Eureka Dry Cabinet Review by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

[Drycabinets]

Dry Cabinet Review by Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography

Never go moist with Eureka EDC-51 Dry Cabinet!

It is a great honour to try out Eureka EDC-51 Dry Cabinet. To many fans out there, what is the fuss of having a dry cabinet for your cameras? I can easily store my camera and lens on inside my cupboard with Thirsty Hippo to absorb moisture or rather, leaving the lenses and camera anywhere I want.

But what happens if you leave that way too long?

This can happen to your lens.

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With humidity in Singapore soaring up to 90%, it can be really ideal for fungus to grow on your lens. Especially when your lens are not weather sealed (those expensive ones aren't weather sealed), rain water can enter easily and get mixed with the dust. The most ideal humidity range is 40% to 50%, but you will not get it in Singapore's climate.

Lens fungus contamination is caused by a combination of moisture and dust (containing fungus spores) that can get inside your lens’s interior elements. Some dust gets inside every lens, especially if it’s a lens that isn’t fully “weather sealed” like the very expensive professional models. The dust specks are usually not a problem, by themselves. However, add a little moisture, and very bad things can happen!

Therefore dry cabinets are really important for all lens and almost all electric devices here in Singapore. I mean, you would rather invest in a $200+ dry cabinet instead of losing your lens especially, 24 - 70mm F2.8 at almost $3k right?

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My Experience with Eureka EDC-51 Dry Cabinet






The first thing when I unboxed the cabinet, I was really impressed with the design. The silver rims make it really attractive.



Spacious design.

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My previous dry cabinet, yes previous since now I've gotten the Eureka Dry Cabinet has a battery operated hygrometer. It wasn't reliable as I thought to be because I needed to replace the battery almost every 12 months. But for Eureka Dry Cabinet, the hydrometer is analogue therefore I do not need to worry about replacing batteries. Not only that, the hydrometer readings are huge enough to read comfortably. But ultimately, the best feature about this hydrometer is that it's made in Germany. And through my experience, german measuring devices or electronics are always one of the best in the world.



The overall look of this dry cabinet. Compact size but a huge storage space within.






Quality rubber sealing

 

[Drycabinets]

The Relative Humidity Control is extremely simple and easy to use. Adjust the knob left or right to get the right balance to get a RH of 40 - 50%.


So, why Eureka EDC-51 Dry Cabinet instead of others?

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[TD]Eureka Electronic Dry Cabinets[/TD]
[TD]Other Brands[/TD]
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[TD]“Auto Adsorption” Theory

In the heart of Eureka’s Dry Unit Module contains a formulation of “Multi-porous Molecular Sieves”. These sieves adsorbs and traps moisture in the air and materials by means of Van der Waal forces.

Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) is used to control the valve shutter in order to expel moisture from the cabinet

[/TD]
[TD]“TE Cooling Chip” Theory

Thermal Electric Cooling chip has to be connected to electricity to function. One side of the chip surface is cooled to condense moisture in the air into frost/water. The drying system requires a fan and transformer to dissipate heat and expel vapour out from the cabinet[/TD]
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1. Outer valve of the Dry Module will shut immediately to prevent moisture from outside the cabinet getting in.
2. Multi-porous Molecular sieves will continue to trap moisture inside the cabinet
3. Dehumidification still continues even if unit has power turned off

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[TD]

1. Without power the chip will lose ability to expel moisture
2. The frost collected on the TE chip melts into water and thus raises the RH in the cabinet
3. Should the outer valve of the dry unit be in open position during power off, ambient moisture will enter the cabinet via the valve

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[TD]Fully automatic, Plug n play, Operated silently and
Maintenance-free[/TD]
[TD]The fan and transformer could be noisy and susceptible to breakdowns after prolonged operations

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[TD]A 40% RH can be reached within 3 hours. The dehumidification in Eureka Dry cabinets is controlled smoothly and gradually. The advantage of gradual dehumidification is to avoid undue stress on the stored materials from drastic change (drop) in relative humidity conditions.




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[TD]RH level of 40% can be reached within 1 hour[/TD]
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How to order it?

You can head on to http://www.drycabinets.com.sg/consumer/products.html and check out the various models such as the whopping 163 litres Dry Cabinet!

Or you can follow their updates on their Facebook fanpage - https://www.facebook.com/drycabinets
Instagram - http://instagram.com/drycabinets

The good news is that it comes with 5 years warranty!

About Melvin Lau from Multifolds Photography