# "Morning Dew" in My Shop



## John Hasler (Nov 23, 2014)

Overnight the temperature shot up to about 50F.  That's nice, except the humidity shot up to well over 100%.  I went out to my unheated and well-ventilated shop this morning and sprayed down just about everything metal with silicone spray (it's what was handy).  Hopefully it will displace some of the moisture that had already accumulated.


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## JimDawson (Nov 23, 2014)

Sounds like you need a shop sized vat of WD-40. )


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## 12bolts (Nov 23, 2014)

John Hasler said:


> .....That's nice, except the humidity shot up to well over 100%.  ......



Put your togs on, and grab a mask and snorkel! What you have there is a swimming pool!!

Cheers Phil


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## Ebel440 (Nov 23, 2014)

I used silicone on some of my stuff that was under salt water during sandy and it worked a lot better then the stuff I used wd40 on but I heard the silicone will be in my garage forever and may interfere with painting (guess its a good thing I never paint anything I build)


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## coolidge (Nov 23, 2014)

One word...Boeshield.


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## nobog (Nov 23, 2014)

Just up the road in New Richmond and same weather of course and out to the shop it was starting to get humid - but I have the luxury to turn the heat up to 60 or so.  Same problem in the summer with the high humidity - then I turn on the dehumidifier.

John H - just out of curiosity, did you do any work for SJM in the cities a couple of decades ago? Same name but if not - never mind,

Jim


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## fixit (Nov 23, 2014)

John Hasler said:


> Overnight the temperature shot up to about 50F.  That's nice, except the humidity shot up to well over 100%.  I went out to my unheated and well-ventilated shop this morning and sprayed down just about everything metal with silicone spray (it's what was handy).  Hopefully it will displace some of the moisture that had already accumulated.




I keep a 100 watt light bulb on under my mill & lathe the heat is "just enough" to prevent them from sweating when the temperature changes like that. The spare chucks, rotary table & other big spares are inside cabinets & are not effected. The 100 watt light bulb solved my problem.

fixit


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## John Hasler (Nov 23, 2014)

fixit said:


> I keep a 100 watt light bulb on under my mill & lathe the heat is "just enough" to prevent them from sweating when the temperature changes like that. The spare chucks, rotary table & other big spares are inside cabinets & are not effected. The 100 watt light bulb solved my problem.
> 
> fixit



My wife would have hysterics about the waste of electricity.


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## Andre (Nov 23, 2014)

I spray all metal on machines with Karosene (or WD-40, almost the same thing) and it prevents rust from condensation. First year after moving the mill in it was all surface rust one morning, never had that problem again after spraying it down.


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## Alan Douglas (Nov 23, 2014)

> well-ventilated shop


Which lets the outdoor air (with its higher dew point) right in.


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## John Hasler (Nov 23, 2014)

Alan Douglas said:


> Which lets the outdoor air (with its higher dew point) right in.



Yes, I know.  "Ventilated" is a euphemism.


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## Alan Douglas (Nov 23, 2014)

Ah.  I suppose that means you can't heat the shop either?  Add a south-facing window?


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## John Hasler (Nov 23, 2014)

Alan Douglas said:


> Ah.  I suppose that means you can't heat the shop either?  Add a south-facing window?



I have a south-facing 16' garage door: it provides some of the "ventilation".  You don't get much sun when the cloud deck is at ground level as it was today, though.

The solution is for me to get off my behind and finish installing the steel I've had piled next to the shop for two years.  I believe I will also rip out the garage door and replace it with an 8' sliding door and a wall.  It's nice to be able to open the garage door on hot summer days but not so nice to have snow blow under it in winter.

Besides, another wall means room for more stuff.


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## stupoty (Nov 23, 2014)

fixit said:


> I keep a 100 watt light bulb on under my mill & lathe the heat is "just enough" to prevent them from sweating when the temperature changes like that. The spare chucks, rotary table & other big spares are inside cabinets & are not effected. The 100 watt light bulb solved my problem.
> 
> fixit



I've got a very small shop area and i leave a 30ish watt flourecent tube on all the time, does seam to reduce condensation issues a bit.  I had thougt of an electric green house heater i. Their if it gets worse this winter.

i have a row of 20w halogen spots that i use for work light on the lathe which i did leave on but they went pop to often. 

stuart


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## JeepsAndGuns (Nov 23, 2014)

Fluid film (google it) I swear by the stuff and will use nothing but it. Ever since I started using it I have not had one tiny spec of rust on anything. My shop is also unheated.


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## Sandia (Nov 23, 2014)

You guys don't have any problems, try South Texas. This time of year we have a lot of 40 degree temp. swings with the relative humidity off the scale. True story, I went out to my shop Tuesday morning to do some things and after a while I glanced over at my mill and there was water puddled on the floor that had run off the mill. Almost had a heart attack. Finally got it cleaned up then covered with sheets that night with 100 watt blub.  Drives me crazy this time of year.

Sandia


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## GarageGuy (Nov 24, 2014)

John Hasler said:


> Overnight the temperature shot up to about 50F.  That's nice, except the humidity shot up to well over 100%.



We're not very far apart geographically.  The same thing happened here.  Everything made out of metal fogged up when I made the mistake of opening the garage door.  It probably would have been fine if I had left it closed up tight.  I keep all of my machines and tools very oily just for this reason.

GG


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## samthedog (Nov 24, 2014)

Get a small desk fan to circulate the air. It works wonders at eliminating condensation on machinery.

Paul.


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## Terrywerm (Nov 24, 2014)

I keep everything here well oiled, especially during the winter for that very reason. Garage door stayed shut, too. Didn't have any problems.


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## uncle harry (Nov 24, 2014)

Thanks for the heads up.  I did google it & based on what I found I ordered 2 aerosol cans.  I'm looking forward to protecting my numerous keyed locks among other things.





JeepsAndGuns said:


> Fluid film (google it) I swear by the stuff and will use nothing but it. Ever since I started using it I have not had one tiny spec of rust on anything. My shop is also unheated.


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