So true. Bristol regularly records >98% for days on end in the late summer
coming off the rivers and sea to the west, often saturating at >99%
even inside houses at its worst. That's the kind of thing normally
associated with rain forests, or Vietnam.
If you cant go to a gas refill station and get some nitrogen, next best
thing would maybe be get the small co2 cylinders like used for paintball,
and purge the containers with co2 gas. It will drive out all the oxygen,
which is what causes rust with water vapor. Also use the desecant to absorb
any remaining moisture.
No. Argon is best. Non-nutritive to all known forms of life, can't say the
same about nitrogen. not all that more expensive either. BTW ultra low
humidity has ESD issues; you must tradeoff between ESD and H2O amplified
corrosion.
So true. Bristol regularly records >98% for days on end in the late summer
coming off the rivers and sea to the west, often saturating at >99%
even inside houses at its worst. That's the kind of thing normally
associated with rain forests, or Vietnam.
I have the units in a thick plastic container with desiccant.
Is there any way that ESD can get into the container from outside it?
Would it be better if I placed the units in anti-static bags first?
Note that there's a difference between "waterproof" and
"watervaporproof". Water vapor will diffuse thru most plastics at a
very slow rate, so you need an indicator and enough desiccant to last
the 'lifetime' of the product.
The only thing that I would not know how do, after your excellent explanation
would be to find the most cost-effective source of nitrogen gas. It would be
nice If I could buy a couple of cubic feet at Wal-Mart for $2.99. Also would
nitrogen gas be reactive with CaSO4, CoCl2 ?
(That is the composition of my "drierite" desiccant).
I wonder if the bag should be an electro-static bag, rather than just
plastic of some sort. That said, I've no idea whether truly air-tight
electro-static bags are available (or necessary).