Vacuum Drum Storage?

[sixplymaple]

I recently purchased some large Space Saver vacuum bags for storage at the house and realized they might be awesome for long term drum storage. I figure if the drums are vacuum sealed, the bags should slow oxidation of the chrome? So I tried it out and included a silica packet in each one. I stuck all my snares that are in storage inside of their drum bags and put both the drums + drum bags in the vacuum bags. I sealed them all up and made sure to not go too tight.

Does anybody have experience doing this? Long term? Does anybody foresee any issues with me doing this? What are your thoughts?

They only cost me like $30, so they should be worth the cost. Here’s a pic...

 

[Cauldronics]

The only thing I'd be concerned about is the silica packet drawing too much moisture from whatever part of a drum is nearest. Since the packet has no room to circulate air, it might go into overdrive or something and blanch the color and moisture from part of a shell, or I might just be overthinking it and nothing would happen. : /

I think it's probably a great idea overall and would keep the drums in the same condition they were on the day they were vacuum sealed.

 

[Loud]

Sounds good. If your silica gel packets have been exposed to air for a while, they may not be effective because they’ve more or less absorbed all they can. They need to be “recharged. “

https://www.ehow.com/how_5035187_recharge-silica-gel.html

I’ve never tried a microwave oven before but used an oven in a testing lab to recharge silicon dioxide desiccant.

 

[Loud]

I would worry that plastic could stick to the finish (if in contact for six months) or if water did condense due to extreme temperature changes, it could drip on the drum.

I would want a liner of some type. Cardboard taped around the drum? The ultimate may be Tyvek, which allows water vapor to pass but repels water droplets.

 

[sixplymaple]

I would worry that plastic could stick to the finish (if in contact for six months) or if water did condense due to extreme temperature changes, it could drip on the drum.

I would want a liner of some type. Cardboard taped around the drum? The ultimate may be Tyvek, which allows water vapor to pass but repels water droplets.

Well the silica packets are brand new. Also, all the snare drums are in their cases/bags inside of the vac seal bag. So there is contact between the plastic bag and the drums.

 

[sixplymaple]

The only thing I'd be concerned about is the silica packet drawing too much moisture from whatever part of a drum is nearest. Since the packet has no room to circulate air, it might go into overdrive or something and blanch the color and moisture from part of a shell, or I might just be overthinking it and nothing would happen. : /

I think it's probably a great idea overall and would keep the drums in the same condition they were on the day they were vacuum sealed.

I’m going to read up on that. Thanks.

The silica packets are on the heads though, not on the sides of the drums or inside them.

 

[Houndog]

You have drums you aren’t going to use ?

 

[premierplayer]

I put silica packets in some of my tool box drawers, I later found some nasty corrosion on the tools and metal drawer they were in contact with. Thought I was doing a good thing, blew up on me, don't know what happened, or what I did wrong.
This is not a hijack, after that experience I would be hesitant to put them in with my drums until I figured out what went wrong.

 

[sixplymaple]

You have drums you aren’t going to use ?

Not all at the same time lol. Just some extra toms and snares that get rotated in/out of my setup. These vacuum bags just unzip, they don’t seal shut like Foodsaver bags. It’s easy to switch out snares and re-seal.

 

[Loud]

I put silica packets in some of my tool box drawers, I later found some nasty corrosion on the tools and metal drawer they were in contact with. Thought I was doing a good thing, blew up on me, don't know what happened, or what I did wrong.
This is not a hijack, after that experience I would be hesitant to put them in with my drums until I figured out what went wrong.

Since the toolbox wasn’t put in an air-sealed enclosure, the silica was constantly pulling moisture out of the air. There was an unlimited amount of moisture since it wasn’t sealed. Apparently it maxed out and the previously collected moisture promoted contact corrosion.

This can also happen in a sealed enclosure if there are not enough “recharged” packets in a sealed environment. If there is a lot of moisture in the sealed air space and not enough absorption capacity, some silica will max out. The vacuum bag helps reduce total available air and associated moisture.

In a tool box, temperatures widely vary. The fluctuations can probably cause maxed out silica to discharge moisture at some point.