Quick question for all you experts out there. Do you use silica gel or desiccant for your pelican, apache or similar cases?
My home is actually “too dry” and that sometimes causes my cards to curl in the other direction than the way humid weather does.
I however, had a “air/weathertight” plastic tub lying around and thought it may be good to keep them in there. It seemed good for awhile. However summer came.
I noticed the plastic tub was trapping moisture and I had a good number of cards starting to be curled (sigh Charizard vmax)
I had put some silica/desiccant in there and either the tub is not truly airtight (probably not) or its so moist in there that it uses them up instantly.
Anyways long story short I was thinking the Pelican case would be good, but also see people saying that it traps moisture- and was wondering how true that is and if one needs to regulate it. Seeing as how they are actually airtight I would think regulating that would be easy-esque?I was surprised my house had so much moisture to still be trapped and won’t want to spend money on a Pelican if it’s just going to be the same problem.
I was thinking maybe putting one of those wireless hygrometers in there too. The weed fans seem to like Govee but I dont like that I need an account just to use it.
Air/water tight containers should be avoided at all costs. The issue is humidity - aka the amount of water vapour in the air. Different temperature air can hold different amounts of water vapour. When you trap hot, wet summer air in an airtight container then when the temperature drops at nighttime, the air inside can’t hold as much water so the vapour condenses as water droplets. A silica desiccant is not nearly effective enough to mitigate this and they actually get used up very quickly.
The ideal situation is to store your cards in a container that allows free airflow. Additionally, it’s best to maintain consistent temperature/humidity in the room they are stored in - preferably on the drier side. You can look buying silica beads that change colour when saturated and can be recharged by heating. If you want to go all out, you could also look into wine cabinets that are temperature/humidity controlled
Thanks for the insight!So would you say all the people storing in pelicans are crazy and risking it? Or maybe have more temperate environments? My dream of pelican and silica being a solve seems to over lol
Ever since the windows were replaced in this home I think more moisture has been inside. It was never really a huge issue before unless you turned off the AC. It’s been pretty hard to regulate the temps.
While expensive I think I might have to look into dry cabinets…
I would get a dehumidifier if you feel humidity is being trapped in your house. As for storage it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Do you want to try your best to protect from fire or flooding? Do you just want something durable you can pick up and take with you to travel with? I personally prefer good ole cardboard boxes to be honest.
Thanks, will def look into dehumidfiers.
I guess you could say my main storage at this point is stopping my cards from curling whether it be because its too dry during the winter or too humid during the summer. Everything else is secondary right now lol. I was using cardboard boxes before all this. A lot of my toploadered cards looked fine until I took some out and even they had begun to curl despite being penny sleeved and then the top loader into a superior fit.
Very interesting your house gets too dry during winter months and your cards curl. You could also get a humidifier for those months but you need to watch the humidity in your home closely otherwise it can lead to mold and damage to your home.
Yeah it’s an older place and somewhat of a fixer upper. As I mentioned I believe the new windows we installed might be a cause of the rise in humidity as that was less of a problem before. The seals are much tighter now. Also I’m in the northeast so we get the extreme weather for all seasons. Wife will prob say no to a humidifier with those risks but def think I have some research ahead of me
If you have a humidity sensor its not too difficult to control the humidity in your home with a humidifier. Most humidfiers will have a control on them that will automatically adjust for you (I would have an additional humidity sensor in your card room to double check the humidity %) Another easy way to add some humidity in your home is to let your clothes air dry or have some plants. I would be more concerned about getting a dehumidifier to get rid of the humidity during warm wet months.
This is what I have used in my Pelican case for over a year. It is fantastic. I absolutely agree with above. If you are getting a watertight case, you need something like this in it. I recommend getting two. I also recommend getting some sensors so you can monitor so you arent seeing large fluxuations. My RH is about 19% in the case (outside its about 50% living in WA) wit habout 70s. I find them not being used up quickly at all and only need to switch every 4-6 months maybe. I open it up every so often to look at my cards and add to it but it really doesnt need alot of maintenance.
However, it truly is up to you what you need. For me, I live in an apartment with high pressure fire sprinklers so if they ever went off I need protection. @elektrokuter ,
Please let me know if you have any thoughts and thank you to @silversnorlax204 for helping with my solution last year. He is really the best when it comes to this stuff and is always happy to help out.
Basically, unless you live in a place with 0% humidity and you place the cards in a Pelican case in that environment, that’s ideal. But that’s unrealistic, unless, as Gary said, you live in Vegas (a literal desert). As someone who has been collecting for more than 20 years in a place where the summers get to 105 F and 90% humidity, to -5 f during the winter with 0% humidity, my cards have been fine in binders and lying loose in boxes. I’m much better now about storage than when I was a kid, but unless you live in a jungle, don’t worry too much about storage. Store your cards, loose or in cases/pennysleeves/topholders, away from sunlight and you’ll be fine. I have cards that have hung out in a cardboard box loose for 15+ years and they look as minty as they day they were pulled. If you have dozens are cards that are each worth $1000+ USD, then yeah, look into a drybox just in case. But otherwise, don’t sweat it too much.
silversnorlax204 is very knowledgeable about fireproof safes, i guess moisturerisk is something he could talk about too.
I am new to Silicia gel, but i really like to have the silicia packs. The bigger packs work for a long time and as mentioned by PkmnFlyingMaster they are easy to understand ( Colour or Weight as Indicator for Saturation)
I have no Experience with big Rooms, for small Collections its rare to check if the Siliciagelpack is a Big One.
I use a silica desiccant for small graded card cases and an electric drying cabinet for more valuable binders. I also have an electric dehumidifier. The humidity where I live fluctuates heavily between seasons so I feel precautions are necessary. The cabinet was pricy about $300 but worth the peace of mind.