8 years later, I tell you , this is freaking usefull, I have one in my waterproof toolbox, keeps my harness, chalk boxes, etc dry, no bad smell, fungus or rust. Also one in my workbench cabinet.

@goku445

5 күн бұрын

That actually looks well designed despite being so simple. Surely useful and cheap.

Wonder how many people would "charge" this in the same space they are trying to dehumidify. ;)

@MikeTrieu

6 жыл бұрын

Joni Larsen-Haikarainen Better than attempting to dry the silica in a more humid environment, no?

@AS-ug2vq

4 жыл бұрын

I've it plugged while it's dehumidifying my room, so that I never have to charge it again /s

@sparky_-mf2cs

3 жыл бұрын

😂🤣

I have been binging on these videos they are great

@subs4794

Жыл бұрын

It's his voice mostly... but he has interesting info too.

Thanks, Big Clive! Thanks to this video, I was able to open up the Eva-Dry E-500 to upgrade it. It opens up the same way except has a central screw hidden behind the back teardrop-shaped label (comes off nicely with a heat gun). I replaced the 19.5 oz of silica gel beads with a pound of activated alumina for more drying power (10x if you believe some sellers of activated alumina!).

@bigclivedotcom

Ай бұрын

It'll be interesting to see how that performs. I've been testing some desiccants for months and the silica gel beads beat the other by a large margin. Even what was being sold as zeolite.

The reason the blue/pink gel beads are only being used in the small indicator capsule isn't because of cost savings, it's because in order to get the color-changing properties, the gel is impregnated with cobalt chloride, a toxic and carcinogenic compound.

@derekthomson3025

8 жыл бұрын

+Naaman Geist True - In the lab I worked in a couple of years ago, we had to stop using them for health and safety reasons.

@metric85

8 жыл бұрын

+Derek Thomson Is this device safe to use?

@derekthomson3025

8 жыл бұрын

+metric85 Yes -Totally, it only becomes an issue when you handle the coloured beads because of the dye.

@rfburns5601

8 жыл бұрын

+Naaman Geist I suspect the beads are cobalt cloride dodecahydrate - cobalt salt molecule with 12 water molecules attached. Changes in the amount of hydration cause the molecules to reflect pink when wet - blue when dry. This stuff was popular on various "weather forecasters" in the sixties. I remember a friend brought his mother a "weather owl" whose stomach feathers were painted with this mixture. A pink belly forecast rain and a blue belly forecast clear skies.

@mrelectron6220

7 жыл бұрын

True the blue ones do have a toxic issue but you can get the orange ones which don't have the cobalt blue dye and are safe to handle.

I purchased two like that last year and an enclosed/weather sealed bin for my 3d filament and it is damn near 0% RH in the case and outside the case 75%-90%. Mine look like that but are made by Evadry. The Evadry has a flip out the back 117vac prong and it takes 12 hours to recharge it.

@subs4794

Жыл бұрын

They cost about $15 at Home Depot last year.

Thanks for the video Clive, very interesting to see what makes them tick. I considered these little rechargeable units when I was looking into keeping my wardrobes damp-free, as well as boxes of books in the garage. I went for dehumidifying crystals & gel packs in the end (Calcium Chloride - 'Kontrol Krystals')... these perform really well, but as you probably know they can't be re-used.

I had no idea such a device even existed, and found your video fascinating. Thanks!

The coloured silica gel beads are "self indicating". They contain a small quantity of cobalt chloride which is blue when dry and pink when damp.

Thanks, I've come across these before looking for desiccant to put in my 3D printer filament container, I never under stood how it was rechargeable. I know you can microwave the silica, but this is just a neat idea. I might pick one up now.

Thanks was interesting to see the innards of this unit I was going to buy one but opted to just get the silica and place in a container and for the cost of the unit I got way more silica than the unit holds.

I recently picked up a couple of these in NZ sold under the "Goldair" brand. Exactly the same except mine have louvred slots instead of holes. They can be plugged into any power source from 120-240 volts. So I thought to make up a series Y lead so I could run two from a 230 volt inverter at a more moderate wattage. Was not entirely successful. The elements in them are PTC so what happened is the one that heated up first hogged all the voltage! So it got rather warm while the other stayed practically cold. I connected them to a 120 volt inverter (in normal parallel) instead. What I might try though is making up a "diode lead" that will split the power by polarity rather than resistance. That way one will get the positive half cycle whilst the other gets the neg. Of course you can't "recharge" them in the place you use them as that will simply put the moisture back! lol They go faster if they are done in a place that has a decent airflow. I might make a little purpose built cabinet that incorporates a small fan.

