Dry box
Encyclopedia
A dry box is a storage container in which the interior is kept at a low level of humidity.
Dry boxes are used to safely store items which would otherwise be damaged or adversely affected by excessive humidity
, such as cameras
and lenses (to prevent fungal growth), and musical instruments (to prevent humidity induced swelling or shrinkage of wooden instrument parts). They are also used in the storage of surface mount electronic components prior to circuit board assembly.
such as silica gel or anhydrous calcium chloride. These can be easily built at relatively low cost. However, the humidity level in such boxes cannot be controlled or regulated owing to the difficulty of gauging the quantity of desiccant required to achieve a certain humidity level.
, which remove moisture from the air by condensing it out. A control dial is usually provided which permits the user rough adjustment of the humidity level. More sophisticated designs link the cooler to a settable digital hygrometer, allowing very precise humidity level control.
Dry boxes are used to safely store items which would otherwise be damaged or adversely affected by excessive humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
, such as cameras
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
and lenses (to prevent fungal growth), and musical instruments (to prevent humidity induced swelling or shrinkage of wooden instrument parts). They are also used in the storage of surface mount electronic components prior to circuit board assembly.
Desiccant boxes
A simple dry box can consist of nothing more than a sealed, airtight box containing a desiccantDesiccant
A desiccant is a hygroscopic substance that induces or sustains a state of dryness in its local vicinity in a moderately well-sealed container....
such as silica gel or anhydrous calcium chloride. These can be easily built at relatively low cost. However, the humidity level in such boxes cannot be controlled or regulated owing to the difficulty of gauging the quantity of desiccant required to achieve a certain humidity level.
Electronic dry boxes
Electronic dry boxes contain a small peltier coolerThermoelectric cooling
Thermoelectric cooling uses the Peltier effect to create a heat flux between the junction of two different types of materials. A Peltier cooler, heater, or thermoelectric heat pump is a solid-state active heat pump which transfers heat from one side of the device to the other side against the...
, which remove moisture from the air by condensing it out. A control dial is usually provided which permits the user rough adjustment of the humidity level. More sophisticated designs link the cooler to a settable digital hygrometer, allowing very precise humidity level control.