dry cabinet dos & don'ts - from the horse's mouth

[swishbrade]

Hi sorry to hijack the thread, just want to tap on the people on this thread.

Does anyone know where I can get spare parts for the dry cabi, especially the drying unit/mechanism to do DIY repair to an existing dry cabi which is quite old?

Thanks for your help.

Hi I am interested to read some info on this too! Thanks

 

[third3rdwheel]

Hi all

I just bought a dry cabinet.... after 24 hrs run, the cabinet is at RH30.... should I let it stabilized at 40 before putting my equipment in???

Also, last night when I turned on, there's a red light.. now, there is no light... mine is from Cathay Photo, Akaruidigital with analogue hydro and temp meter....


Please advice...

Thanks..

I bought the same one. Make sure you set it correctly, L M H - L means you want low humidity, M is medium, H is high humidity. For me, I got about RH 45 from setting between M and H.

I let the cabinet run for 4 hours before putting in stuff. Now the RH is quite stable.....

 

[archon75]

In wafer fab, RH is set to 40-45% to keep all moisture low. My plastic spare parts are ok after more than 8yrs of operation. Just leep in mind, RH should not be excessively low to avoid electrostatic damage to your electronic parts.

 

[nakedtoes]

i browsed thru the forums here abt dry cabinets, and being confused by different recommendations from different dry cabinet manufacturers, thot i'd asked Canon about their recommendations. as expected, they won't commit to specific RH settings (they say its subjective, and understandably so) but here's what i found out on what they practice with their own equipment. thot i'd share.

* they store their cameras/lenses at between 40-45% RH (they are NOT specifying this but its what THEY use).
* accessories like plastic stuff (eg, flash unit), fabrics (straps, lens pouches, flash cases) & batteries should not be stored inside a dry cabinet.
* camera body/lenses should be wiped dry and aired after a shoot before storage.
* fabric/leather straps soak up sweat and moisture and recommended not to be stored in dry cabinet
* should not leave cameras/lenses in dry cabinet for extended periods as it does (slow) damage to plastics/rubber - in other words, USE your gear regularly.

these are recommendations on taking care of your photo equipment, not how to use your dry cabinets. it's probably negligible 'damage' if you've done any of the above (im equally guilty) but they do make sense, for the long-term.

For some countries with humidity ard 40 50% how do they store their gear?? especially flash?? I would not believe words from canon... i believe words from the dry cabinet manufacturer instead... And mind u there is some form of optics in the flash also... Best is tune to 40 to 45% and dump everything inside..

 

[nakedtoes]

i always tot that a dry cabinet can put alot of stuff... now can't even put my camera batt liao... sian diao =( ... i tot i could use it as my camera and cam tool compartment...

PLs lar u can put yr batteries inside the dry cabinet lar.. dun believe those bullsh1ts

 

[boyboy]

i'm still undecided about this. The dry air would probably keep the contacts from oxidation, but the plastics will lose their 'plasticity' faster...

my flash units are in my drybox as it saves space!

i don't keep my flash in the dry box, but this is one good reason to!

but my take is that if i use the flash now n then, and micro film of oxidation will be rubbed off. so it has never been an issue. when the flash really gets to that stage, probably time to get new one anyway

 

[reinekz]

just purchased a 70 liter dry cabinet made by "wonderful"
they have guides on what Relative Humidity percentage (%RH) for a specific item.
look at their website:
and try to find "storage items" under "dry cabinets"

 

[chris667198]

What was the damage ?

 

[tian1031cai]

side track abit.
can dry cabinet be placed whereby some sunlight might shine onto it?
will it damage the equipments inside?

 

[MSL10]

Hello all,

Appreciate some kind advise from forummers: the red light in my AKARUI DIGI dry cabinet (bought from Cathay Photo) was on all the while since the day I started operating it. Is this normal or something wrong? I suppose the drying mechanism is at work when the red light is on?

Regards
MSL10

 

[sinned79]

Hello all,

Appreciate some kind advise from forummers: the red light in my AKARUI DIGI dry cabinet (bought from Cathay Photo) was on all the while since the day I started operating it. Is this normal or something wrong? I suppose the drying mechanism is at work when the red light is on?

Regards
MSL10

both green and red light should be on if i did not rem wrongly. Green light should be the power while Red light is the dehumidifier.

 

[sidloojl]

no, the red light comes on when the RH is higher than what you set it to be..never even heard of the green light though..

 

[sinned79]

no, the red light comes on when the RH is higher than what you set it to be..never even heard of the green light though..

if u are using digi-cabi brand.

 

[Kit]

This thread really confirmed my observations. There's really too much contradicting information floating around where dry cabinets are concerned. Some of which were proven to be hog wash. So please people; if you are not sure, don't add yourself to the confusion.

 

[sidloojl]

if u are using digi-cabi brand.

i am using akarui..i am pretty sure of that. at least my manual says so..haha.

there's always gonna be confusion...just buy into what you think makes sense and don't care about what otehrs say if you think it's nonsense.

 

[velasco]

whats the most affordable dry cabi around? hehe

 

[sidloojl]

think someone did a price/vol ratio somewhere..haha.anybody knows who did it..help me find..but when i was buying, i didn't really care cause it is almost the same price..haha.at most like 10 bucks difference for the same number of litres. unless, there is a mega sale somewhere like carrefour will have some times then that's different.

 

[woodenlense]

i see a lot of discussion about whether batteries and plastic etc can be put in the dry cab? but seriously....

the question should be, why would you want to place things like batteries and handgrip etc into your dry cab? it does not need to be dehumidified and it waste space....

correct a not?

 

[yrh0413]

i see a lot of discussion about whether batteries and plastic etc can be put in the dry cab? but seriously....

the question should be, why would you want to place things like batteries and handgrip etc into your dry cab? it does not need to be dehumidified and it waste space....

correct a not?

;p some people just being paranoid. Later on you might even see people asking if they should put their camera bags into the drycab also :bsmilie::bsmilie::bsmilie:

 

[sidloojl]

yup. buy a massive one and throw everything inside! lol.