I was just surfing through some sites and I came across this very unique way to maintain your equipment. Every heard of it? Very retro and unheard of.
"Take a colourless, broad mouth bottle. Glass bottle is preferred but in case you cannot get one, use a good quality plastic bottle. Put in it 2 tablespoon full of indicating type silica gel (the blue variety). Cut a piece of very thin cardboard in a circle, equal to the diameter of the bottle. Make many small holes in the cardboard and put this in the bottle, flat over the silica gel. Very carefully introduce your lens into the bottle till it rests on the cardboard. Keep the lens aperture fully open and avoid putting the lens caps. Cap the bottle with its lid.
Do likewise with all your other lenses - one lens per bottle.
Now place the bottles inside a big wooden box -at least 2ft x 1 ½ ft x 1 ½ ft high. Make arrangements for a night lamp bulb (not exceeding 10 watts) to be installed under the top lid of this box. This bulb should be ‘on’ 24 hours of the day, 365 days in the year. The bulb provides some heat and darkness is also thus avoided.
Note: This box should not be made out of plywood. Plywood has layers (ply) of thin sheets of wood, bonded together using certain adhesives. These adhesives give off certain gases, which are harmful to the lens. For this same reason, please instruct your carpenter not to use any bonding adhesive at the joints. (A good carpenter will use "dove-tail" joints and construct the box.) Old seasoned wood can certainly be used in making the box.
Observe the bottle every few days. If the silica gel has turned pink, it means it has pulled in moisture. Take out the lens, remove the silica gel and re-activate it by heating it over a low flame. I put the silica gel on a glass plate and put it in the microwave till it turns blue again.
If all this seems too much of a botheration, you could purchase a drying cabinet designed specifically for this purpose. This is a metal box with shelves inside and has an electronic dryer inside the box. The Relative Humidity inside the box can be regulated between about 35 to 50%. Adjust this to 40/45%. "
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