Dessicant reactivation

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Benevolus, Oct 20, 2005.


Tags:
  1. Benevolus

    Benevolus Monkey+++ Founding Member

    I got a hold of a bunch of 'Unit Pack' Dessicants made by Dessicare, Inc. They're about 3"x4" in size and packaged in what appears to be 'Tyvek'. It says on the outside,"Reactivation time in bag 16 hours at 245 F." That seems like a long time to reactivate such a small pack. Has anybody had any experience with this particular brand? Thanks a lot.
     
  2. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I have some that are a little larger. I tried the oven thing and thought the same thing. Running my oven that long at that temperature would cost more than the desiccants themselves. Someone once told me you could microwave them.

    Ill look around and get back to you.
     
  3. kckndrgn

    kckndrgn Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I have some that I use with my cyano acrylite (super glue) and it says right on the package to microwave it. HOWEVER, it says to microwave at 10sec until it goes from blue to pink, now the first time I did this on the 3rd round I started to melt the package the dessicant was in. Guess I didn't wait long enough in between microwaving sessions.

    I would start with 5-10 seconds, and letting it "cool" for a at least 10-15 seconds before turning the microwave on again.

    YMMV

    Ryan
     
  4. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I'm doing one right now. It's a 3" X 8" Cloth bag. The kind you see at TN gunshows. I put it in on high for 2 minutes and when I opened the door, steam flowed out. Definitely removing some moisture from the bag... I just put it on a 10 minute burn and will then put in my Humidor and see if it significantly sucks the humidity level down...

    actually, the microwave is screwing with my WiFi...
     
  5. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Ok. The microwave works. Dropped my bag in the Humidor and checked it an hour later. Dropped it from 70% to 24%. Sorry about the Cuban Bear... Last time the humidor got to 74%, (70 is optimum), I put the same bag in and it took it 2 hours to get it to 68%.

    I'll be 'nuking' all of my 15 dessicant bags tommorrow....

    b::
     
  6. ghostrider

    ghostrider Resident Poltergeist Founding Member

    I'll have to try that. I usually wait till the winter, and put them in the oven.
     
  7. Benevolus

    Benevolus Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Thank you all for your great responses.
    I just got off the phone with the manufacturer Dessicare, Inc. They told me not to put this particular product in an microwave for reactivation. There were two reasons:
    First, the specific chemical in this product would get heated too fast and lose it's ability to absorb water.
    Secondly, the packaging, Tyvek, has a melting point of 250 F. Any microwave over 900 watts would exceed that.
    They recommended a vented oven set at 220 F, for 12 hours on a piece of cardboard. The bags should not touch any metal surfaces. The 16 hours at 245 F was for the military.

    (This scenario reminds me of once putting a pizza back into the oven in the box to 'warm' it up. IIRC, the oven was set 'a little' too high. Result: warm pizza, brown box, distinct flavor!) :shock: :p :lol:

    Again, thanks to all.
     
  8. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    I have the browning type and they take 3 hrs in oven at 260 degs
     
  9. sniper-66

    sniper-66 Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    I did the 12 hours once on the military bags and they all burnt and were ruined. The next time, I did it at 225 degrees fro three hours and it worked fine.
     
  10. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Mine worked after the micro treatment. I put the rest in for 4 miuntes a piece and am finishing them up in the oven set on convection. I did verify that mine worked after the 10 minute on high test also.
     
  11. BRONZ

    BRONZ Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Has anyone done it with the little ones that come in shoes or electronics. I have put a bunch of them in a toaster oven at like 250 for 1/2 hours. I couldn't get them to come out clear as I was advised be another forum. They strill were redish after cooking them.
     
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7