Silica packs and CGC storage 0

[Red84]

Does anyone keep silica packs in their CGC comic boxes?

Is it a good idea or can it damage the books?

[AnkurJ]

I keep a large unit in each safe deposit box. They last over a month and are renewable by plugging into an ordinary outlet.

[Mark 1]

I use Damp Rid plastic containers in my comic room and change it once a month.

 

I get about 1/2 a cup of more of water collected.

[Brian48]

I don't keep them in my boxes, but I do use the rechargeable type in my safe where I keep the most expensive ones and other valuables.

[Red84]

Can a comic box be too dry?

 

[TheFifthHorseman]

On 1/17/2016 at 4:59 PM, Mark 1 said:

I use Damp Rid plastic containers

Just bought some. Hoping it works!

[Wayne-Tec]

Has anyone ever had issues with silica gel packs backfiring within safe deposit boxes? I have not, but I've read about it on other forums. From what I understand, they can sometimes absorb moisture, then dispense it in a way that creates water/humidity damage. Has anyone had this experience?

[Bomber-Bob]

On 1/17/2016 at 10:06 PM, Brian48 said:

I don't keep them in my boxes, but I do use the rechargeable type in my safe where I keep the most expensive ones and other valuables.

Same here.

[Wayne-Tec]

I saw this on a baseball forum, where a collector used some kind of white bead moisture absorbers (lose beads, not specifically silica gel packs) and it caused damage to his collectibles in a safe deposit box.

LINK 

1. Has anyone ever experienced any kind of damage to their comics stored in a safe deposit box as a result of silica gel packs?

2. What happens if you don't replace old silica gel packs in a safe deposit box?

3. Do the packs fill up with moisture or do they just dry out and become useless?

[ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES]

1 hour ago, Wayne-Tec said:

 

2. What happens if you don't replace old silica gel packs in a safe deposit box?

 

I only utilize indicating gel and I do not regenerate old packs. With that said, from my understanding with a guy who is well versed in this arena, essentially if a pack has no more capability of performing its function, then logically you could infer that the effective end results will be very undesirable (depending on your particular environment.)  Leading to your question 3, yes they would not only be useless but the space and contents residing in said space  would potentially be vulnerable as well. 

Edited July 9, 2017 by ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES

[Wayne-Tec]

1 hour ago, ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES said:

I only utilize indicating gel and I do not regenerate old packs. With that said, from my understanding with a guy who is well versed in this arena, essentially if a pack has no more capability of performing its function, then logically you could infer that the effective end results will be very undesirable (depending on your particular environment.)  Leading to your question 3, yes they would not only be useless but the space and contents residing in said space  would potentially be vulnerable as well. 

Are you saying that the old silica gel pack would then eventually contain moisture that could harm the comic books in the safe deposit box?

Or just that an old silica gel packet that has absorbed as much as it could would then become dry, useless and you'd lose that extra measure of protection?

Edited July 9, 2017 by Wayne-Tec

[Wayne-Tec]

[ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES]

12 hours ago, Wayne-Tec said:

Are you saying that the old silica gel pack would then eventually contain moisture that could harm the comic books in the safe deposit box?

Or just that an old silica gel packet that has absorbed as much as it could would then become dry, useless and you'd lose that extra measure of protection?

With certainty and you would obviously logically concur, I can say that yes you lose that layer of protection absolutely. But there are some variables that I believe give merit to your original questions/premise with respect to potentially causing harm. One big thing being that not all desiccant and silica bags are equal in terms of quality. So in some instances/products and in some environments I could see why some folks are saying they had a problem in that regard. I have not personally experienced this though. 

To give you an analogy that is more apples to oranges, say you have batteries in a TV remote control that expire and no longer work and you just indefinitely left the batteries in the compartment. In some environments and/or in some particular battery brands, those batteries will end up leaking and potentially causing harm to the device. I believe that if we have gone to this much trouble i.e. slabbing, or mylar/fullbacks etc. you have to see it through all the way. 

[Wayne-Tec]

10 minutes ago, ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES said:

With certainty and you would obviously logically concur, I can say that yes you lose that layer of protection absolutely. But there are some variables that I believe give merit to your original questions/premise with respect to potentially causing harm. One big thing being that not all desiccant and silica bags are equal in terms of quality. So in some instances/products and in some environments I could see why some folks are saying they had a problem in that regard. I have not personally experienced this though. 

To give you an analogy that is more apples to oranges, say you have batteries in a TV remote control that expire and no longer work and you just indefinitely left the batteries in the compartment. In some environments and/or in some particular battery brands, those batteries will end up leaking and potentially causing harm to the device. I believe that if we have gone to this much trouble i.e. slabbing, or mylar/fullbacks etc. you have to see it through all the way. 

