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Hi,

I have been storing my guitar in its hard case to protect it specially from fluctuating humidity levels.

I have high humidity where I live so I decided to try using the planet waves humidipak but these have to be replaced and have a high cost (plus I noticed that the humidity is fixed at 60% in the case and recommended is 45% to 50%) but I have heard about Zorb-it and it claims to gives the average Relative humidity and I am thinking of trying them out.

Has anyone heard of them or tried them in places with high humidity?

Fadi

Fadi,
I'm not familiar with the products that you've mentioned but I am an organic chemist. Most of the desiccants marketed are packets of silica (SiO2), a white granular solid. It is ground to various particle sizes depending on the intended application and can be activated by drying in an oven to drive off the adsorbed water. Once cooled again, it is an excellent desiccant. You'll frequently see small packets of silica enclosed with sensitive items (e.g. cameras) when they are shipped. The problem is that in a humid environment the silica will absorb water vapor very quickly and become inactive. Thus it's only useful if it's placed in a small airtight container with the item (guitar) you wish to keep dry. You should be able to reactivate a silica packet as long as the packaging will take the heat. In the lab we used to heat silicas to 100C (212F) for several hours or even overnight. You could do this in your kitchen in a warm oven (not microwave), about 200F or so. Just examine the packaging carefully. Don't attempt this if it's encased in plastic or paper. Some silica desiccants conveniently contain an indicator that changes color depending on how much water it has adsorbed (blue=active and dry; pink=needs to re-activated).
A quick Google search brought up this website:
http://www.silicagelpackets.com/
Good luck with your kitchen chemistry and please don't get hurt!
Tom

Fadi,
This product looks like it might do the trick for a guitar case.
Tom

http://www.silicagelpackets.com/dry-pac ... ister.html

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the info. I will look into these.

But one question, these will not regulate the RH right? They will just remove the humidity, so they have to be monitored in case they remove too much. Is that correct?

Fadi

Fadi,
Absolutely correct. You need some kind of relative humidity indicator. Martin included an inexpensive one with my guitar. It's just a plastic card with nine small indicator panels (0.25" x 0.25"). There's one for each 10% range of RH (e.g. 90-100%, 80-90%, etc). The approximate RH is indicated by the point where the blue panels fade to pink. There is a manufacturer's name on the card: Sud-Chemie Performance Packaging, Colton, CA.
I'm sure you can find more accurate (and more expensive ones) on the internet. Lot's of luck.
Tom