I have a few of these in my gear road cases and cable cases for wet or damp events....all my other cases like moving heads and the likes of such have big silica packs to absorb any moisture

Using its maximum power draw, over the 24 hours it was recommended to dry for on another channel, it costs less than 14c to dry one of these. Much better than I expected

Thanks for uploading and making review for this...

I've been looking for something like this!

Brilliant design really.

Cool, thanks for sharing this!

have two of these, one got a bit dirty and i poured water on it and it made a horrendous cracking noise, like it was going to explode, and when charging its best to put a fan underneath it, it gets so hot that you put the fan under it and steam comes off like its a kettle!

@mysock351C

5 жыл бұрын

Water causes the beads to shatter since they absorb it so quickly.

Thank you soooooo much

You'll be picking those little balls up for months!!!!! My mother in law dropped a tray full I use for my aquarium ozonizer & my cats still find the odd one to play with.

@bigclivedotcom

9 жыл бұрын

archiearchie666 It took an unusually long time to find them all. I used a flashlight so they shone like little stars on the floor to identify themselves.

@hardbasshammond

9 жыл бұрын

bigclivedotcom Pantyhose on the end of the vacuum hose usually does the trick.

@Arckivio

9 жыл бұрын

hardbasshammond Why didn't I know that when my mother in law was on the loose!!!

@markrainford1219

8 жыл бұрын

+Moholmarn I don't think we need to know anymore of your dirty little secrets. ;)

@craigr.h.laurent240

Жыл бұрын

So, what was your clumsy MIL doing to dump a tray?

I bet that was a surprise. 00:56😃 Clive, I would given anything to see the look on your face and what you said in response. 🤣

It takes water from the air, and then puts it back again ?

Thanks for the video. I might have missed it but what was the weight of just the silica inside when dry?

@bigclivedotcom

7 жыл бұрын

Not sure about the gel on its own, but the filled unit weighed 581g when dry and 681g when it had been in the car for a while.

The US version has the plug integrated into the back of the unit and it just flips out to plug it in.

Oh Mr Clive, i knew you would have gutted these ^^

Would this be any use in a car, I hate getting into my car and the windows are all fogged up in the morning. cheers

@bigclivedotcom

8 жыл бұрын

+DJ Cruicky I use one in mine, but I'm afraid it doesn't always seem to help.

@DJCruicky

8 жыл бұрын

+bigclivedotcom Thanks

@mspenrice

8 жыл бұрын

+bigclivedotcom The power draw suggests it should be nicely compatible with a typical in-car inverter device... so you could leave it in there permanently, and regenerate it as you drive, with the fan running, and maybe aircon if you have it or the windows down etc...

@bigclivedotcom

8 жыл бұрын

+mspenrice You can get silica gel socks that sit under the windscreen and get dried by the flow of warm windscreen air when driving, but absorb moisture while parked.

@Ganuesthai

8 жыл бұрын

+bigclivedotcom Hey, that's a nice idea ;)

Could you replace the coloured beads by a strip of cobalt chloride paper? Would that be a more effective indicator? and would it be safe?

@bigclivedotcom

8 жыл бұрын

+Mandolinic If you don't mind putting it on set of scales every so often you can determine exactly how much moisture it has absorbed. There's a very distinct difference in weight between a fully saturated unit and one that has just been dried. I wrote the weights on them to check their state.

@AdamsCarWashVids

8 жыл бұрын

+bigclivedotcom where can i get one of these

@bigclivedotcom

8 жыл бұрын

+Adam sturgeon Search your local ebay for rechargeable dehumidifier and note that there are two types. The plug-in type and the microwave type. Here in the UK a typical listing would be:- www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281245994960

Couple of questions: 1. What is the enclosure made up of? 2. What's temperature does these PTC elements heat to? 3. How does the enclosure does not burn when elements heat?

@bigclivedotcom

4 жыл бұрын

The enclosure is plastic. The PTC heaters don't get excessively hot.

