Dessicant and rust

Re: Dessicant and rust

Bryan Danner - Broad Ripple, IN

>As I recall, when chlorine mixes with water it can create small amounts of hydrocloric acid (HCl). Since the desiccant attracts mositure, perhaps the combination of the mositure and the chorine residue is creating enough corrosive HCl to cause your problems. FWIW, I've had a desiccant package (from a box of shoes) sitting directly on my Blue Chip chisels for a year or so now with no signs of corrosion.

-Bryan

Re: Dessicant and rust

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>Putting dessicant in a drawer is not going to reduce the humidity in the drawer. There is too much exchange with the room air and the dessicant has too low a capacity to dry the room, day after day.

there is no chlorine on or in the dessicant package but there could likely be chloride as a result of decomposition of what ever material was in the original container. Chloride (like in sodium chloride) attacks iron with a vengence as anyone knows who has lived in the frozen north where salt on roads is common. Syracuse cars with doors rusted away after 3 years were common in the 60's when calcium chloride was use there.

PS salt from hands is another source of corrosion.

Re: Dessicant and rust

John, NY

>These dessicant packets came out of a tub of chlorine tabs used for swimming pool sanitization. I'm thinking now that any residue from that is likely the cause of the corrosion rather than the dessicant itself.

Re: Dessicant and rust

Skip in Falls Church

>Hi John

I haven't kept up on all the things they use to disinfect pools these days - but the last I knew the most common disinfectant used for tablets like that was calcium hypochlorite Ca(OCl)2. You can think of it as chlorinated lime if you like. Any moisture that comes in contact with that will create a very basic solution of Calciium hydroxide and hypochlorite ion. As I recall that would be bad news for most metals.

Skip