I'm Painting Again]

they seem to work for me - recommended

[alexdingley]

same here! I bought a huge bag of the 5mg packets on amazon. They're blue until they "expire" and they turn red at that point. Haven't had any hit that point yet.

I also bought 1000 4mil poly bags from u-line (1000 was the smallest package I could get) and so each mic is slipped into a poly bag, then zipped into a shure-brand leatherette pouch with a silica bag. No mics are sitting naked against their original box foam.

I also throw those silica packets into all of my basement-stored plastic tubs of cables & accessories. My place is just lousy with silica.

[digitaldrummer]

They're blue until they "expire" and they turn red at that point.

just be aware of the potential health hazards with blue to red indicating packets.... newer stuff is non-indicating or does orange/green

https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications ... /02-15.pdf

[alexdingley]

potential health hazards with blue to red indicating packets.

Woah! Had no idea!! Thanks for the tip: I will switch this stuff over asap (I’m moving soon, so all the tubs are gonna get revisited soon anyway)

[alexdingley]

And phew! Turns out my silica packets are non-indicating, and they are rechargeable. So it appears from the website of my packets' manufacturer, that they're not using any cobalt chloride, since they are non-indicating.

[roscoenyc]

I can't find the article but Dr Z (amp maker) recommends keeping them in the back of your combo amp or in guitar speaker cabinets.
Moisture can drastically alter the way paper speaker cones perform.
I used them to 'dry out' some speakers that had been in a overly humid environment.
They come with so many products. If you don't throw them away you'll have a bunch in no time.

[Theo_Karon]

They are also extremely handy to have around if you or the band run out of snacks

[vvv]

They also make nice pillows for yer Barbie dolls.

[digitaldrummer]

They are also extremely handy to have around if you or the band run out of snacks

because "Do not eat" means the same as "Reserved for the band"

[floid]

They are also extremely handy to have around if you or the band run out of snacks

Good guys keep 10-12 in every guitar case for just such cases