I've always used standard silica gel packs, like the ones you find in shoe boxes or Hallmark photo boxes. Even old ones I've left in hot temperatures have never leaked, or appeared to contain moisture. I've never seen any residual damage done to collectibles stored with them, be it in safe deposit boxes or plastic storage containers at home.

Do you think there's a danger to having old silica gel packs in a safe deposit box and if so, what are some of the potential effects they might have?

Edited July 9, 2017 by Wayne-Tec

[jpepx78]

2 minutes ago, Wayne-Tec said:

I've always used standard silica gel packs, like the ones you find in shoe boxes or Hallmark photo boxes. Even old ones I've left in hot temperatures have never leaked, or appeared to contain moisture. I've never seen any residual damage done to collectibles stored with them, be it in safe deposit boxes or plastic storage containers at home.

Do you think there's a danger to having old silica gel packs in a safe deposit box and if so, what are some of the potential effects they might have?

Silica gel packs can adsorb (stick to surface of silica) water up to about one-third of the silica weight. Once the silica reaches its water capacity it will simply become ineffective to adsorbing water. Water will not be released unless the silica is regenerated by heating it above 120 deg C (250 deg F) for several hours.  There should be no harm from old silica packs. Just replace silica packets to minimize moisture. Replacement intervals will depend on the humidity of your location.

The indicating silica that turn blue contain colbalt chloride or methyl iodide are toxic and are potentially carcinogenic. 

[ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES]

28 minutes ago, jpepx78 said:

The indicating silica that turn blue contain colbalt chloride or methyl iodide are toxic and are potentially carcinogenic. 

Thank you for mentioning this. The ones I utilize are moisture indicating that do not contain cobalt. I get them from Amazon. I would recommend anyone do the same.

[ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES]

57 minutes ago, Wayne-Tec said:

I've always used standard silica gel packs, like the ones you find in shoe boxes or Hallmark photo boxes. Even old ones I've left in hot temperatures have never leaked, or appeared to contain moisture. I've never seen any residual damage done to collectibles stored with them, be it in safe deposit boxes or plastic storage containers at home.

Do you think there's a danger to having old silica gel packs in a safe deposit box and if so, what are some of the potential effects they might have?

I personally would not want to have an old pack in the box, definitely no. In theory specifically with respect to temperature/heat a pack could not release moisture/water, etc. And you are a testament to said theory above. But again this goes back to the quality/quality control issue. Clearly there are folks who have had problems.  Now they could be outliers or that 5% of error.

But this goes back to my contention of why leave it in there?  Thirty three gram packets are cheap.  ((One other thing to point out, I need to get a little more feedback on,  some types of packs have exploded IF exposed to enough water/moisture. ))

Edited July 9, 2017 by ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES

[Wayne-Tec]

7 minutes ago, ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES said:

I personally would not want to have an old pack in the box, definitely no. In theory specifically with respect to temperature/heat a pack could not release moisture/water, etc. And you are a testament to said theory above. But again this goes back to the quality/quality control issue. Clearly there are folks who have had problems.  Now they could be outliers or that 5% of error.

But this goes back to my contention of why leave it in there?  Thirty three gram packets are cheap.  ((One other thing to point out, I need to get a little more feedback on,  some types of packs have exploded IF exposed to enough water/moisture. ))

Have you or any other board members ever had any bad experiences with old silica gel packs? 

Not other moisture absorbing products but specifically old silica gel packs typically found in shoe boxes and photo boxes?

[ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES]

28 minutes ago, Wayne-Tec said:

Have you or any other board members ever had any bad experiences with old silica gel packs? 

Not other moisture absorbing products but specifically old silica gel packs typically found in shoe boxes and photo boxes?

No. I discard those. I will be getting together tonight with some collecting folks. Will ask around.

[Wayne-Tec]

Just now, ARCHIVED COLLECTIBLES said:

No. I discard those. I will be getting together tonight with some collecting folks. Will ask around.

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to replace the older packs I have in my safe deposit box, but since I don't go to the safe deposit box on a regular basis, I want to be sure that old packets left inside the box won't become a danger to my comic books over time.

 

1) I could replace the silica gel packs regularly.

2) I could not use silica gel packs at all as my safe deposit box is always cool and dry anyway.

3) I could leave the silica gel packs in there for extended periods of time when I don't have a reason to go to the safe deposit box.

 

In the case of number 3, I just want to be sure there isn't a danger in doing so. If there is, I can always switch to number 2 and not use them.