Keeping metal stuff in plastic shed

Bought a 7x7 plastic shed. I want to keep metal stuff there. What are practical ways to keep it from rusting. I am thinking to do two things:

1) Spray it with LPS-2 from a spray bottle 2) Have a 100 watt light bulb pn all the time.

Would this work? Any experience with this?

i
Reply to
Ignoramus10202
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What type of floor? One of the biggest problems you will have if it doesn't have a vapor proof floor is moisture coming up from the ground and condensing on your metal items.

CP

Reply to
Pilgrim

My shed has a plastic bottom and it shands on a solid concrete foundation.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus10202

I learned this the hard way, though rust wasn't the disaster, it was a very old bookshelf made of laminated hardwood, that delaminated from moisture. I made a new floor for the shed, putting the flooring on pallets I scrounged for free. This allows free circulation of air under the shed and solved the moisture problem for good.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Anderson

I'll work MOST of the time. Most of the time it takes very little to keep the inside above the dew point. Then there's those few to several days a year it won't be enough.

I'd suggest first build it up so water don't come in. Then I'd get a small de-humidifier on a humidistat.

Karl

Reply to
Karl Townsend

Can you say COSMOLENE?

-- Ask not what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive... then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. -- Howard Thurman

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Ventilate and air movement and keep the dew from setting within. The best thing other wise and likely as well is to wrap or cover it.

Dew doesn't fall, it deposits. If you get dew > Bought a 7x7 plastic shed. I want to keep metal stuff there. What are

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

Hey Iggy,

A fan. A fan left on constantly, and blowing on the metal.

Brian Lawson

Reply to
Brian Lawson

No. It's a good cleaner, but the residue it leaves isn't as protective as wax would be. Wax or paint aren't enough, either, that's why Cosmoline was invented. Boiled linseed oil is a suitable wipe-on finish, I like it for my shovels and such (does the handles good, too).

Better, but... in case of condensing conditions (dewdrop formation), the dew forms on whatever's coldest. That might be the floor, the walls, or the steel items. The light bulb might heat too much the items you don't want protected (the floor and walls) which would endanger the items you DO want to protect. By the time you add insulation to the heat source, it's not just a shed any more.

Dehumidifier sounds like a good solution, but (trust me, I've tested) the compressor/coils type generally freezes up at any temperature under 60 degees, so most places this won't work year-round. Electric bill is gonna get high, too.

If you can put plastic bags around the items, and put some dessicant inside, THAT would work.

Reply to
whit3rd

That's how I store my blacksmithing stuff, plus it is oiled, no rust whatsoever.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus23519

For that matter, Tupperware tubs work great too. I sorta forgot to get one tub of yard sale stuff back in the shed last year. It spent the whole winter under the deck with half an inch of water trapped in the lid. Nothing inside rusted, and nothing had been treated in any way to prevent rust. So long as stuff goes in dry and it's not humid, tubs with halfway decent sealing should provide good protection.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Anderson

Not sure about your 60 degree limit, I bought a dehumidifier about 17 year ago and it was rated to operate down to +3 C, one of the reasons I bought it, it has run as expected every year since without maintenance, except clearing the filter, and has certainly run near freezing on many occasions. I've bought another since and it's going well. My electric bill isn't excessive and my machine toools are rust free.

Reply to
David Billington

Come to think of it, I do have a military dehumidifier for M2 tanks, that can work in warm as well as sub-freezing weather. Maybe I should use it.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus23519
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How old was the one which was freezing up? Normally, that is a sign of either inadequate airflow, or more likely, low Freon. (The lower the pressure, the lower the temperature at the evaporator side.) I don't know whether any home dehumidifers are made with refill connections and valves, however.

Enjoy, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

LPS-3 is the stuff, not -2. More like spray-on cosmoline. LPS-2 is more like a lube. I use -3 on tools stored in the shed during fall and winter.

A lot depends on where you are, if it's the Southwest, you'd have to really work at it to get stuff to rust. Next to the sea, it's going to rust no matter what you do, just a matter of how much. A concrete floor will contribute to humidity build-up, sealed is better. If you can have an elevated and ventilated floor, things will be much better. Might be some solar heating panels would help, the b-in-l has exactly that setup in his big tool shed. Wouldn't take much to warm up that small a space.

In any case, you're probably going to be resorting to LPS-3 or Boeshield.

Stan

Reply to
stans4

:

About 10 years old; it might be that I've had a succession of cheapos, but three (Kenmore on the outside, LG on the inside) models had similar behavior. The electric usage, too, was high (about $10-$30 per month). These had humidistat mechanical controls, I imagine a timer-cycle unit could handle the frost problem easily.

Reply to
whit3rd
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Not really. The problem is lower refrigerant pressure, which results in a colder expansion coil (the cooling coil). When it is low enough, the expansion coil is cold enough so humidity from the air condenses on it and instead of following gravity to the drip pan, it instantly freezes -- and somewhat insulates the coil from the air. This progresses until the air can't flow through the coil -- so the thing keeps running and consuming electricity, while not condensing much humidity at all.

Yes -- with a long enough off cycle, the frozen water will melt and run off -- but the duty cycle will be long enough so it will do little dehumidification.

Do yours have valves to allow checking the pressure and topping off the refrigerant? Depending on the age, you might need a license to get the proper refrigerant (if it is any Freon, it is a controlled substance these days because of the ozone layer hole. :-)

Good Luck, DoN.

Reply to
DoN. Nichols

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