condensation, or how to keep the shiny tools from rusting

[mhm993]

So, for those of you with detached garages who don't heat and aircondition your garage full time, what do you do to keep your tools from rusting?

I was thinking of a de-humidifier running on low setting, just as I have one in the basement. It keeps everything dry and mold free. In fact, some summer days, my basement is a "delightfully dry" compared to the rest of the house. In my basement, I only need to run it during the summer months. Maybe that's because winter temperate air can't hold as much vapor.

What do you do?--and please don't suggest full time heat and ac! I live in the NE where we have four seasons of weather. The garage is reasonably insulated, with soffit and ridge vents in the attic. If you have a similar situation and have a dehumidifier, do you find it necessary to operate all year or only during certain seasons?
Thanks!

 

[307WYLD]

So, for those of you with detached garages who don't heat and aircondition your garage full time, what do you do to keep your tools from rusting?

I was thinking of a de-humidifier running on low setting, just as I have one in the basement. It keeps everything dry and mold free. In fact, some summer days, my basement is a "delightfully dry" compared to the rest of the house. In my basement, I only need to run it during the summer months. Maybe that's because winter temperate air can't hold as much vapor.

What do you do?--and please don't suggest full time heat and ac! I live in the NE where we have four seasons of weather. The garage is reasonably insulated, with soffit and ridge vents in the attic. If you have a similar situation and have a dehumidifier, do you find it necessary to operate all year or only during certain seasons?
Thanks!

The "cheap" solution would be to buy various dessicant packages to store in your drawers with your tools. They recharge by simply popping them in your oven on a low temp. There are also some other gadgets I have seen in Griot's Garage and the like that you plug in.

In the end I think you're going to pay about the same amount...either in electricity for the dehumidifier and the unit or dessicant packages/gadgets. OF course the dessicant is a fixed cost as you can recharge them once they become ineffective, whereas electricity will be an ongoing usage.

 

[kbs2244]

I don’t think a dehumidifier will work because of the amount of air that comes in when you open a garage door.
I would go with air circulation.
A ceiling fan set on low and never shut off will do a lot to keep the air moving and dampness away.

 

[JerseyJim]

I have both a lawn shed and a detached garage. The lawn shed is wood and is raised up just a bit from the ground. Tools in my wood frame garage will typically rust. Tools stored in the shed seem to do much better. That tells me that the concrete slab in the garage may be the culprit. I believe that moisture permeates this floor. As a result, I heat the garage to about 50 degrees in order to prevent condensation. Warm air holds more moisture than cold air. My wood shed is not heated. I do crack the windows just slightly and it does have small ridge vents at both ends.

 

[Theo]

I'm in the same boat.

I've shot my tools with LPS#3 and I've considered placing an incandescent bulb in each drawn and running it 24/7 over the winter months.

 

[mhm993]

So, do you find that condensation and rust is mostly a winter thing? Warm-ish air on tools that remain cold?

Thinking about it, I leave tools in my trailer during the summer months, and don't have any problem. WInter, on the other hand, everything feels moist there and goes indoors.

 

[JCByrd24]

I find it's the warmish days in the fall/winter/spring that are the worst here in NE. Concrete and steel is cold and collects the moisture out of the warm air. The upstairs of the garage is much better than the downstairs. My floor and tools will get down right wet in on those days.

 

[stricht8]

Give them a light coat of oil. Not perfect but it helps.

 

[70redbee]

Wipe all your tools with a little WD40 or silicone spray and put in a ceiling fan as mentioned to circulate air. Low setting on fan will be all you need just to keep the air moving. Always wipe down and spray your tools after use. You may also want to keep the drawers just a little open to get that air circulation to your tools. Good Luck

 

[mhm993]

yeah, but I'm not spraying my table saw from stem to stern.....

 

[A_Pmech]

You should wax your table saw. I use Johnson's Paste Wax on all my commercial woodworking machinery. It will keep the rust at bay in an average shop. Use a maroon Scotch Brite pad and WD40 to remove the rust. Once the table is bright and smooth, rub on at least 8 coats of wax, buffing between each coat. Re-coat once a month and buff. More if you're using the machine regularly.

Use a dehumidifier, keep your building air-tight.

I use Hoppes #7 "Weather Guard" gun oil on all my metrology and associated equipment. Camphor in your tool boxes will also help. It slowly vaporizes and covers everything within an enclosed space. It's the traditional way to keep machinist's tools from rusting in the chest. Wood tool chests also help, as they stabilize the moisture within the enclosed space.

The machines are kept oiled with way oil and gear oil on table surfaces. The tooling is oiled with #10 "sewing machine" oil.

It's a constant battle, as all my buildings are concrete. With well over 100,000lbs of machinery and tools in my main building, spring is the worst time. The machines are still somewhat cold, and the warm, moist air infiltrates the building and condenses on the machinery. The dehumidifier will take care of that, if the building is kept tight.

 

[mhm993]

cool
Interesting thing, is I use the dehud in the basement from May to October. I can move it out to the garage from Fall to Spring.
I hope you have a teenager at home who likes to wax and oil Dad's shop!

 

[GTO]

If you are talking about hand tools,I open my tool chest and spray them down with WD-40
I also run a dehumidifier in the warmer months.

 

[denis4x4]

When I was in high school, I worked in the outdoor garden department at Sears in San Diego. Try selling a new shovel or rake with surface rust! The solution was the cheapest hair spray money could buy. The cheaper the better. We sprayed the tools when we checked them in and put they on display.

 

[krehmkej]

Boeshield. This is the real deal. Developed by Boeing for just this purpose. A friend with a hanger full of $$$$ antique aircraft parts turned me onto it. I have seen it in SEARS, if you can imagine that.

 

[nate379]

WD-40 is what I used at work. Was in charge of about 2 million in tools/equipment.

 

[mattwgrizwald]

seroiusly wd-40 works read the can it cleans nasty tool handles beautifuly

 

[Swampy]

Another one for wd-40. I was a field mech for John Deere for awhile and often worked in the rain, sleet, mud, snow. I got in the habit of openening every drawer and give a quick spray down. Not really as messy as you would think! Its alot easier to wipe a film off your tools than scrub rust with a scothbrite.

 

[jbarila]

WD-40 was invented for NASA to drive out moisture on missle parts. Doesnt any one watch "How Its Made" ? Cold tools with warm air means condensation. Either heat the tools or use the WD-40.

 

[chevyoneton]

I'm running a dehumidifier in my "good stuff" storage area which is a daylight, or walk-in basement. That is, three sides mostly in earth and the fourth a block wall. It stays amazingly dry and the dehumidifier only runs as needed, which is not much a lot of the time. My other stuff gets used so much it does not have a chance to rust. Not really, but I am not doing a bunch of waxing, etc.

 

[katywompus]

I agree with the air circulation.
I was getting rust on my tools also (40' x 48' pole barn insulated w/ concrete floor.) Now I keep two fans on low all the time in opposite ends of the garage & it seems to help alot. I haven't noticed any new rust since.