Shop Humidity

[derek labian]

90% of the shops in my part of Texas are totally open to the outside air. If they're running, the bay doors are up and whatever temp and humidity it is, outside, it is, inside. A few have mini-splits and the really big commercial shops have climate control but huge fans are the usually best you get. If I had a home shop, I'd get a mini-split but not worry too much about actual humidity. Seems like chasing a moving target here in TX.

Erik

Hi Erik,

My problem is everything keeps rusting, and I'm tired of cleaning rust off tools. (I've tried waxing, etc) I'm sure it has more to do with the fact that tools will sit for weeks at a time un-touched. In a production shop, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

[Jamie Buxton]

My shop has no heat, no cooling, and no humidity control. The atmospheric humidity here runs 75-80% year-round.

[Anthony Whitesell]

In the summer you would need to run the AC and heat at the same time to pull enough water out of the air, and in the winter you'd rot the building with the condensation on the windows.

In the winter in my basement I have to run a dehumidifier almost 24/7. I have the coil connected to a temperature sensor. Once it drops below 35 the coil ices over it shuts it off until the temp is above 50.

In the summer the dehumidifier in combination with the summer heat there isn't enough temperature delta to get the dehumdifier to condense. I end up also running an air conditioner. The mechanics of an air conditioner and dehumidifier are the same, only the air flow is different. Once the A/C is running it condenses out some water and the dehumidifer kicks in. I usually pump out 70-80 pints per day (4-5 gallons) during the summer.

I don't know what the exact RH is, but if it feels humid to me then it probably is too humid for the tools.

[Jim Becker]

I saw in the other dehumidification thread that others are also using this model... We replaced a big box residential unit in our always-musty basement with this AlorAir HD55 unit (currently listed at $600, although I paid $500 about 5 months ago)

I arrived at this model mainly because:
- An episode of This Old House recommended a product that I traced back and found this to be a close "cousin" and readily available

- My HVAC guy recommended

- And, readily available


It's a beast. After years of struggling with our basement, just barely overcoming the worst of the dampness... it's dry and smell-free now. The unit runs non-stop in our case and I clean the filter about every 6 weeks or so.


Edit: In my outbuilding workshop, I just keep the mini-split running year-round. It feels "comfortable" and I suspect it's just "as good" (or bad) as my house (and most people's homes) so I have never measured the RH.

Glad things worked out for you, Bob...I'm going to consider that unit for the basement here at the new place. It really needs attention to humidity for sure.

[Jack Frederick]

Until this weekends storm the humidity level 140mi east of our Bay Area respondents has consistently been in the 15% +/- range. Having received 15” of rain over the last week, yippee, I can joyfully report that it is a comfortable 74% this morning and time to go over the CI tool beds.

[Erik Loza]

Hi Erik,

My problem is everything keeps rusting, and I'm tired of cleaning rust off tools. (I've tried waxing, etc) I'm sure it has more to do with the fact that tools will sit for weeks at a time un-touched. In a production shop, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

Derek, you're 100% correct on the "why". Unless someone is running AC in your shop full-time Spring through Fall here in TX, there is gonna' be some rust. To varying degrees, but unavoidable. I've never seen a machine that doesn't have some level of rust to it. This being said, you shouldn't have any problems with rust on the cast iron tops so long as you are waxing them routinely. At least I never did.

Erik

[Thomas Wilson]

Several commenters on this thread mention that they do not monitor shop humidity. I do and find it useful to protect from rust. This monitor is only $10.99, has thermometer and hygrometer plus max/min function.

https://www.amazon.com/ThermoPro-TP5...pt=THERMOMETER

[Erik Loza]

Something just popped into my head: Our edgebanders comes with several of these things stuck to the inside of the working compartment: https://www.zerust.com/products/vci-...ule-diffusers/

I had no idea about them prior to coming back to Felder and haven't seen them used on any other machines (the glue fumes are probably corrosive to raw metal) but if someone was really worried, they're available on Amazon. Seems like the company offers a bunch of rust preventative solutions.

Erik

[Alan Lightstone]

Something just popped into my head: Our edgebanders comes with several of these things stuck to the inside of the working compartment: https://www.zerust.com/products/vci-...ule-diffusers/

I had no idea about them prior to coming back to Felder and haven't seen them used on any other machines (the glue fumes are probably corrosive to raw metal) but if someone was really worried, they're available on Amazon. Seems like the company offers a bunch of rust preventative solutions.

Erik

I have a few of those that I throw into the drawers with tools and chisels/rasps/router bits, etc... Plus some rechargeable desiccant containers. Despite AC running essentially 14/7 in my workshop, it's impossible to really lower humidity to a level that would prevent rust.

Keeping the rust at a small but manageable level is my goal. It does bother me, but it is what it is living on the water.

[John Lifer]

My woodworking shop is not climate controlled other than it's insulated. It is way better up here than central MS where it would rain inside occasionally. My laser room is my basement and it's dry and stays between 25 and 40% like the house. I did install minisplit that I use mainly for heat and I could use to eliminate moisture if it was an issue.

[mike stenson]

Hi Erik,

My problem is everything keeps rusting, and I'm tired of cleaning rust off tools. (I've tried waxing, etc) I'm sure it has more to do with the fact that tools will sit for weeks at a time un-touched. In a production shop, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

Keep the dust off of it.