@AS-ug2vq

4 жыл бұрын

@@bigclivedotcom I googled a bit and found to regenerate silica get you need temperature over 100*C. But I can't seem to find the exact temperature of these heating elements online. It takes 1-2 hours for them dry at 120*C. But these devices often list that you need to keep it plugged for 5-10 hours. Let me know if you can post temperature of the elements inside this device.

@subs4794

Жыл бұрын

It's made of 14 karat gold wood bark.

@subs4794

Жыл бұрын

​@@AS-ug2vqthese devices cost like $15, maybe just buy one.

I'd say mine is not split down the middle so they didn't go everywhere . 4 screws in the back kinda killed that idea of spilling but it was overfilled so some popped around :P don't really trust the plugin wire. tooooo thin and without the hanger or clip there's no real way to stand it up. Does get quite hot. usually keep it in an area where I have film and old papers... supposedly in a water tight old school Ammo case. ha.

Are these sillica gel toxic when they are charged up? The fumes that they produce?

@bigclivedotcom

3 жыл бұрын

No. It's very inert. If you have a unit making a smell it might be from the heater or case.

@megayeo289

3 жыл бұрын

@@bigclivedotcom was wondering if the fumes are carcinogenic? Thank you for this and your other video on Peltier

7 years later, how's it holding? What's your opinion about the product now? Any better alternative for car?

@bigclivedotcom

2 жыл бұрын

I still use it for keeping 3D printing filament dry.

@Trev5

Жыл бұрын

I occasionally dry out my car in the winter when the weather is just about to flip from wet and windy, to frosty. Luckily I can just get an extension lead in through the boot and running a EcoAir DD1 MK5 overnight @45% (Don't want to dry the leather seats out any lower..) I can get 300ml - So a mug full of water out over night...!!

Perhaps a small inverter in the car would allow it to be re-charged when you are driving.

@AdamWebb1982

8 жыл бұрын

+James Lewis Yeh a 12/24volt model of one of these would be great.

@AgentOffice

8 жыл бұрын

You would release the humidity you just removed

@AdamWebb1982

8 жыл бұрын

+Agent Office not yeh but outside venting of that moisture laden air :) like some sort of valve that opens when the "recharge" cycle is open.

@AdamWebb1982

8 жыл бұрын

+Agent Office that's of course if it was built in.

where can I get the silica gel balls to fill mine up, I live in the uk, thanks...

@bigclivedotcom

8 жыл бұрын

You can buy silica gel on eBay. The dehumidifier blocks come prefilled.

@AdamWebb1982

8 жыл бұрын

I bought a pair of 500g bags from Amazon to do my car.

When charged fully should the front be blue in colour?

@bigclivedotcom

Жыл бұрын

The colour changing crystals vary. It may go green, blue or some other colour.

At least you had a carpet... lol

Now im gonna start collecting silica packs

@Ganuesthai

8 жыл бұрын

+Carter Cole Silica balls are sold rather cheap in 2 kilos bags, for cats peeing.

@CarterColeisInfamous

8 жыл бұрын

I worked at a lab and found 2 huge bags in the trash one day

@Ganuesthai

8 жыл бұрын

Carter Cole Well, I think nobody will get a better price then hahaha :D

Possibly this video that gave yourself another subscriber all these years ago. But just needed to recheck that it's not full of the indicator silica.

@bigclivedotcom

4 жыл бұрын

It's just a small window that has the indicator silic gel. Some has a slightly toxic colouring agent.

@ifell3

4 жыл бұрын

@@bigclivedotcom indeed, just been seeing if they dry faster without that little fill cap on. They don't get quite as warm. But if I do blow inside the mesh I get a lot of moist air out, maybe this is helping to circulate the air inside?

tested to see how much water it could hold by pouring water on it, then about 15 mins later i plugged it in and it went bang and blew the electrics...

@jezz2k

5 жыл бұрын

You got water inside the connector. What did you expect?

Why it has no sound,which is very annoying....!!!

@bigclivedotcom

8 жыл бұрын

+Bidyut De Try viewing the video on a different device. There is audio, but sometimes it isn't audible on some systems. Particularly if they have Dolby processing.

So, basically, don't take this apart.

šmejd